The 5 Best Horror Shows to Binge for Halloween

Whether you seek spooky chills, jump scares, or creeping dread, we have horror show recommendations to sate your thirst.

It used to be that horror on television was tame. It was PG-ish stuff like Scooby-Doo and The Twilight Zone. Good fare, but these shows all held horror at arm's length, like it was a sub-genre or something shameful. Now, with streaming, TV horror shows can be just as creepy and scary as their movie brethren. They've shed some of their sci-fi and mystery armor to be fully grownup, unashamed gore that's perfect for Halloween binging. Below are some of our faves. If you like them, you may also want to check out our lists for the best horror movies or scary Halloween tech.

Stranger Things

A spiritual successor to many of the shows and movies Gen Xers and Millennials loved growing up, Stranger Things serves horror tropes with a nostalgic glow. The fourth season (the best so far) leans heavily into '80s horror, with the villainous Vecna reaching his fleshy tentacles into his victim’s dreams to exploit their worst fears. The show reverently acknowledges its debt to Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street series, with Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) himself popping up as Vecna victim Victor Kreel.

Castle Rock

The eponymous depression town (in more ways than one) is a kind of nexus for Stephen King’s characters, and Castle Rock is a treasure trove of references for fans, but it also works as a captivating standalone story. Season 1 focuses on a mysterious inmate at Shawshank, and Season 2 introduces a young Annie Wilkes (pre-Misery). If someone built a King theme park, it would surely look like Castle Rock. This fictional Maine town first appeared in The Dead Zone, served as the setting for Needful Things, and has popped up repeatedly like a bad penny in King’s work over the years. With Hulu's show, it gets a tale all its own. 

Archive 81

When archivist Dan (Mamoudou Athie) is hired to restore some old video tapes, he soon becomes engrossed in the work of a woman named Melody (Dina Shihabi) who was investigating a demonic cult in a Lower Manhattan apartment building. This claustrophobic series is permeated with a growing sense of dread and relies heavily on an excellent performance from Athie. Sadly canceled after a single season, you can still listen to the podcast that inspired the show if you want to dig even further into the tale.

The Haunting of Hill House

This ghost story centers on five adult siblings haunted by paranormal experiences that caused them to flee the family mansion years before. Loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s gothic horror novel of the same name, this creepy tale is skillfully directed by Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep), ably assisted by a strong cast that includes Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, and Victoria Pedretti. It is a complex and terrifying family drama, packed with spine-chilling imagery, that builds to a frightening climax. If you enjoy this, Flanagan’s Midnight Mass is also worth a look.

The Outsider

When the mutilated corpse of a young boy is discovered in the woods of a small town in Oklahoma, detectives think they have a clear culprit, but an ironclad alibi throws a spanner in the works. This show is based on a Stephen King novel, though it doesn’t feel like one. Instead, it comes off as a Scandi crime drama at first, with a glacial pace that painstakingly builds a growing sense of dread. Ben Mendelsohn steers us through the gloom, and there are solid performances from Cynthia Erivo, Paddy Considine, and Jason Bateman (who directs a couple of episodes). King fans hungry for another detective show should also check out Mr. Mercedes, where a broken-down retired detective played by Brendan Gleeson hunts a psychopathic killer.