Horror can sometimes work best when it embraces a slow-burn approach, allowing the tension to ratchet up over time and then explode into some giant scares. The concept goes back to the early days of TV, when shows like The Twilight Zone (1959) made episodic horror a bedrock of the medium. In the 21st century, shows like American Horror Story (2011) have highlighted the enduring flexibility of the genre, playing with style and focus while retaining the strengths of the television medium.
While zeitgeist-capturing shows like The Walking Dead (2010), Stranger Things (2016), Yellowjackets (2021), and It: Welcome to Derry (2025) helped cement the success of horror shows in the current TV space, there are plenty of other amazing horror shows that are worth checking out. Take From, a deeply creepy horror story that also manages to be a terrific character drama. Similarly, these 7 horror shows are all fantastic and deserve way more love from audiences than they are getting, so head on over to Netflix, Prime Video, and more, and watch them now for a good scare!
From (2022)
From is one of the most underrated horror shows on TV right now. Set to return to MGM+ for its fourth season, the series by John Griffin plays like the grim fusion of Lost (2004) and a Stephen King novel. From focuses on a group of displaced strangers caught in a mysterious supernatural space haunted by perpetually smiling and vicious creatures hiding in the woods.
The desperation of the survivors gives way to some deeply compelling drama, especially once the initial cast is culled in some brutal ways to raise the stakes and sharpen the focus on characters like Harold Perrineau’s Boyd. A vicious expansion on the kind of story Salem’s Lot (1979) is telling, From is a great, unsettling show that benefits from a deeply human core.
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
Any of Mike Flanagan's horror shows on Netflix could be on this list, but The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) deserves a lot more love than it gets. A harsh riff on pharmaceutical companies filtered through the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the show's anthology nature provides audiences with a host of different horror tenors and styles, blending body horror and gruesome turns with dark comedy and compelling tragedy.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), and The Midnight Club (2022) are also great, but this show's ambitious swings and colorful touches elevate it. While the melodramatic elements might scare off some audiences who are more invested in the scares, there’s a lot of great existential dread amid all the gore to elevate The Fall of the House of Usher.
The Strain (2014)
If you're a fan of more monster-heavy horror stories, The Strain is a great take on the vampire narrative. Created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, the show adapts their horror novels of the same name and explores the fallout of a vampiric outbreak in New York City. The show, which has more in common with del Toro's earlier works like Blade 2 (2002) and Hellboy (2004) than his later Academy Award-winning films, is a brutal take on the horror drama.
With a great spectrum of characters struggling to survive together, the show takes some increasingly dystopian swings that only hit harder in the current political space. Great for horror fans with a stronger stomach who love the likes of Sam Raimi and Ash vs. the Evil Dead (2015), The Strain deserves a lot more love than it gets.
Evil (2019)
Cancelled before the end of its overarching arc and yet somehow still satisfying, Evil is the kind of horror show that’s easy to recommend to audiences who don’t even care too much for the genre. The procedure follows a trio of investigators who investigate supernatural and demonic occurrences, all while a nefarious force—best personified by a devilishly compelling performance by Michael Emerson—works behind the scenes to break the world in the name of Hell.
The central dynamic between Katja Herbers and Mike Colter's Kristen and David is a great slow-burn relationship, while Aasif Mandvi is an all-timer supporting figure for the genre as Ben. Evil isn’t the most complex entry on this list, but the strength of the character work makes this a great, compelling drama.
Hannibal (2013)
If you loved the dread-inducing drama of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), then you have to make sure you check out Hannibal (2013). One of the best ever adaptations of the Hannibal Lecter stories, Hannibal is bolstered by Mads Mikkelsen's fantastic central performance as the cannibalistic psychiatrist.
Placed opposite a gifted criminal profiler who is struggling with his own darker impulses, Hannibal's exploration of the darker corners of the human psyche is perfectly attuned to Bryan Fuller's stylish and horrifying touch. Headier than a lot of the more gruesomely entertaining entries on this list—and potentially dull for audiences expecting a scare every few minutes—Hannibal is a thoughtful and haunting drama that makes for a deeply compelling character study about our worst sides.
Chucky (2021)
It can be hard to maintain a proper balance between the genres in horror comedies, but Chucky does a great job with it. For the most part, horror comedy shows end up leaning more heavily into the latter—which isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, as it’s resulted in some top-tier shows like What We Do in the Shadows (2019) and Santa Clarita Diet (2017).
Chucky manages to be a great little dark comedy in the vein of a teenager dealing with a living doll, like the twisted counterpart to Ted (2024). However, the show’s darker content and campy horror touches keep firmly rooted in the horror tone that a lot of the other shows primarily use more for comedy than anything else. If you appreciate a good gallows humor among your darker beats, Chucky is perfect.
Them (2021)
The middle ground between the works of Jordan Peele and the racially charged surrealism of Atlanta (2016), Them is a deeply effective and politically charged approach to the horror genre on TV. Taking place across two different time periods and reflecting a mixture of haunted tales with grounded horrors, Them is an ambitious attempt to use the kind of imagery seen in films like Us (2019) to tell a story about systemic racism and the impact it has on the larger world.
It’s all bolstered by some of the creepiest effects in horror history, which would be a shame to spoil. Them is one of the best examples of an underrated modern horror show, mixing creative filmmaking and horrifying visuals with the kind of grounded characters and harrowing drama that make for the best TV shows.
