5 Spine-Chilling Horror TV Series to Stream This Halloween
Prepare to enter a world of ghosts, demons, otherworldly creatures and psychopathic killers.
Halloween isn't just about costumes and jack-o'-lanterns, it's also the perfect time to watch scary TV shows. If you're looking for something truly spooky and mystical for these cold fall nights, these five series are for you.
1. Are You Afraid of the Dark?, 1990-2000
"Are you afraid of the dark?" asked the authors of the cult Canadian anthology in 1990. And the answer is still yes. Creepy ghost stories told by children around the campfire captured the imagination and brought the deepest and most hidden fears to the surface.
But what was most compelling about the show was its ability to treat children as adults. Each new episode raised controversial issues, forcing questions of ethics and morality.
2. Bates Motel, 2013-2017
Bates Motel is one of those examples where the show takes almost nothing from the source material, but still shows great respect for the legendary Alfred Hitchcock film.
The show takes place several years before the events of the original – Norman and Norma Bates arrive in a small town and immediately rent a local hotel. The viewer is given the opportunity to see what was left behind in Psycho: how exactly did the relationship between mother and son develop, and why did the latter eventually become a psychopath?
3. The Strain, 2014-2017
Many years ago, dark storyteller Guillermo del Toro and his friend Chuck Hogan conceived a trilogy of books about vampires in modern-day New York, and a series was born. The vampires of The Strain are hideous creatures, victims of a terrible parasite that infects everyone around them.
The fight against the monsters is led by a doctor-epidemiologist, his son, and an antique dealer who first encountered vampires during World War II.
4. Salem, 2014-2017
The small town of Salem is known for the intransigence of its priest – branding thieves, adulterers and, of course, witches left and right. Young soldier John goes off to war, and when he returns to Salem, he discovers that power in the town has passed to the priest's wife, John's former lover – Mary.
This power was not gained in the most righteous way, Mary is considered a witch, and John must find out what kind of creature is now hiding under the mask of a beautiful but cruel woman.
5. Yellowjackets, 2021-...
A multi-genre slow burner with a Lord of the Flies vibe. Yellowjackets gradually unfolds as a survival story with elements of folk and body horror, detective and psychological thriller, spiced with mystical and religious topics.
In 1996, the Yellowjackets, a girls' soccer team, are traveling from New Jersey to Seattle for a tournament. A thunderstorm causes the plane to change course and crash in the wild Canadian woods.
The survivors find an abandoned cabin in the woods and decide to stay despite the ominous signs. Hope for rescue is dwindling. The approaching winter does not promise anything good, and part of the group decides to hike in search of other people.