Being scared for a couple of hours with a horror movie is alright, but have you tried dragging your fright on longer with a binge of a scary TV show?
Besides the obvious choices like American Horror Story and The Walking Dead, here are some other recommendations for scariest television shows to watch this month.
The Terror
The Terror is kind of a slow burn in its scares, but that’s part of what makes this show great. Both seasons are based on true historical events that are scary themselves – and then you add ghosts or monsters!
Season 1 is based two real ships who got stuck in the frozen Northern Passage and were never heard from again. In the show, the terror starts when they begin running out of supplies and start turning on each other. And then the man-eating monster arrives.
Season 2 is set in the Japanese Internment camps in WWII, which was a nightmare in and of itself. Add in mysterious deaths and evil spirits and the entire season definitely will freak you out. You can stream both seasons of The Terror on Hulu.
Kingdom
Kingdom is a South Korean horror and political thriller. It’s basically a South Korean zombie period piece. Yeah, you read that right. Set around the 15th/16th Century –a zombie virus breaks out without the benefit of mass communication and the people throughout the country are completely taken by surprise. Add to that – the zombies look completely dead in the sunlight, but awaken in the shade/dark. This makes it difficult for the smart people to convince the dumb people (the leadership) that it’s even happening.
Meanwhile, the ruler has the zombie virus and his young wife is controlling the kingdom. His adult son has to flee this coup and is shocked to learn what is happening to his people. Two seasons of Kingdom can be found on Netflix.
Castle Rock
If you are at all a fan of Stephen King, you will love Castle Rock. It’s set in a fictional town that takes place in many of his books. If you were totally freaked out by Bill Skarsgård in IT, he’s in this show and just as creepy.
Season 1 follows an attorney who returns home when a prisoner from Shawshank Prison requests his help. Season 2 follows the character Annie Wilkes from the novel Misery. Both seasons have plenty of twists and turns that have you saying WTF after watching them. The show is available to stream on Hulu.
Anthologies
If two-hour long movies or 13-episode seasons are too long for your scary fix, Netflix has two different anthology shows that might fit the bill. While Creeped Out is technically a kid’s show, it will bring up plenty of nostalgic feels if you grew up loving Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? While the scariness level for adults is probably low, it does live up to its title and can be very creepy.
For those who want a more mature and darker experience, give Black Mirror a try. Sometimes the episodes are very disturbing, and sometimes they are just suspenseful. But either way, they are sure to get you in the mood for spooky season.
If you still want more after those Netflix shows, you can hop over to CBS All Access for the reboot of a classic anthology series – The Twilight Zone. While weird and creepy, the series also attacks timely issues.
Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor
When The Haunting of Hill House hit Netflix in 2018, it terrified us all. It seemed there were ghosts around every corner, and the shocks at the end made us all want to watch it again to see what we missed.
Just in time for our spooky season, Netflix dropped the follow up – The Haunting of Bly Manor. This is a whole new story, with many of the same cast members returning. While we’re not going to drop any spoilers here, this season is great to curl up with if you’re craving some scary TV.
Episodic Monsters
While they are not always edge-on-your-seat scary, October is a great time to rewatch some of our favorite monster-of-the-week shows. Since it’s entering its final season, Supernatural is obviously the best choice for this.
Other great ones to watch include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Charmed, X-files, Fringe, etc. Doctor Who also has several horror themed episodes that might provide the scares you are looking for, because let’s be honest, we are still terrified of both Weeping Angels and The Silence.
Whatever scary TV you plan on watching, make sure you have all your comfort food and snuggly blankets ready. That’s just good self-care.