15 Best Horror Shows Of All Time, Ranked

Horror movies are one of the most stable and reliable of all film genres. How come? Simple. They are usually cheap and easy to make (think of how much Karo corn syrup and red food coloring for blood really costs); they have a large, built-in audience that consistently shows up (at least on the opening weekend), and they can reliably earn back their budget (which, again, is less than the catering budget for a Marvel movie). No wonder Hollywood gives lots of love to the horror genre, with more and more being released to theaters every year. But horror also has a massive presence on another entertainment medium, and that’s TV.

Many great TV shows qualify as part of the horror genre, or are at least horror-adjacent. In fact, some of the greatest series of all time fall into the horror genre. What are they, and what makes them the best? If you want to know the shows that go bump in the night and will have you leaving your night light on, here are the 15 best horror TV shows of all time.

Opinions may vary on the consistent quality of “The Walking Dead” throughout its 11 seasons on AMC, but there’s no use in denying that when “The Walking Dead” was big, it was as big as TV shows get. In fact, “The Walking Dead” was putting up numbers on an otherwise niche cable channel that broadcast TV stations would be happy to have. There’s a reason – when “The Walking Dead” was at its absolute best, it was must-see TV.

Heck, we could even go a step further and say “The Walking Dead” was one of the bravest shows in TV history. A year before “Game of Thrones” started casually and brutally murdering beloved characters on a regular basis (and on a higher-tier cable channel), “The Walking Dead” did it with aplomb. It wasn’t the cheap shock value of the deaths that has stayed with us, though, but the bravery of the storytelling. Put simply, no other show at that time could make us feel things the way “The Walking Dead” did, which is why it stays with us like an ever-stalking zombie.

Hammer Film Productions produced dozens of horror films throughout the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, picking up the mantle left by Universal Horror in the 1930s and 1940s, while paving the way for studios like Blumhouse to follow. Along the way, the studio launched the legendary careers of cult classic thesps like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. And while Hammer Horror is known for its film output, you may not know that the studio also produced two TV shows: “Hammer House of Horror” in 1980, and “Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense” in 1984. While the former only produced one season and 13 episodes, the quality of those episodes lands it a spot on our list.

What made it great? If you have seen anything from Hammer Horror, you know what. The sensibilities of the studio are on full display, with brightly colored, grindhouse-level material, punctuated by a touch of English refinement. The anthology series features a different kind of horror in each self-contained episode, from witches to werewolves, to ghosts and demons, to even cannibalism and serial killers. It’s both delightful and diabolical, and worthy of a place amongst the best horror shows ever.

Mike Flanagan made a name for himself amongst horror aficionados as a movie director of films like “Oculus” and “Hush,” but he has broken into the mainstream as a scream king thanks to his work on TV, particularly Netflix. Following the success of “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” Flanagan broke free from (loosely) adapting literary source material for a story born solely from his fertile imagination.

“Midnight Mass” follows a man who returns to his small hometown after serving four years in prison for killing a woman in a drunk driving incident. However, his would-be happy homecoming is interrupted by a series of mysterious events that befall the town, and the charismatic priest whose arrival seems to have brought them about. “Midnight Mass” was supposedly considered for both a novel and a movie, but it found its rightful place as a series -– and a place on our list as one of the best horror shows.

Despite running for four seasons and 24 episodes on the SyFy channel, “Channel Zero” was lost in the shuffle of the “Peak TV” movement of the past 15 years and hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. We’re here to fix that, because make no mistake, “Channel Zero” is one of the best horror TV shows of them all. Like many of the shows on this list, “Channel Zero” is a horror anthology series, with each of the four seasons telling a self-contained story. Unlike those other horror anthologies, the stories for “Channel Zero” are based on popular creepypastas. No, that’s not a really bad meal at the Olive Garden, but a catch-all term for horror-related urban legends that originate on the internet.

If you have spent any time on the internet, you know it is often a terrifying place. Seeing those same creepypasta urban legends that originally resided on message boards in Courier New font being brought to life is a jarring experience that sticks with you (even if “Channel Zero” didn’t). The show has built a cult following, but it deserves to be discovered by mainstream horror fans.

Any horror fan worth the title is well aware of the “Evil Dead” series. Well, any horror-comedy fan, as the series goes seamlessly between one genre and the next, embodying the twin passions of its creators, Sam Raimi, Robert G. Tapert, and the legendary Bruce Campbell. “Ash vs. Evil Dead” perhaps falls more on the comedy side of the equation, but make no mistake, this is a great horror show, too.

Campbell returns as the heroic but dimwitted Ash Williams, who does battle with Deadites (demon-possessed zombie monsters) with a chainsaw for a hand, and a trusty “boomstick” (shotgun) in the other. Basically, if you ever wished “Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn” and “Army of Darkness” were a TV show, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is for you. The show ran for three seasons and 30 episodes on Starz, having its run unceremoniously ended in 2018. If you’re looking for a horror-comedy show that will have you laughing as much as screaming (to say nothing of cringing at the gore), “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is in a category all its own.

“Tales From The Crypt” started its life in the 1950s as a horror comic book published by EC Comics. Thirty-something years later, that comic book’s creator, William Gaines, brought the name and concept back for an HBO television series that ran from 1989 to 1996. However, the TV show adapted storylines not only from the original comic book of the same name, but other stories published by EC Comics, including “The Haunt of Fear,” “The Vault of Horror,” and “Two-Fisted Tales.” The result is an icon of the genre and one of the greatest and most influential horror anthology series ever.

“Tales From the Crypt” embodied the no-holds-barred ethos of its schlocky source material, but was given an update for HBO in the ’80s to include profanity, sex and nudity, and graphic violence. Basically, don’t let your kids watch it. The most iconic part of the show, however, is undoubtedly the MC who puts the “host” in “ghost,” the Cryptkeeper. A creepy, rotting skeleton, the wisecracking corpse always introduced the stories, reminding terrified viewers it’s all just fiction. Or is it?

Horror did not begin as a distinct genre on the silver screen or on TV, but on the printed page, born from the pens of novelists like Mary Shelley and Oscar Wilde. It’s not hard to see why. The 19th century was creepy as hell, especially in Victorian England, where so many gothic horrors were born. Named after the era’s lurid stories published in pulpy pages and sold for only a penny, “Penny Dreadful” is well aware of this fact, and it explores the origin stories of many of the most famous (or infamous) literary characters in the horror genre.

The unique premise alone is enough to command our attention, but what made “Penny Dreadful” so special over its all-too-brief, three-season, 27-episode run on Showtime from 2014 to 2016 is the absolute commitment of its cast and crew, especially stars Eva Green as Vanessa Ives and Josh Hartnett as Ethan Chandler. This show is an intense, bloody affair unlike any other show on this list, or on TV for that matter.

“American Horror Story” took the TV-watching world by storm when it debuted during Halloween season in 2011. Producer Ryan Murphy’s 12-season juggernaut is still doing just that, more than a decade since it debuted on the FX Network. No other show on this list, and few other shows, period, have lasted as long as “American Horror Story,” with 132 episodes and counting. What is the secret behind the success of “American Horror Story”? It’s always finding unique and unexpected ways to terrify its fanbase.

“American Horror Story” is a series like many others on this list, but unlike them, each season is a self-contained miniseries focused on a particular “universe.” This unique approach keeps the show fresh and original, while also appealing to fans of distinct horror genres. Like witches? There’s the third season, “American Horror Story: Coven.” How about end-of-the-world scenarios? There’s Season 8, “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.” And then there’s the standard fare, like haunted houses, insane asylums, and summer camps. Basically, if there’s a way to scare you (and probably gross you out), “American Horror Story” continues to find it.

An 1898 gothic ghost story novella by Henry James doesn’t exactly scream (pun intended) “contemporary horror masterwork,” but Mike Flanagan & Co. saw something special in James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” adapting it into the nine-episode Netflix miniseries “The Haunting of Bly Manor.” To say that this is a loose adaptation of James’ novella would be putting it mildly (for a more faithful adaptation, turn to 1961’s “The Innocents” starring Deborah Kerr). Similar to what Flanagan did with “The Haunting of Hill House,” Flanagan took James’ source material, threw it in the blender, and reassembled the pieces into something new and fresh. And you know what? “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is better for it.

“Bly Manor” uses a non-linear narrative to tell the oft-told tale of a young governess who gets more than she bargained for when spooky spectres start haunting the estate. Yes, we have seen stories like this, but never exactly like this. Not by a long shot. “The Haunting of Bly Manor” belongs on this list for successfully modernizing a classic story with equal parts horror and heart.

Millions of Gen-X and millennial viewers got their first taste of the horror genre from “Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” the anthology-style horror series that closed out Nickelodeon’s iconic SNICK lineup on Saturday nights. “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” ran for 10 seasons and 104 episodes from 1991 to 1996, with revivals from 1999 to 2000 and 2019 to 2022. But the show’s spooky influence has lasted far longer than its time on TV, thanks to all-time terrifying episodes like “The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner,” “The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float,” and “The Tale of Laughing In The Dark.”

Rewatching some episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” today can still scare a grown man (basically any of the aforementioned episodes with evil clowns). But really, that’s the appeal of watching (or rewatching) “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” as an adult. It makes you feel like a kid, with all the awe, horror, and wonder that goes with it.

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” entered the pop culture conversation with a thunder clap worthy of the Upside Down when it debuted in the summer of 2016. While there have only been five seasons in the 10-ish years since, each episode has filled us with a mix of fright, excitement, and inspiration at the adventures of the 1980s Indiana preteens, teens, and, well, almost adults now. “Stranger Things” clearly takes its cues from Stephen King and Steven Spielberg as it’s laced with 1980s nostalgia, with featured roles for icons of the era, such as Sean Astin, Matthew Modine, and Winona Ryder, while also creating new stars like Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard.

What makes “Stranger Things” so impactful is that we truly care about these characters, and not just as the typical cannon fodder you typically see in horror series. Thus, when bad things (or should we say stranger things?) do inevitably happen to them, it means so much more because we care. The Duffer Brothers set out to honor the storytellers of their youth. They wound up making an all-timer of their own.

“Marianne” received the best compliment you can get in the horror genre when none other than Stephen King tweeted that it had a “Stephen King vibe.” The French horror show for Netflix was released in 2019, but got lost in the deluge of quality horror shows like Mike Flanagan’s “Haunting” mini-series and “Stranger Things.” The terrifying series deserves to be discovered for its own merits as one of the best horror shows of all time.

“Marianne” is about a famous horror novelist who returns to her hometown to discover the evil witch that haunted her in childhood is now back and hurting the people she cares about the most. “Marianne” succeeds where other similar series fail because it doubles as a poignant tale of bitterness and regret. Oh, it’s also just “very, very scary,” as King put it, with scenes that are liable to stay with you long after its eight episodes are over.

In the early ’90s, a TV writer named Chris Carter dared to ask, “What would happen if we mixed a procedural like ‘Law & Order’ with spooky and scary stories straight out of ‘The Twilight Zone’?” Okay, we doubt he literally asked that question, but he might as well have, because the result is the same: “The X-Files,” one of the best horror shows of all time. “The X-Files” has spawned a multimedia franchise that includes two movies, numerous books and comic books, and even a video game, as well as a devoted, passionate fanbase that could give Trekkies a run for their money. But the bread and butter of “The X-Files” remains the TV show, specifically its original nine-season run from 1993 to 2002 (and, to be even more specific, the first seven seasons, featuring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as full-time cast members).

While the “mythology” episodes around aliens made the show famous, it was the one-off “monster of the week” format that made it must-see TV for millions of sci-fi and horror fans. There’s no denying the show would send shivers down viewers’ spines, but we stuck with it despite the scares because we cared so much for Agent Fox Mulder and Agent Dana Scully, and still do decades later.

Mike Flanagan’s name has appeared multiple times on this list, and for good reason. His reinvention of gothic horror tales for modern audiences places him among the elite of horror storytellers. But if there’s only one of his Netflix shows that can stand above the rest, it is the one that started it all: “The Haunting of Hill House.” The 2018 miniseries is loosely based — and we do mean “loosely” — on the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, which had been adapted several times before, most notably as “The Haunting” in 1963. While Flanagan’s show did away with much of the novel’s plot, it kept its core spirit (pun intended) in its unique take on the well-worn haunted house genre.

We expected to be scared when we first watched “The Haunting of Hill House.” We just didn’t expect it to be that scary, as the show delivered a level of frights typically reserved for films. But what we certainly didn’t expect was to be so deeply moved by the finale. You’ll spend the first nine episodes screaming in terror, while the 10th and final episode will leave you crying. “The Haunting of Hill House” packs an emotional wallop that stays with you like a haunting presence.

What else could it be? “The Twilight Zone” was groundbreaking when it first premiered in 1959, and has continued to be so for more than half a century since it first appeared on screens. Its influence is felt across every show on this list, none more so than the anthology-style series that followed in its wake. Rod Serling and his writers set out to tell unnerving and thought-provoking tales whose only link was that they took place in a mysterious fifth dimension of sound, sight, and mind. 

What they did was create a shared cultural mainstay that belongs in the canon not only of great TV, but of great stories, period. From all-time classics like “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” and “It’s a Good Life,” to lesser-known stories like “The Invaders” and “Night Call,” every episode of “The Twilight Zone” made you feel something, the hallmark of great horror. What makes “The Twilight Zone” so seminal is that it could also easily appear on a greatest sci-fi show list or a best drama series countdown. Make no mistake, though: It remains the best horror TV show of all time.