If your dream weekend involves subjecting your eyeballs to abject horror and a never-leaving-your-bed situation, a) are you okay? and b) you have ARRIVED. As bone-chilling and terrifying as some scary TV shows can be, they’re just so good you can’t possibly turn them off. In no particular order, and with the understanding that you can’t blame me if you never sleep again, here are the 50 scariest, bloodiest, most disturbing, nightmare-inducing (sorry, I don’t mean to belabor a point, it’s just…accurate) TV shows that you can stream right now. “Enjoy,” lol.
Yellowjackets
Girl power takes a dark and twisted turn in Yellowjackets when a plane carrying a high school girls soccer team crashes and they find themselves stranded in the middle of the wilderness. It’s like a teen drama meets Lord of the Flies that’ll have you on the edge of your seat wondering what exactly they’ll do (and what who they’ll eat) to survive.
The Watcher
Grab your detective hats and a warm fuzzy blanket ’cause this bone-chilling mystery is one you’ll want to dive into. Based on a still-unsolved real-life story, the show tells the saga of
The Watcher, a stalker obsessed with a house (and its inhabitants), sending them a series of creepy and harassing letters that’ll send a shiver down your spine. And when things start happening to the family IRL, it seems like The Watcher isn’t limiting his rage to the written word.
The Last of Us
In a world overrun by zombies, Joel (played by the dreamy Pedro Pascal) sets out on a mission with Ellie (played by the amazing Bella Ramsey) that could potentially save humanity. It’s like a post-apocalyptic road trip filled with nail-biting action, emotional rollercoasters, and some gory deaths ofc. Even if zombie shows aren’t normally your thing, you’ll wanna watch this one, trust me!
The Horror of Delores Roach
This new series from Amazon clearly has a Sweeney Todd influence so if that’s not something you can, ahem, sink your teeth into, then this may be a bit too scary. That said, it’s REALLY good. It follows Dolores Roach, who’s freshly released from an unjust prison sentence and starts up her own massage business, but it’s not too long before things take a deadly turn.
Chucky
If the seemingly endless stream of Chucky movies isn’t enough to satisfy your killer doll craving, then the TV series will definitely hit the spot. When 14-year-old Jake buys a vintage Chucky doll at a New Jersey yard sale that just so happens to be possessed by the soul of a serial killer, the murderous toy sets out on a killing spree. As if that’s not bad enough, Jake (and some of his classmates) start getting tied to the deadly events.
From
On a cross-country road trip, the Matthews family finds themselves having to detour through a tiny town in middle America after a fallen tree blocks their path. They try to leave but find themselves somehow driving endlessly in circles, and soon realize they’re stuck in the nightmarish town, along with all the other residents who got trapped there the same way.
The Outsider
If you like your scary shows with a side of murder mystery, this has got to be on your watch list. When a small town is rocked by a gruesome murder, all the evidence points to one guy. But here’s the thing: he has a rock-solid alibi! It’s like the ultimate mind puzzle that’ll make you question everything.
Dead Ringers
This show is based on the 1988 movie of the same name, but this time, the identical twin gynecologists are played by a woman (Rachel Weisz, to be exact). They’re on a mission to change how women give birth, and things err on the side of being, well, a little gory and questionably unethical? You’ll likely be pushed out of your comfort zone, but it’s worth it.
Servant
If Child’s Play meets The Nanny Diaries sounds like something that’d be up your alley, then you’ll wanna pop on Servant. Picture this: a couple hires a nanny to take care of their baby, but here’s the catch—the baby is actually a creepy lifelike doll they started using after losing their 13-week-old son. Increasingly suspicious things start happening and Leanne, the woman who lost her baby, begins to look mighty suspicious.
Mayfair Witches
Who doesn’t love something a little witchy? When Rowan Fielding, a young neurosurgeon, finds out she’s actually their heir to a family of powerful witches, she has to face the dark and sinister spirit that’s been haunting her.
Requiem
This is the perfect combination of supernatural thriller and family drama that will leave you mildly terrified of everyone and everything. It’s about a Welsh cellist whose mother commits suicide and as she’s going through her mother’s possessions, she’s lead down a spooky path that has her questioning her own identity.
You
If you haven’t seen You by now, then what have you even been doing?! Yes, Penn Badgley’s piercingly-dark-but-also-somehow-totally-dead eyes will haunt your nightmares, but watching his cute crush turn into something wildly sinister is like a car wreck that you just can’t look away from. And with a third season coming out this month, there’s plenty to binge…if you can handle it.
Behind Her Eyes
What could be more perfect for a psychological thriller than a show involving a scary psychiatrist? Louise, a single mom who’s working at a psychiatrist’s office, starts an affair with her boss. She then also becomes good friends with his wife. Messy, right?? Well, things only get darker from there as the love triangle intensifies and secrets start to come out.
The Purge
If The Purge movies didn’t terrify you to your core (or if you’re into that sort of thing) then the TV show is a must-watch. The first season follows several people as they navigate the 12-hour period where all crime (including murder!) is legal. The second season then goes through the aftermath and it’s…bleak.
Ratched
Sarah Paulson absolutely kills it as Nurse Ratched in this origin story of how the unhinged, creepy nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest came to be. You get to see her take a job at a spooky psychiatric hospital that does some not-so-ethical experiments on people, and she slowly devolves into the monster we know she eventually becomes.
Who Killed Sara?
If real life crime stories aren’t scary enough, then this Spanish show will do it for you. It’s about a man who, after being framed for his sister’s murder and spending 18 years in prison, is on a mission to find the real culprit and get some long-awaited revenge.
The Strain
There’s a new virus outbreak spreading, but this one causes people to turn into evil vampires. A team is called in to investigate and are then tasked with having to save humanity. This show was scary before but after last year, it’s even scarier.
The Haunting of Hill House
Aka the reason you haven’t been sleeping since October 2018. Based on the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, the series centers around a group of siblings who grew up in what would become the most famous haunted house in the country. Truly, this show will make you think twice the next time you enter a giant old mansion (you know, in case that’s something you do on the regular).
The Haunting of Bly Manor
Netflix’s follow-up to The Haunting of Hill House is loosely based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, and stars many of the same cast—including Victoria Pedretti. Bly Manor (also about a haunted house, naturally) is sliiiiiiiiightly less hide-under-your-covers-in-fear levels of scary, but I still don’t recommend watching it alone unless you don’t value things like “sleep” and “sanity.”
Monsterland
Oh this? Just Hulu’s terrifying new anthology horror series, which is as creepy as it is atmospheric. Every story features a different ~monster~ but my personal favorite stars Taylor Schilling and Roberta Colindrez as a couple whose relationship…uh…disintegrates, if you will.
Lovecraft Country
No spoilers, but this ingeniously plotted series from executive-producer Jordan Peele follows Atticus Freeman as he contends with both racial horrors and supernatural horrors (in the form of very scary monsters). The show is brilliant, the cast is brilliant, the season finale is wild, and while yes—it’s scary—it’s a must watch.
Unsolved Mysteries
Netflix rebooted this classic show, which is scary for several reasons including but not limited to the fact that these are TRUE CRIMES that are UNSOLVED. I had to stop watching after episode 1 due to being an actual baby, but good luck!
Locke & Key
If your tolerance for scary shows is, like, that of a fearful middle schooler (me), then you might as well ty Locke & Key. Like Netflix’s Haunting shows, it’s *also* about kids in a creepy old house—but the vibe is slightly more PG-13 than Rated FML.
The Twilight Zone
Before Black Mirror, there was The Twilight Zone, one of the original anthology series that first aired in the late 1950s. Three revivals have been done since, most recently, the genius Jordan Peele’s 2019 remake, which dropped its eerie second season this summer.
Castle Rock
No one does horror better than Stephen King, so Hulu went ahead and adapted his Castle Rock stories for your terrifying viewing pleasure. Again, no spoilers because you should definitely watch the show, but it’s all kinds of small-town eerie and yes, it involves murder and a creepy kid.
True Detective
You know how there are certain shows that are so damn scary you have to watch them in broad daylight? And then give yourself a palate cleanser with several therapeutic episodes of The Office in order to come down from your horror high? True Detective is one of those shows. To this day, I can’t look at Matthew McConaughey without screaming.
Penny Dreadful
Penny Dreadful features vampires, reanimated corpses, and various creatures from the underworld—so unless that delightful assortment sounds totally mild to you, yeah. It’s scary as f*ck. Like, would I prefer to watch a TV show where people aren’t murdered and possessed every episode? Probably! But here we are.
The Fall
Hi and welcome to the show where Fifty Shades of Grey’s very own Jamie Dornan plays a serial murderer. Terrifying, but Gillian Anderson saying lines like this make it easier to stomach: “We’ve chosen to work in a masculine, paramilitary, patriarchal culture. Let’s not let it beat us.” CLAP-CLAP-CLAP.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Yes, the special effects in Buffy might seem a liiiiiiittle dated in 2022, but trust. That does not make the show any less terrifying. I learned this the hard way by innocently sitting down for an episode while home alone the other evening. Haven’t slept since due to being pretty sure vampires are coming to eat me.
Mindhunter
Here’s the thing about Mindhunter Seasons 1 & 2. All those serial killers whose minds are being hunted? They’re real-life people, some of whom are sitting behind bars right now for torturing, killing, and assaulting their victims. It’s basically impossible to watch this show without staying up all night terrified, so have fun, bye.
Bates Motel
This show is a contemporary prequel to Psycho, but it’s about so much more than the film’s nearly 60-year-old shower scene (and TBH, you don’t have to watch the film to feel the effects of the show’s disturbing revelations). If there’s anything scarier than the twisted plots and surprises Bates Motel lays out over five seasons, it’s knowing what’s in store for the mother-and-son duo by the time they catch up to the events of the famous Hitchcock movie.
Stranger Things
Fans of ‘80s horror have had a smorgasbord of goodies to devour ever since Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in 2016. Three seasons later (and with a fourth on the way…hopefully), it’s still unclear what’s more terrifying: the Shadow Monster (who’s been getting impatient in the Upside Down), how Will can’t seem to catch a break, or the fact that Lucas’ sister Erica is about to unleash more roasts on her victims.
American Horror Story: Murder House
To date, the first season of AHS is the best, hands down. This could be due to all the jump scares, the existence of Queen Jessica Lange, or the insane way Murder House wrapped with the surviving Harmon twin. The ninth (and latest) season, titled 1984, is inspired by slasher movies from the—you guessed it—’80s. Think: Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. Oof, I’m already sweating.
The Walking Dead
The post-apocalyptic series, based on Robert Kirkman’s comic books of the same name, forever changed the standards of the zombie horror genre when it premiered in 2010. The pilot of The Walking Dead remains one of the greatest episodes of television. Honestly, with all the sheer terror that’s gone down since, it makes one miss the good ‘ol days of season one, when no one had a clue what was going on, and when Glenn was still alive. Love you forever, Glenn.
Dark
The German series has been called Stranger Things for grown-ups, but we all know horror does not have an age requirement! Following the disappearance of two children in a small town, four families are the center of attention, along with their dark pasts, relationships, and yes, double lives. The show divides its time between 2019, 1986, and 1953 (time travel FTW), but now is not the time for excitement. Have you learned nothing from Hawkins, Indiana? Wormholes are dangerous!
Channel Zero
Drawing from popular creepypastas of the world (horror-themed stories/things shared on the internet, naturally), the Syfy anthology series has covered everything from a creature made up of teeth to a hidden cellar door that reveals the worst of anyone’s nightmares.
Twin Peaks
When popular student Laura Palmer is found naked and wrapped in plastic in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, FBI special agent Dale Cooper is put in charge of solving the mystery—only to uncover another world of super messed-up people and things that may or may not be there. The character of Bob alone is enough to haunt you for weeks.
Hannibal
If you’ve seen Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” music video, you know that Mads Mikkelsen thrives when blood and horror are involved. As Hannibal Lecter, Mikkelsen makes a, uh, case for the serial killer. No, really: you will question why you feel the way you feel whenever he’s killing, cooking, and eating his victims. And to think the show got away with this stuff on NBC. Brilliant!
Black Mirror
Beyond the most talked-about episode, “San Junipero,” Black Mirror has been the home to several, high quality scare-fests. I’m still recovering from “Playtest,” the choose-your-own-adventure episode, not to mention “Metalhead,” in which robotic guard dogs decide it’s time to hunt humans.
The X-Files
More sci-fi than horror, The X-Files still had a strong foot in the horror door. Mulder and Scully’s paranormal cases often came with gruesome non-alien creatures, too—like that demon who had a crush on Scully in season seven.
True Blood
Vampire horror is a tricky genre to master, but True Blood made it look bloody easy (HAH). No, really: the show was pretty much a blood-fest. When everyone wasn’t “fang-banging,” engaged in orgies, or getting fairies pregnant, the fictional town of Bon Temps was the bloodiest place to be.
Silverpoint
This CBBC show has all the makings of a quintessential teen investigator trope, but transplants it to an eerie summer camp. TL;DR: a boy sets out to find what happened 23 years after a group of four kids vanished into the woods without a trace. What can go wrong, amirite?!
American Horror Story: 1984
The American Horror Story anthology series recently debuted its latest installment, which tells the story of a group of teens who are enlisted as counselors at the newly reopened Camp Redwood. However, things quickly take a turn for the spookier when we find out that not only is the camp known for an infamous massacre—which culls major inspo from the real-life serial killings perpetrated by Richard Ramirez, aka “the Night Stalker”—, but it also has a decades-old curse that makes it impossible for visitors to die…or leave, for that matter.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
You’re def gonna wanna watch this one if you’ve seen the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch series. In this modern-day iteration, Sabrina (yes, she has the same name!!), who is played by Kiernan Shipka, is tasked with finding her footing in both the human world and her new world of witchcraft. Once she turns 16, she has to choose whether or not to sign her name in the Book of the Beast and over to the Dark Lord, who actually has some ulterior motives up his sleeve. Far from the original classic teen drama, this take is definitely a lot darker. Happy watching!
Midnight Mass
Mike Flanagan (who created The Haunting of Hill House *and* The Haunting of Bly Manor btw) has done it yet again with his third miniseries for Netflix. Set on a small fishing island with a cultish religious sect, things take a chilling turn when a new pastor arrives. Color me intrigued!
Slasher
Put simply, it’s like the Canadian version of American Horror Story lol. An anthology series that depicts a different mystery every season wherein a group of people tries to figure out the identity of a masked killer before…well, getting murdered, it’s bound to keep you on your toes. And just when you think you’ve cracked the code on one season, there’s a brand new one that awaits. How comforting!
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
One of the great masters of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock sure knows how to tell a harrowing story. In this series, the writer himself narrates myriad stories—from sinister thrillers to downright scary tales. If you’re into iconic title sequences, macabre themes, and a narrator whose voice may or may not haunt your dreams, this one’s for you.
The White Lotus
This Emmy Award-winning series is part murder mystery, part sharp social satire, which is kind of what makes is so iconic (well, that and the A-list cast it managed to get). Following various employees and guests at an exclusive Hawaiian resort over the span of one totally life-changing week, the series’s six episodes gradually reveal the complex truths of the seemingly picture-perfect characters. TL;DR: you’re gonna go from 😍 to 😱 real quick.
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
This series recently just ranked as the second most-watched English language title in Netflix’s history. So, yeah, it’s def terrifying. Dahmer tells the real-life story of a Milwaukee serial killer who murdered 17 boys and men between the years 1978 and 1991. It not only goes into detail about the felon’s childhood and relationship with his parents, but it humanizes Dahmer’s victims and exposes the experiences of those who alerted authorities but were ignored because of racial bias and prejudice in the justice system.
Entertainment Writer
Peggy is Cosmopolitan.com’s entertainment writer, specializing in Leonardo DiCaprio, This Is Us, and the royals. She’s also a proud Canadian and pug lover. When Peggy’s not obsessing over Leo’s latest lover or gut size, she can be found watching old episodes of Friends or Gilmore Girls. Her dream is to one day live on a pug farm and write children’s books, with illustrations by her very talented husband Greg.
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
Laura is a NYC-based freelance writer. When she’s not binging the latest true crime docu-series, she’s obsessing over all things Harry Styles, RHONY, and John Mulaney. You can follow her on Instagram @lauraehanrahan