The 13 Scariest TV Shows on Netflix Right Now
Want to see something really scary? Then queue up these frightening series ... if you dare!
'The Haunting of Hill House' (2018)
This addictive series about a family's traumatic past in a very haunted house builds slowly, but packs a mighty wallop. Have someone's hand to hold tight... and tissues.
'American Horror Story' (2011 - Present)
Twisty the Clown, Bloody Face, Rubber Man.... just a few of the "AHS" monsters who gave us nightmares that won't quit.
'Supernatural' (2005 - Present)
Sam and Dean Winchester have battled some truly frightening opponents, including vengeful ghosts, homicidal shape-shifters, demons who can possess your loved ones, and (a Season 1 standout) Bloody Mary herself. Watch with the lights on. The CW's longest-running series is still one of its best, especially when revisiting some of the classic earlier seasons.
'Stranger Things' (2016 - Present)
Beneath the small town of Hawkins, Indiana lie unimaginable monsters, not to mention a creepy, top-secret research facility. You're gonna need a telekinetic heroine, an axe and a baseball bat full of nails to survive.
'Dark' (2017 - Present)
Netflix's first German series, about the disappearance of two boys, is as eerie and disturbing as any Grimms' fairy tale. This noirish nightmare is one you won't soon forget.
'The Walking Dead' (2010 - Present)
Not only are there hordes of creepy undead walkers (and crawlers) to fear on this show, there's also the gut-wrenching violence and betrayal the living do to each other. Gore galore, needless to say.
'Ghoul' (2018)
In this terrifying three-part Indian series, a prisoner turns the tables on his interrogators, with grisly results.
'Penny Dreadful' (2014 - 2016)
This Victorian-era drama that combined some of our favorite horror legends -- including Dracula, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, witches, and werewolves -- went to some very dark places. If you missed its brief run on Showtime, catch up now.
'Dexter' (2006 - 2013)
A series about a guy who kills serial killers was never going to be cheery and uplifting. Though some of the most intense episodes, like that Thanksgiving ep with John Lithgow, really made us rock back and forth in a corner...
'The Twilight Zone' (1959 - 1964)
This groundbreaking series bent our minds as often as it redefined what horror is. Episodes like "The Hitch-Hiker" (pictured) -- in which a woman traveling cross-country keeps seeing the same strange man trying to thumb a ride -- still gives our spine a strong case of shivers.
'Black Mirror' (2011 - Present)
The best (and most disturbing) anthology series since "The Twilight Zone" explores the dark side of technology -- with nightmarish results. Maybe best not to binge this one.
'Tabula Rasa' (2017 - Present)
This intense (and emotionally-charged) psychological thriller from Belgium follows a young woman with amnesia struggling to clear her name (and rebuild her memory) when she becomes a key suspect in a missing persons case.
'The Returned' (2012 - Present)
People in a small French town start returning to their loved ones. The catch? They've been dead for a long time. Not your average "zombie" series at all, this nuanced scarefest might unfold too slowly for some tastes -- but, damn, does this little undead boy creep us out. (Ignore the lesser and short-lived American remake.)