If the success of Squid Game has taught us anything, it’s that audiences love a good series. In the last several years, horror series have become all the rage, and Netflix has become one of the biggest homes for serial scares. From genre bending horror comedies to animated terrors, Netflix has something for anyone with a love of the greatest ghoulish genre. In our attempt to highlight a wide variety of available shows, here are seven of the best original horror series streaming on Netflix, in no particular order.
New additions to the list will be added to the top and marked with an asterisks. And when you're done here, be sure to check out our list of the 100 Best Horror Movies Ever.
Best Movies on Netflix by Genre:
Please note: This list pertains to U.S. Netflix subscribers. Some titles may not currently be available on international platforms. This article is frequently amended to remove shows no longer streaming on Netflix, and to include more horror TV series that are now available on the service
Brand New Cherry Flavor
If you liked the film Malignant, Channel Zero and Chucky’s Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion’s limited series Brand New Cherry Flavor is right up your alley. Based on Todd Grimson’s book of the same name, Brand New Cherry Flavor is a horror drama about a budding female filmmaker who moves to Hollywood in the early 1990s to make her debut feature, but ends up falling down a hallucinatory nightmare world of sex, magic, revenge, and puking kittens. Rosa Salazar absolutely shines as Lisa N. Nova, but it’s Catherine Keener’s Boro that will keep you up at night.
Castlevania
You don't need to be an anime fanatic to appreciate this series, which finally proves that video game adaptations can do justice to the source material. A (very) loose adaptation of Castlevania III on the NES, this series brings together three vampire-hunting heroes in a quest to rid the land of Wallachia from Dracula's scourge. Stylish action and surprisingly deep characterization both help Castlevania soar. Whether in live-action or animation, Dracula has rarely been this sympathetic a villain.
Netflix has confirmed it's developing a Castlevania spinoff. The new series is set in 1792 France against the backdrop of the French Revolution.
Dark
Netflix’s international fare is among some of its best offerings, and the three seasons of the German science fiction thriller, Dark, is undoubtedly one of their strongest. Running for only three seasons, Dark tells the story of the sinful past of a small German town after two children go missing, exposing the secrets and supernatural history of the area…including time travel. Dark’s name is appropriate, because this thrilling horror series is emotionally taxing, to put it kindly, due to its incredibly dark themes and storylines. Dark is one of the best overall shows on Netflix, but the need for subtitles likely contributes to its lack of public consciousness. Do yourself a favor, read the subtitles, and experience Dark.
The Haunting of Hill House
Ghost stories are hard to pull off with modern audiences, but Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House is the supernatural story perfected. Flanagan delivers a perfect balance of genuine scares, but also the necessary catharsis that draws so many fans to the genre. The horror that exists in Hill House is not reserved only for undead spirits, but also trauma, grief, mental illness, dishonesty, and generational turmoil. Flanagan cares less about overloading with jump scares or high-octane terror and instead focuses on a sense of dread that creeps underneath your skin, and stays there, a constant reminder that the true horror of Hill House is that the things that haunt us are not confined to a single house.
Midnight Mass
While we’re on the subject of Mike Flanagan, his newest series Midnight Mass was the talk of the Halloween season. A struggling and isolated small town is thrown into a renewed religious fervor after a charismatic albeit mysterious priest arrives and brings unexplainable miracles. Flanagan uses horror as a vehicle to explore themes of sorrow, mortality, faith, and finding hope when all feels lost. The series is inspired by Flanagan’s own experience as an altar boy and finding sobriety later in life, and is home to some of his most terrifying characters yet. (I’m looking at you, Bev Keane).
Santa Clarita Diet
Canceling this series after three seasons is one of the biggest mistakes Netflix has ever made and this is a hill I will happily die on. Drew Barrymoore and Timothy Olyphant star as a married couple of realtors named Sheila and Joel living a run-of-the mill upper class life raising their teenage daughter in Santa Clarita, California. Everything changes after Sheila inexplicably dies but upon consuming human meat, finds herself looking and feeling better than ever before. The hijinks of this family trying to keep Sheila’s living zombie needs a secret really hit its stride in season 2, with the third season ending on the highest possible note, but a frustrating cliffhanger after Netflix canned the show in 2019. Regardless, it’s a wonderful horror comedy and deserves far more love than it received
Stranger Things
Until Squid Game came to play, the biggest success story on Netflix came in the form of Stranger Things. As fans eagerly await the fourth season due out in 2022, it’s important to remember why the show became such a cultural phenomenon. On the surface, the explosion of Stranger Things love could easily be attributed to its expression of 80s nostalgia, but Stranger Things is so much more than just a cool aesthetic. Elements of horror, science-fiction, and mystery are all intertwined in a series that’s ultimately about coming-of-age, and learning the harsh realities of the world that exist beyond childhood. There’s a reason we keep coming back season after season, and a reason why Eleven costumes still dominate every Halloween season. Let’s face it, Stranger Things is legitimately wonderful.
How We Pick the Best Horror TV Shows on Netflix
We've combed through the Netflix lineup for the most varied horror lineup we can find. The goal is to spotlight both original series like The Haunting of Hill House and Castlevania and popular TV fare like Bates Motel and Supernatural. The goal is to have something for horror fans of all tastes, whether you prefer your horror to focus on the mystical, undead zombies and monsters, or good, old-fashioned man.
