13 Best Horror Anthology TV Series
These are the best horror anthology series you can watch right now.
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An anthology series is a television series in which each episode or season is a self-contained story. This means you don’t have to see previous installments to jump in anywhere. In the realm of horror, anthology series have been a source for viewers to get a cocktail of suspense, terror and the unknown. While a full-length series are fun to binge-watch occasionally, these shows offer more bite-sized scary stories you can enjoy in one sitting. There are themes for nearly every horror fan, from psychological thrillers to supernatural encounters, haunted houses, and dystopian futures. Not only are these entertaining tales, but many of the shows below are also thought-provoking, sometimes blending the unknown with realistic societal fears.
Here are the best horror anthology TV series you can watch now:
The Twilight Zone
This black and white show produced by and presented by Rod Serling was a huge hit when it initially aired from 1959 to 1964, and it’s still thought of as one of the greatest TV series of all time. Each episode has a different plot, though they all feature ordinary people finding themselves in bizarre -and unsettling- situations that test their comprehension of reality. It’s a blend of futuristic societies, space travel, dreams, the afterlife, time travel, cautionary tales of conformity, and more. In the first episode, a man panics when he discovers he’s the only one in a small town without any memory of who he is or how he got there.
The Twilight Zone has had three revivals: in 1985, 2002 and 2019.
American Horror Story
American Horror Story is arguably one of the most popular modern horror anthology series. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk in 2011, this uniquely crafted show is essentially a set of self-contained miniseries. Each season follows a different concept, some of which are even based on true events. Themes like social prejudices, mental health, witchcraft, addiction, and political manipulation within the show create the perfect amalgamation of fictional terror with real-life horror. Season one, titled Murder House, follows a family living in their beautiful new home. Unbeknownst to them, the house is haunted, and their uninvited housemates are unable to leave.
American Horror Stories
After seeing the success of American Horror Story, producer Ryan Murphy created the spinoff American Horror Stories, which is unrelated to his original show. Unlike its counterpart, this series tells a different story throughout the season. Each tale is roughly one or two episodes long, all with eerie supernatural topics blended with authentic dread. The first two episodes, titled Rubber (Wo)man: Part One and Part Two, chronicle the journey of a teenager and her two dads moving into a new home with a haunting past. Soon, the darkness takes over them all.
Tales From the Crypt
Nearly every horror fan can recall the short, decaying zombie with glowing blue eyes known as The Cryptkeeper. He entertains the audience with a few corny puns before the episodes, which are based on stories from the gruesome 1950s E.C. comic book series of the same name. 90s stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Paxton, Brad Dourif, Brad Pitt, Brooke Shields, Catherine O’Hara, Demi Moore, Jada Pinkett Smith, John Stamos, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Natasha Richardson, Steve Buscemi, Tim Curry, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg and many more appeared.
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Some series have mastered the art of inducing fear through jump scares, while others achieve the same effect with stunning yet terrifying visuals and compelling storytelling. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities falls into the latter category, with each episode portraying a modern horror story steeped in the traditions of Gothic and Grand Guignol genres. The first episode, Lot 36, is about a xenophobic veteran who purchases leftover items in an abandoned storage shed. His lack of empathy and greed led him to unleash a menacing demon he struggles to escape from. You don’t want to miss the terrifying but highly satisfying ending.
See also: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’, Ranked
Black Mirror
Who are you when you turn off the technology and all that’s left is you staring into the dark reflection of your television, laptop, or cell phone? This is the concept behind this dark series. Not only are the stories beautifully laid out with immersive storytelling and acting, it allows you to look inward at your own views, morals, and self as a whole. You also see the unsettling downsides of modern technology and get a perspective of the darker aspects of society. Some viewers recommend waiting before starting episode one, The National Anthem, because it is undoubtedly one of the most uncomfortable and jaw-dropping narratives in the whole series.
Two Sentence Horror Stories
The premise of Two Sentence Horror Stories makes this series a truly one-of-a-kind hair-raising ride. Each 20-minute episode reveals a chilling new plot that touches on common anxieties but with a creepy twist. At the end, they sum up the entirety of the story in two sentences, hence the name of the show. The first episode chronicles the journey of a woman named Hana, who starts dating a new man. Initially, he seemed like a sweet guy, but his behavior takes a disturbing turn after the second date. Luckily, Hana has an alarming secret of her own.
Creeped Out
Creeped Out is another anthology series with standalone episodes, this time aimed at kids 11 and up. Each story has elements of adventure, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery told in a way that appeals to young viewers. All of the episodes feature a different teen or tween attempting to work through eerie situations like cursed puppets, sentient cellphones, or not-so-imaginary friends.
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
This iconic children’s horror series first aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996 and had two revivals, one in 1999 and one in 2019. Each episode features a frame story about a teen club called The Midnight Society who meet in the woods to scare each other by telling creepy stories around a fire. The stories are then acted out by a different cast of characters.
Slasher
If you love a good murder mystery, Slasher is a series that provides an abundance of suspense, intensity, and violence in every episode. Across each season, there’s an unknown figure, driven by the desire to extinguish the lives of their unsuspecting victims, though the motives are often unclear. However, each season is distinctive and explores varying concepts. The first season, The Executioner, is set in a small town where a mysterious man terrorizes the inhabitants.
Channel Zero
Scary stories and new legends took a new flight nearly immediately after we were first introduced to the internet. What started with chain emails eventually grew into an entire subgenre we know today as creepypastas. Channel Zero took some of the most famous pieces of this written horror content and spun it into an unsettling story to unfold each season. The first season, Candle Cove, tells the story of a child psychologist who becomes obsessed with recollecting a mysterious kid’s TV show from the 70s that seemingly connects to his brother’s disappearance.
Masters of Horror
Masters of Horror combines the eerie nature of horror with a dash of dark comedy sprinkled throughout the series. Each episode is like an hour-long film created by an iconic filmmaker in the genre. Episode one, Incident On and Off a Mountain Road, takes you on a haunting journey when the events of a woman’s car crash lead her to discover a serial killer disposing of a body.
Creepshow
Fans of the iconic 1980s horror movie will already be familiar with Creepshow. These stories each have an unbelievable twist. There are two stories in each episode, all inspired by the pages of the comic book of the same name. Some recurring themes include dysfunctional families, greed, and the dangers of being a bit too ambitious – all of which are made worse with supernatural elements thrown in the mix.
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