Movies have always been better known for terrorizing us than television, but we don’t need to look back at Alfred Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone to get our thrills from the small screen anymore.
TV is delivering scares in a big way.
Whether you are afraid of dreams, vampires, serial killers, things that go bump in the night, demons, robots or TV itself, you can find something that will frighten you half to death.
The Exorcist – FOX
Hey, what if we take the scariest movie of all time, make you care about about a family suffering a similar fate and prove they’re in the same universe, and then slowly reveal there’s a lot more to this story than you imagined. Hooked, reel us in and get ready to be terrorised even more than we were with that train scene!
Channel Zero: Candle Cove – Syfy
Remember those fun TV shows with puppets you watched as a kid? What if they only existed in your head and made you and your friends do crazy stuff you’re only learning about as an adult? Awesome.
American Horror Story – FX
Whether they’re in a house pumped full of ghosts, an old asylum, traveling with a freak show, following a coven of witches or putting a new spin on the old mysteries of Roanake, AHS is going to scare the pants off of you.
Westworld – HBO
You know what’s scarier than a rogue robot that looks just like a human? An actual human without any filter or remorse. Really.
Z Nation – Syfy
Yeah, this one gets silly, but wasn’t it about time somebody did? With all the shows about zombies out there, nobody stopped to think about how ludicrous the idea was while still creeping us the eff out.
Van Helsing – Syfy
She has the family name, and her resurrection plops her down right in the middle of a worldwide vampire takeover. She’s humanities last hope. Have fun, Vanessa!
Salem – WGN America
When you sell your soul to the devil and help to usher in the age of witches in a little town called Salem, things don’t go so well for you. Thus it is for Mary Sibley, who will find herself dead and gone, but not forgotten as the power struggle rages on for Season 3.
Stranger Things – Netflix
Winona Ryder lost her kid in a wall, and a strange girl shows up in town, not too talkative, who might be able to help. Or something. Think of every Steven Spielberg movie mooshed into one, and you’re on the right track.
Scream – MTV
While it’s questionable if we’re screaming as much as one would think while watching the TV version of the successful movie franchise, the little town has been put through the ringer and death is definitely on the menu.
Aftermath – Syfy
The apocalypse is nigh for the Copeland family. It comes by way of a hurricane, followed by strange supernatural creatures that pluck their children right up off the ground, plagues and every other disaster you can imagine. Booo to the apocalypse!
Ash vs Evil Dead – Starz
Remember Evil Dead? That dunderhead Ash and his friends (all of whom perished other than Ashy Slashy) who found the necromonicon and actually read from it? Turns out, Ash held onto it and didn’t think never reading from it again was the best of all options. He has a kickass team and the gore only competes with some of the funniest lines on TV.
The Walking Dead – AMC
Once upon a time, walkers seemed scary. Now they’re kind of nice to have around. Because we’ve met Negan, and much like the terror in Westworld, nothing is more horrific in this crumbling society than humanity.
Scream Queens – FOX
For some reason, dudes and ladies like to dress up in costumes and take out all of ther old vengeance issues on Chanel, her gang of Chanels and everyone around them, Slasher style.
Falling Water – USA
You have really vivid dreams, so you join a dream study, learn to enter and cruise around others’ dreams. Then you discover you and two others hold the key to the fate of the world based upon they’re seeing in their common dream. Very cool.
From Dusk Till Dawn – El Rey
A reimagining of the 1996 movie of the same name, vampires were only the beginning of the darkness found on this El Ray channel original series.
Wynonna Earp – Syfy
Yes, she is related to Wyatt, and she’s heading back to Purgatory to take over the reins a demon hunter, but not just any demons. She’s a protector of her home town against the souls of criminals her great grandfather took out once before. Nifty, right?
The Magicians – Syfy
Quentin and his new friends at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy have to band together and cope with magical things when it gets out of hand after a catastrophe at their school.
Outcast – Cinemax
Kyle has been possessed by demons since he was a child. While he searches for redemtion, he hides from the outside world so he protects the people he loves. But while he delves into his past to figure things out, what he discovers could affect the fate of the world.
The Strain – FX
Again with humanity’s fate and the vampires, Dr. Eph Goodweather has been fighting against a strange virus that infects people and turns them into vampires for three years now. Will the humans or strigoi with the battle to inhabit New York City?
