The horror anthology series from AMC,The Terror, had a wave of increased popularity after being added to Netflix, and the streaming platform has done a lot for the TV show’s notoriety. One of the most memorable parts ofThe Terroris its ghoulish and thrilling tone that sets it apart from other historical seriesthat incorporate supernatural elements. However,The Terroris hardly the first series to use these themes to its advantage. Whether they’re set in the past or not, there are many strong TV shows that include creepy settings and storylines with impactful performances to match.
Supernatural horror TV shows rely on their imagery and mysterious narrative to capture the audience’s attention, but the performances of the central characters are just as important.
Supernatural horror TV shows rely on their imagery and mysterious narrative to capture the audience’s attention, but the performances of the central characters are just as important.The cast and characters ofThe Terrorare new every season, but it doesn’t take long for the series to establish who the people in the story are and why the audience should care about them. Horror series don’t have to be explicitly violent or graphic to scare the audience, asthe implication of incoming threats can be just as powerful to raise the stakes.
10The North Water (2021)
This dramatic miniseries blends horror with natural elements
The North Wateris based on the novel of the same name by Ian McGuire, and the narrative lends itself remarkably well to a screen adaptation. Starring Colin Farrell and Jack O’Connell,the show follows the events of a whaling ship in the 1800sthat ends up trapped in freezing conditions and violent situations. Everyone in the crew is running from something, but there are a few characters who have let themselves succumb to their darkest impulses and take it out on the rest of the people aboard the ship.
InThe North Water,the show directly addresses the darkness of humanity instead of using fantasy as a metaphor.
It remains to be seen how thestory ofThe Terrorseason 3will connect with the previous seasons and the enduring theme of the ocean and natural world. However,The North Waterdraws many parallels betweenThe Terrorseason 1,except the horrors of the sea are brought upon the characters by themselves, not supernatural forces. InThe North Water,the show directly addresses the darkness of humanity instead of using fantasy as a metaphor.
1
96%
86%
Yellowjackets
Cast
Yellowjackets is a television series exploring the survival ordeal of a high school girls' soccer team stranded in the remote wilderness after a plane crash. It interweaves psychological horror and coming-of-age themes, simultaneously depicting their harrowing transformation and its lasting impact on their lives 25 years later.
After crashing in the wilderness in Canada in the 1990s, a high school girls' soccer team struggles to survive and stay sane inYellowjackets.The series is an updated take onLord of the Flieswith a supernatural twist,as the things the women do to stay alive in their teens come back to haunt the adult versions of the characters in the parallel story in the present day.Yellowjacketshas been consistently highlighted for its casting, as the young actors and their adult counterparts are eerily similar.
WhileYellowjacketswould be scary enough without the fantastical elements, mysterious circumstances continue to plague the team in the woods. Unsure if there’s a malevolent force pulling them back to the woods or if the darkness is simply inside them,the mystery of how the surviving characters made it out of isolation is still up in the air.The Terrorhas been more explicit in its horror and fantasy aspects thanYellowjackets, but the dedication to bringing ’90s elements into the wilderness is close to how the time periods are handled inThe Terror.
100%
73%
2
93%
42%
10 Yellowjackets Characters Most Likely To Die Before The Show Ends, Ranked
Both Yellowjackets timelines are full of shocking twists and even unexpected main character deaths, which means no one is safe until the finale.
1899
1899 is a period piece drama that centers around a ship full of immigrants headed to the new land and entering the new century. Riding on the steamship Kerebos, the multilingual passengers contemplate how their lives will differ in this new era. However, when the ship comes across a missing vessel known as the Prometheus, the passengers will be taken through several mysterious experiences and drag them through their worst nightmares.
The characters in1899are aboard a ship traveling from the U.K. to New York,but tragedy and mystery strike on the open ocean, trapping the story’s heroes. This is close to both stories inThe Terror, seasons 1 and 2, as season 1 takes place on the HMSTerrorwhile it searches for the Northwest Passage, and season 2 follows the experiences of a Japanese-American family living off the Pacific coast during World War II. There’s something particularly chilling about being trapped at sea with nowhere to turn.
1899sets itself apart by including a diverse array of characters from all across the world who are aboard the ship to the U.S.
1899sets itself apart by including a diverse array of characters from all across the world who are aboard the ship to the U.S. Their differing stories and histories make for intriguing background asthe audience simultaneously learns more about the passengers while they delve into deeper danger.As much about its characters and it is the strange occurrences happening to them,1899tells a thrilling tale despite being canceled before its time.
77%
75%
Them
The new story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…
Themis formatted more closely toThe Terrorthan other horror series, as it’s an anthology and set in the past. However,Themis set in the ’50s in season 1 and the ’90s in season 2, so the history it explores is much more recent and compelling.The series is in conversation with how racial prejudice in the U.S., specifically in Los Angeles, reared its headin different but equally insidious ways during different moments in the past. While season 1 set the tone for the story successfully, season 2 has received even more praise and notoriety.
Season 2 saw Deborah Ayorinde, Pam Grier, and Luke James take center stage,with Ayorinde continuing her starring role from season 1 as a new character. She plays an LAPD detective, Dawn Reeve, investigating a murder, and as in the first installment, there’s something sinister happening behind the scenes. Her world and family are turned upside down throughout the story, and clear parallels can be drawn between what was happening politically and socially during this time and the metaphor of the monsters who target Dawn and her loved ones.
58%
69%
88%
Penny Dreadful
Penny Dreadful is a gothic horror thriller series that follows characters forced to brave historic British literature creations in Victorian London. Centering on Vanessa Ives across the series, the show has Vanessa and her allies face-to-face with supernatural entities that will challenge their reality while dealing with their own personal demons.
The seriesPenny Dreadfultakes its name from the short fictional books that were sold predominantly in the U.K.in the 1800s, which were full of violence, gore, and mythical creatures. Set in London in the late 19th century,Penny Dreadfuluses the familiar creatures and characters from the literature it’s loosely based on, with the likes of Dorian Gray, Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, and many more gracing the screen. Starring Eva Green as Vanessa Ives, the series raises the stakes every season for thrilling results.
ThoughPenny Dreadfulisn’t an anthology, it brings new characters into the fold every season and explores new facets of its mysterious story in every corner of the world.
Familiar actors join Green, including Timothy Dalton, Josh Hartnett, and Billie Piper,creating a memorable ensemble cast that plays off each other well and builds out the story’s world. ThoughPenny Dreadfulisn’t an anthology, it brings new characters into the fold every season and explores new facets of its mysterious story in every corner of the world. This is reminiscent of howThe Terrorimbues historical elements into its monstrous narrative and presents a new tale every season.
81%
3
94%
87%
5Hemlock Grove (2013–2015)
Social class and the supernatural are brought into the spotlight in Hemlock Grove
In the imagined setting of Hemlock Grove, the town’s wealthy elite look down upon the people in poverty. However, this social issue rooted in realism is only the beginning of the town’s supernatural problems. After Peter Rumancek (Landon Liboiron) arrives in town,two young women are murdered, and everyone in town is suspicious of the newcomer,especially Hemlock Grove’s elite family, the Godfreys. However, Roman Godfrey (Bill Skarsgård) offers to help Peter solve the murders despite his secret.
Peter is a werewolf, but he’s far from the only otherworldly creature in Hemlock Grove, as many of the characters soon realize they’re connected to monsters out of a fairy tale. Though it was never a hit with critics,Hemlock Grovegarnered a decent following, though it only ran for three seasons.The series premiered when Netflix was gaining recognition for its original series. Shows likeHemlock Grovedemonstrated that Netflix could house supernatural and fantasy shows, making it exciting when projects likeThe Terrorare added to the streamer.
26%
67%
55%
76%
33%
48%
Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow is a supernatural drama series that centers around the tale of the same name. Bound by blood to a man only known as the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane, an American Revolutionary War soldier who has been dead for two and a half centuries, is pulled from the grave by an unknown force and finds himself in modern times, alone and alive, and must team with the local deputy, Abbie Mills, to track down who - or what - is behind the supernatural events that threaten to destroy the world.
Unlike the Tim Burton movie of the same name,Sleepy Hollowfollows the famous Ichabod Crane after he travels to the future and is resurrected along with the dread Headless Horseman. The story begins in the late 1700s with Ichabod (Tom Mison) killing the man who will become the Headless Horseman.He awakens in the present day and joins forces with Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), a Sheriff’s Lieutenantin the modern town of Sleepy Hollow, who is aware of the supernatural events around them.
Sleepy Hollowuses religious imagery and plotlines, such as the horsemen of the apocalypse, to contribute to the overall atmosphere of the series.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollowmight be a fictional horror narrative, butthe town of Sleepy Hollow is a real place,andSleepy Hollowis able to incorporate the gothic elements of the original short story into the present day. Additionally,Sleepy Hollowuses religious imagery and plotlines, such as the horsemen of the apocalypse, to contribute to the overall atmosphere of the series. ThoughThe Terroris slightly more violent and frightening thanSleepy Hollow, it focuses just as much on its characters.
74%
83%
66%
4
68%
The Magicians
The Magicians follows a group of young adults who enroll at Brakebills University, a secretive institution devoted to teaching magic. As they engage in an unconventional education in spellcasting, they realize that a childhood fantasy world is indeed real and presents a significant threat to humanity.
The Magiciansmay deal with magic and legends commonly found in fairy tales, but the fantasy series is much darker than viewers can imagine. Incorporating intense themes and terrifying villains,The Magiciansputs its characters through a lot as they discover the existence of magic, only to find out it’s up to them to save itfrom disappearing from existence. Focusing primarily on the adventures of Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) and his friends at Brakebills University, the series maintains that magic always has a cost.
Thebest part ofThe Magiciansis how character-driven the story is, even in the show’s most fantastical moments. The Beast, AKA Martin Chatwin (Charles Mesure), is the most horrible villain of the series, but even he has layers and a more nuanced backstory than the audience realizes. LikeThe Terror, parts ofThe Magiciansdeal with the real world and incorporate true historical eventsinto the fabric of the narrative. However, the most important parts of the show are the supernatural.
91%
5
Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram star inLady in the Lake, the Apple TV+ series based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman.Set in Baltimore in the 1960s,Lady in the Lakeexplores how the community and media treat the murder of a young white girl and a Black womandifferently, reflecting the racism and prejudice of the area. It tells the parallel narratives of Maddie Schwartz’s (Portman) arrival in town and investigation into the violence and Cleo Johnson’s (Ingram) experience in the time leading up to her death.
The morality of Schwartz’s actions is constantly being questioned as the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death become more complicated and uncertain.
The historical aspect ofLady in the Lakelends itself to comparison withThe Terror,as does the social commentary at the heart of the series. In many ways, Schwartz uses Johnson’s death as an excuse to reevaluate her life and inserts herself into situations and families that she doesn’t belong to. The morality of Schwartz’s actions is constantly being questioned as the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death become more complicated and uncertain.
Castle Rock
Castle Rock is a supernatural/horror television series based on the works of Stephen King. Set in the titular town in Maine, the show covers an anthology of supernatural stories surrounding various characters that work, live, and visit Castle Rock, all of which sharply turn the mundane lives of northeasterners into compelling tales of the extraordinary - both good and bad.
There are big names in the Hulu seriesCastle Rock, including Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, and Sissy Spacek in season 1. Combining elements of different works by Stephen King,the show is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, which King invented,and sees two different narratives unfold in the first and second seasons. While they explore the many parts of King’s universe, each season sets a uniquely haunting and mythical tone as the characters unravel the town’s secrets.
Castle Rockhas been praised for its ability to faithfully chronicle the intricacies of character developmentwhile communicating the vastness of the world they inhabit. This is a difficult skill, as worldbuilding and exposition can often take away from character dynamics, butCastle Rockhas great source material to work with. While the series' events are fully fictional, unlikeThe Terror, it feels just as real even when dealing with the supernatural. Though it’s set in the present,Castle Rockfeels like a story out of time.
80%
89%
