10 Creepy TV Shows To Watch If You Loved The Terror

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 of The Terror is its ghoulish and thrilling tone that sets it apart from other historical series that incorporate supernatural elements. However, The Terror is 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 of The Terror are 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, as the implication of incoming threats can be just as powerful to raise the stakes.

10 The North Water (2021)

This dramatic miniseries blends horror with natural elements

The North Water is 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 1800s that 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.

In
The North Water,
the show directly addresses the darkness of humanity instead of using fantasy as a metaphor.

It remains to be seen how the story of The Terror season 3 will connect with the previous seasons and the enduring theme of the ocean and natural world. However, The North Water draws many parallels between The Terror season 1, except the horrors of the sea are brought upon the characters by themselves, not supernatural forces. In The North Water, the show directly addresses the darkness of humanity instead of using fantasy as a metaphor.

9 Yellowjackets (2021–Present)

Multiple timelines intertwine to tell one mysterious and chilling narrative in this survival series

After crashing in the wilderness in Canada in the 1990s, a high school girls’ soccer team struggles to survive and stay sane in Yellowjackets. The series is an updated take on Lord of the Flies with 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. Yellowjackets has been consistently highlighted for its casting, as the young actors and their adult counterparts are eerily similar.

While Yellowjackets would 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 Terror has been more explicit in its horror and fantasy aspects than Yellowjackets, but the dedication to bringing ’90s elements into the wilderness is close to how the time periods are handled in The Terror.

8 1899 (2022)

The passengers on an ocean liner go through the unimaginable in this period piece

The characters in 1899 are 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 in The Terror, seasons 1 and 2, as season 1 takes place on the HMS Terror while 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.

1899
sets itself apart by including a diverse array of characters from all across the world who are aboard the ship to the U.S.

1899 sets 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 as the 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, 1899 tells a thrilling tale despite being canceled before its time.

7 Them (2021–Present)

This series adds plenty of scares while chronicling two turbulent decades of American history

Them is formatted more closely to The Terror than other horror series, as it’s an anthology and set in the past. However, Them is 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 head in 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.

6 Penny Dreadful (2014–2016)

Showtime’s gothic drama is the perfect followup to The Terror

The series Penny Dreadful takes 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 Dreadful uses 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.

Though
Penny Dreadful
isn’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. Though Penny Dreadful isn’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 how The Terror imbues historical elements into its monstrous narrative and presents a new tale every season.

5 Hemlock 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 Grove garnered a decent following, though it only ran for three seasons. The series premiered when Netflix was gaining recognition for its original series. Shows like Hemlock Grove demonstrated that Netflix could house supernatural and fantasy shows, making it exciting when projects like The Terror are added to the streamer.

4 Sleepy Hollow (2013–2017)

This familiar horror story is reimagined for the 21st-century

Unlike the Tim Burton movie of the same name, Sleepy Hollow follows 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 Lieutenant in the modern town of Sleepy Hollow, who is aware of the supernatural events around them.

Sleepy Hollow
uses religious imagery and plotlines, such as the horsemen of the apocalypse, to contribute to the overall atmosphere of the series.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow might be a fictional horror narrative, but the town of Sleepy Hollow is a real place, and Sleepy Hollow is able to incorporate the gothic elements of the original short story into the present day. Additionally, Sleepy Hollow uses religious imagery and plotlines, such as the horsemen of the apocalypse, to contribute to the overall atmosphere of the series. Though The Terror is slightly more violent and frightening than Sleepy Hollow, it focuses just as much on its characters.

3 The Magicians (2015–2020)

The series brings the original story by Lev Grossman to new heights

The Magicians may 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 Magicians puts its characters through a lot as they discover the existence of magic, only to find out it’s up to them to save it from 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.

The best part of The Magicians is 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. Like The Terror, parts of The Magicians deal with the real world and incorporate true historical events into the fabric of the narrative. However, the most important parts of the show are the supernatural.

2 Lady In The Lake (2024)

Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram star in Lady 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 Lake explores how the community and media treat the murder of a young white girl and a Black woman differently, 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 of Lady in the Lake lends itself to comparison with The 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.

1 Castle Rock (2018–2019)

Stephen King’s writing is brought to life in this original series

There are big names in the Hulu series Castle 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 Rock has been praised for its ability to faithfully chronicle the intricacies of character development while communicating the vastness of the world they inhabit. This is a difficult skill, as worldbuilding and exposition can often take away from character dynamics, but Castle Rock has great source material to work with. While the series’ events are fully fictional, unlike The Terror, it feels just as real even when dealing with the supernatural. Though it’s set in the present, Castle Rock feels like a story out of time.