The 13 Best Halloween and Horror Series to Watch This October

Spooky season is officially upon us, and with Halloween approaching quickly, it’s time to brush up on the horror TV series that make up the reason for the season. With an impressive list of scary titles on streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, you have plenty of options when it comes to celebrating Halloween.

Continue on to check out this list of the best-reviewed horror series available to stream.

‘PENNY DREADFUL’ – NETFLIX

Penny Dreadful is made up of 27 episodes that introduced audiences to a host of iconic characters from 19th Century British and Irish Gothic fiction, including Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray to Abraham Ven Helsing and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The popular supernatural Showtime drama was so popular that it spawned a spinoff, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, which is set to go into production this year. Kill two birds with one stone by readying yourself for City of Angels and digging deep on spooky season by streaming Penny Dreadful on Netflix.

‘THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE’ (2018) – NETFLIX

Netflix scared streamers stilly last year with the release of The Haunting of Hill House, loosely based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson, which follows the lives of five adult siblings who continue to be haunted by paranormal experiences they had during their childhood. The split-timeline series will put you on the edge of your seat while you gear up for the second season, The Haunting of Bly Manor, set for a 2020 release.

‘HANNIBAL’ (2013) – AMAZON

Hannibal aired for three seasons on NBC from 2012 to 2015, following FBI special investigator Will Graham and his relationship with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist who, unbeknown to Graham, is the very serial killer he’s hunting. Based on the characters and events from the Thomas Harris novels Red Dragon, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, the series developed a cult following throughout its 39 episodes.

‘STRANGER THINGS’ (2016) – NETFLIX

If you haven’t binged all three seasons of Netflix’s most-watched series, it’s time to press play on Stranger Things. The science-fiction horror series is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in the early 1980s. In it, a group of young boys meets a young girl with special powers, and with the Chief of Police, they quickly become immersed in supernatural occurrences involving monsters, mysterious disappearances and grisly deaths. Season 4 is coming, likely in 2020, so binge it all now.

‘TWIN PEAKS’ (1990) – AMAZON, CBS ALL ACCESS, HULU, AMAZON

Nearly 30 years after its release, Twin Peaks still remains one of the highest-rated horror series of all time. The mystery follows an investigation into the suspicious murder of a town’s homecoming queen, expertly mixing supernatural science-fiction with a melodramatic soap opera feel for series that developed a cult following so strong that it was resurrected in 2017 with a third season that aired on Showtime. All 48 episodes are available to stream on multiple streaming services.

‘CHANNEL ZERO’ (2016) – SHUDDER

This Syfy anthology series that lasted for four seasons is based on popular creepypastas — which are a series of horror-related legends or images that have been shared on the internet, such as Slender Man and Ted the Caver. With 24 episodes total, Channel Zero makes for the perfect Halloween binge available on Shudder.

‘BATES MOTEL’ (2013) – NETFLIX

Ready for a shudder-inducing series that will make your skin crawl? A&E’s Bates Motel chronicles the early years of the murderous innkeeper Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho, looking at Bates’ life as a young man living with his mother, Norma. All 50 episodes are available to stream on Netflix if you’re itching to get inside the head of Norman Bates.

‘WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS’ (2019) – HULU

This brand new mockumentary out of New Zealand is based on the 2014 film of the same name, receiving stellar reviews from critics as well as audiences. In What We Do in the Shadows, a documentary crew follows four vampire roommates who each possess different powers. Get ahead of your friends on this trend and binge the first 10 episodes on Hulu before Season 2 is released in 2020.

‘IN THE FLESH’ (2013) – HULU

Don’t let the budget cuts that led to this series’ cancellation fool you — In The Flesh is rated 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes despite having just nine episodes total over its two seasons. The BBC Three supernatural drama focused on the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, when a cure has been found through medication tha tuna help the dead restore their consciousness. The formerly dead attempt to integrate back into the real world as sufferers of Partially Deceased Syndrome, with the story centering on one teenager named Kieran who must live with the guilt of having died by suicide, as well as several murders when in his rabid state.

‘ASH VS EVIL DEAD’ (2015) – NETFLIX

The sequel series to the original Evil Dead movie trilogy comes with a 99 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating. Bruce Campbell reprises his role as Ash Williams in the comedy-horror series, going back to his old job and raunchy lifestyle with a missing hand to show for it. Ash tries to live a normal life but a cursed Necronomicon tome has other plans for him and anyone else around him. The canceled Starz series boasts 30 episodes over three seasons, all available to stream on Netflix.

‘CRAZYHEAD’ (2016) – NETFLIX

Crazyhead scored a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes over the course of its single, six-episode season in 2016. The British comedy-horror series, which is both wildly disturbing and crazy fun, follows the story of a young woman who can see demons no one else can until she meets another woman with the same gift. They come together to rid the streets of the evil beings, not unlike the cult favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All six episodes of Crazyhead can be streamed on Netflix.

‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY’ (1964) – AMAZON

The Addams Family acts as a classic, family-friendly horror series perfect for your Halloween viewing pleasure. The 1964 live-action series inspired the 1977 film (as well as multiple reboots, spinoffs and other related projects) and aired for two seasons with 64 total episodes. The sitcom was based on characters from New Yorker cartoons created by Charles Addams, known as much for its hilarious characters as its catchy theme song — we know you know it.

MARIANNE (2019) – NETFLIX

The French horror series Marianne, released in September 2019, is an eight-episode season that follows a novelist named Emma who realizes that her supposed fictional characters actually exist in real life. The nearly all-female cast pulls off a series that boosts a perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.6 stars on IMDB.