10 Horror TV Shows That Had No Right To Be This Good

Who would’ve thought that a modern day prequel about a teenage Norman Bates helping his mother rennovate motel would make for five seasons of awesome psychological drama? Having already spawned a handful of poorly received sequels and remakes, Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal slasher Psycho doesn’t exactly scream for yet another spin off, but A&E’s Bates Motel somehow succeeded in being the only genuinely worthwhile adaptation of the film.

Having chosen to not even order a pilot, but rather a straight to series ten episode order, it was a sign that the show would likely go well. Even still, few would have expected the quality to be so high, and reviews so positive that it remains the network’s longest running drama despite going off the air in 2017. Stunning lead performances from former child star Freddie Highmore, and Vera Farmiga as Norman’s soon-to-be-mummified mother, Norma, garnered prestigious award nominations and elevated the show further to unexpected heights.

For its fifth season, the show even decided to loosely adapt the plot of Psycho itself, and still managed to receive a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating for its efforts. Few pieces of media will ever succeed in surpassing a film like Psycho, with so much cultural capital both with and beyond its genre, but Bates Motel gave it a damn brilliant go.