11 Scariest Horror-Themed TV Shows To Binge-Watch This Halloween 2020

For horror fans, Halloween is an eagerly anticipated holiday and many of us celebrate it for the entire month - carefully selecting our favourite horror films to re-watch by candlelight - but what about TV?

Horror is a genre that has doubtlessly been underserved on television.

The real scares are usually reserved for the big screen, where creators tend to get a little more leeway; cinematic horror is a monster that chases you down the street, wailing horribly, covered in gore.

In comparison, any horror that does turn up on TV usually is watered down; it’s still a monster, but it’s kept in the basement, manacled and shackled - safely kept under lock and key.

However, there are TV shows that have bucked this trend, particularly on streaming services which tend to be a bit more adventurous with their content.

Some of these shows excel in carefully crafting an atmosphere of dread, while some others on the list are more direct, gleefully hurling buckets of blood all over the set and cast - probably with a wide grin on their face as they do so.

So, lets dive into the brave new world of prestige horror television.

An adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s classic novel, this eight-part series gave the story a modern setting and made some changes to the plot. Namely changing the story into a family drama, the plot now revolving around the Crain family and their history with the extremely haunted Hill House.

The show meted out its scares slowly, preferring a slow build up to its horror, but when the ghosts do make an appearance, they are appropriately spooky; the ghost haunting the basement was an early highlight.

Set to return for its second season this month under the new title, The Haunting of Bly Manor - the show is continuing under an anthology format - this time focusing on the ghost stories of Henry James: mostly inspired by his novella, The Turn of the Screw, but the new season will also draw on some of his other works.

Showrunner Mike Flanagan promises the new season will be scarier than the first, so if you missed the first season back in 2018, this is the perfect time to catch up.