'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIH/8QAIRAAAQQCAAcAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACAxEEIRIWIjFBUdH/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADBP/EABcRAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAhH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMbxsB/J7M7hgDBmitdZAGxddrrV+1EkEoe4VHonyfiIpSzrGaDk/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Horror shows have the profound ability to create a lasting impact on their viewers when it is done in the right manner. While the typical cheesy horror and jumpscares often miss the mark and leave a shallow impression, some beautifully haunting shows have, over the years, left a significant impact on their viewers’ psyches. Whether it is through the incorporation of psychological elements or just through complex storytelling, here is a curated list of nine horror shows that truly forged a unique and lasting connection with their audiences due to their well-structured narrative and visuals.
Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Readers’ discretion is advised.
Trending
Twin Peaks, The Walking Dead, Channel Zero, and other horror TV shows left a lasting impression on the audience
1. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Created by Mike Flanagan and based on the novel of the same name by Shirley Jackson, this supernatural horror drama series is led by Michiel Huismam, Carla Gugino, Victoria Pedretti, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, Kate Siegel, and more. Flanagan is known for infusing his horror shows with complexity and sensitivity, and this show gained critical and popular acclaim for these reasons. The show follows the Crain family, who inhabit a new home in the 1990s and begin to experience paranormal experiences, so much so that they have to flee the house. The plot eventually alternates between two timelines as the children of the family grow up and continue to experience supernatural occurrences in their personal lives, even when they have left the house a long time ago.
The Haunting of Hill House not only has psychological and horror elements, but it relies less on gore and aims to focus on how childhood trauma lingers in adulthood. The ghosts of the past, therefore, have both literal and symbolic meaning in the show. Each character is well-developed and has multiple layers. The series is highly recommended for its focus on family dynamics and leaves a lingering feeling even after the show ends. While the show is not gory, it does have intensely frightening moments, loads of suspense, and the realistic design of the spirits themselves.
2. Hannibal (2013)
Based on the characters of Thomas Harris’ novels, Hannibal is a psychological horror and thriller series created by Bryan Fuller, and stars Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne, and others. The show is about the cat-and-mouse chase between an FBI special investigator, Will Graham (Dancy), and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mikkelsen), who is a forensic psychiatrist with cannibalistic tendencies. The series revolves around the duo’s complex relationship as Hannibal is Graham’s number one enemy, but also the only person who can understand him.
While the show received mixed reviews during its airing and failed to create a lasting impression among the audience, the reevaluations of the show deemed it positive, and it is now a cult classic. The show received praise for its visual style, performances of the lead duo, and the plot and pacing of the series. The show is intensely psychological, and each episode will keep the viewers on their toes. While it does not have traditional horror, it does feature graphic scenes and terrifying mind games that can create a bigger impact than many horror shows. Subversive, sinister, and riveting, this series will definitely leave an impression on its viewers.
3. Stranger Things (2016)
Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, this sci-fi and horror mystery series gained worldwide acclaim for its plot, performances, background score, and ode to the 1980s. Starring Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Natalia Dyer, Gaten Matarazzo, and more, the show is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s, where a series of disappearances and strange occurrences reveal a government-level conspiracy and the outbreak of other-dimensional monsters. The show is heavily influenced by the horror movies and culture of the 1980s, and as such, it does have gory scenes. At the center of the plot is a young girl called Eleven (Brown), who was raised in a lab where illegal experiments were conducted on children, and as such, she now has supernatural abilities.
The show quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, and it was lauded for its authentic references and ode to the 1980s. While the show includes a few light-hearted moments and features immense references to a bygone era, it also has a well-built plot and storyline. In the fourth season, especially, the show subscribed to darker and more complex themes and maintained a sense of suspense and mystery that was gradually presented to the audiences in layers. The series is a modern psychological thriller and has well-developed characters and relationships. From its period-accurate costumes to its synth 1980s soundtrack, Stranger Things is a must-watch.
4. Channel Zero (2016)
A horror anthology series, Channel Zero is a cult classic show created by Nick Antosca, who is also the writer, showrunner, and producer of the series. The show aired for four seasons, with each season focusing on a mystery that is based on popular internet creepypastas—horror stories that have gained virality over the internet. The first season is based on Kris Straub’s famous story called Candle Cove, in which a child psychologist returns to his hometown after his brother disappears. He is determined to find out whether his disappearance is connected to a series of similar bizarre instances that have happened over time and which are due to a children’s television series that aired a few years back, but nobody recalls it now.
There are three more seasons, and each season focuses on heavy psychological elements and has an overwhelming feeling of dread. Rather than relying on jump scares, the anthology show aims to create tension and suspense and build it to a crescendo. Viewers who are interested in watching a horror show with strong psychological elements and stories that make one question reality should definitely give this one a go.
5. Twin Peaks (1990)
Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost and starring Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Michael Ontkean, Dana Ashbrook, James Marshall, and others, this surrealist and psychological mystery horror series revolutionized the way we watch television. The show aired during the 1990s, when TV shows were overrun by dramatic soap operas and sentimentality, which didn't offer anything new. However, Lynch’s creation opened the doors for unique and inventive television, and the show is still considered a famous classic. Set in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, the show focuses on FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle), who comes to the small town to investigate the murder of a teenager called Laura Palmer.
While the show begins on a note of detective fiction, it soon metamorphoses into something more insidious, borrowing surrealism, uncanny tone, and supernatural elements. The show is regularly listed as one of the most influential TV shows of all time and has the perfect blend of horror, mystery, and suspense. Viewers will definitely leave with a lasting impression of the show.
6. Bates Motel (2013)
Based on the characters from Robert Bloch’s novel, this psychological horror drama is developed by Carlton Cuse, Kerry Ehrin, and Anthony Cipriano. Starring Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Olivia Cooke, Nicola Peltz, and more, this show is a modern prequel to the 1960 film by Alfred Hitchcock—Psycho—which introduced the character of Norman Bates and his dysfunctional relationship with his mother. The series aims to delve deeper into Norman’s psyche and recount his descent into insanity and his twisted relationship with his mother.
Highmore plays the role of Norman, while Farmiga plays his mother. The show has an insidious vibe to it, which makes it a thrilling psychological series. The show has aired for five seasons and has received positive critical and commercial acclaim for its setting, direction, and Farmiga and Highmore’s performances. The series relies less on gory or graphic forms of horror and instead builds an unsettling atmosphere as viewers get to see the insides of Norman’s dysfunctional mind. Some of its dialogues and scenes are particularly impressive and leave a lasting impression on the viewers.
7. The Walking Dead (2010)
Developed by Frank Darabont and based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, The Walking Dead is a post-apocalyptic horror drama series is set in a world where human society has been overrun by a zombie apocalypse and the remaining survivors must protect themselves every day against these zombies or “walkers”. The central protagonist of the series is Sheriff Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, who, along with a group of survivors, tries to find a abode of safety. However, the series also portrays how humans are no less of a threat than zombies, as other survivors regularly attack Grimes and his crew to fight for resources.
The Walking Dead is an iconic horror series and has left a lasting impression on its viewers. While its later seasons began to be criticized for repetitive plots and weak characters, the show’s earlier seasons are still brilliantly directed and paced. A show about zombies has graphic and gruesome scenes that up the ante on this horror show. Additionally, the series also looks at other themes which including relationships and family, and has complex character arcs. The universal theme of a sense of community between survivors is what makes the show famous.
8. From (2022)
Created by John Griffin and starring Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Alpay, Elizabeth Saunders, Chloe Van Landschoot, and others, this sci-fi horror series revolves around a peculiar town where people who enter it are unable to escape. Further, the town unleashes a host of ghostly and evil entities during nighttime, and the stuck residents have to stay within their homes to survive. The show's plot focuses on Sheriff Boyd Stevens (Perrineau) and the Matthews family, who, along with the other residents of the town, decide to unravel the many mysteries of the place and find a way out of this maze. The show’s peculiar plot gained instant virality, and it was praised for its plot, multiple twists, and direction.
The horror show is a modern classic and includes terrifying humanoid monsters that increase the disturbing atmosphere of the show. From successfully incorporates many surprising and twisting elements into the story to keep the viewers hooked and establish a frightening world that is both terrifying and alluring. The relationships between the different characters in the town are also given ample time and space to build the narrative's flow and the character arc, and the multiple mind-bending mysteries of the show make this one a modern classic.
9. Evil (2019)
Starring Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Michael Emerson, and others, Evil is a supernatural drama series created by Robert King and Michelle King. The show revolves around three central characters, a skeptical forensic psychologist, Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Herbers), an aspirational Catholic priest, David Acosta (Colter), and a skeptical technology contractor, Ben Shakir (Mandvi), who all come from different spheres of life, but are brought together by the Catholic Church to investigate mysterious supernatural incidents.
The show aired for four seasons and received acclaim for its unique plot, writing, and cinematography. The show has a strong psychological and complex base as all three individuals begin to find that their personal lives are being increasingly affected by the events they investigate. The show also focuses on themes like religious fanaticism, providing a unique take on horrifying incidents that compel its viewers to think. The mix of drama, the supernatural element, and the themes of religion versus science all intersect, creating a compelling series that also has moments of pure horror.
Reply
