With Halloween drawing near, there is no better time than now to watch some of the best horror TV shows on Max, such as The Last of Us or Lovecraft Country. Of course, there is plenty more where those came from that should satisfy fans who crave more than the feature-length frights that the best horror movies on Max can deliver.
In fact, there are some great TV shows on Max that might even be scarier than the great horror movies currently available, which is just one reason why it is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today. Without further ado, let’s not wait any longer for the episodic chills and thrills and present the best horror TV shows that a Max subscription allows.
Uzumaki (2024)
Starring: Uki Satake, Shin'ichirô Miki, Abby Trott, Robbie Daymond
What it’s about: The citizens of a small town become dangerously obsessed with spiral shapes.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on Junji Ito’s acclaimed manga that also inspired a live-action Japanese horror movie from 2000, Uzumaki is a visually astonishing, four-part supernatural anime series.
Falling Skies (2011-2015)
Starring: Noah Wyle, Drew Roy
What it’s about: Months after malicious extraterrestrials destroy all of Earth’s major cities, a modest group of survivors from Massachusetts struggle to maintain stability and aspire to regain control of the planet.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From executive producer Steven Spielberg and starring Noah Wyle, Falling Skies came out at a time when post-apocalyptic TV shows were all the rage, but managed to stand out as a strong entry to the alien invasion genre.
Fringe (2008-2013)
Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble
What it’s about: An FBI agent teams up with a disgraced scientist and his son to investigate a series of unexplainable cases.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, Fringe is a strange and sometimes terrifying procedural drama that fans of the classic sci-fi TV show, The X-Files, will surely love.
El Hipnotizador (2015-2017)
Starring: Leonardo Sbaraglia
What it’s about: A talented hypnotist who can coerce people into revealing their deepest secrets struggles with a dark secret of his own.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on the graphic novel by writer Pablo de Santis and illustrator Juan Sáenz Valiente, El Hipnotizador is a bizarre and, indeed, hypnotic Portuguese supernatural drama.
The Winchesters (2022-2023)
Starring: Drake Rodger, Meg Donnelly
What it’s about: A Vietnam War veteran and a young woman with unique talents fall in love while working together to defend humanity from the paranormal in the early 1970s.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From developer Robbie Thompson and executive producer Jensen Ackles, The Winchesters serves as a prequel to Supernatural, following the adventures of Dean and Sam’s parents, Mary and John.
Los Espookys (2018-2022)
Starring: Cassandra Ciangherotti, Ana Fabrega, Julio Torres
What it’s about: A group of horror lovers start a business constructing elaborate scenarios of a bizarre and terrifying degree for their clients.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, and Julio Torres both created and star in Los Espookys – a unique, Spanish-language series that blends horror with comedy in remarkably unique ways.
The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
Starring: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder
What it’s about: A teenage girl falls for a young man who happens to be a vampire and becomes embroiled in the strange world of his kind.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on a series of novels by L.J. Smith and developed by Scream writer Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, The Vampire Diaries is an addicting, romantic, gothic drama.
Folklore (2018-2021)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: Terrifying tales include a single mother who goes to extreme lengths to please her son, a migrant worker whose life changes after he stumbles onto a corpse, and a ghost’s struggles to scare a new victim.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Folklore is a horror anthology TV show that explores mythologies originating from different Asian countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, China, and more.
A Haunting (2005-Present)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: Learn the allegedly true tales of ordinary people making extraordinary – and extraordinarily dangerous – encounters with the dead.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: The fifth, tenth, and eleventh seasons of A Haunting – a long-running docuseries exploring first-hand accounts of unsettling paranormal activity – are available to stream on Max.
Wellington Paranormal (2018-2022)
Starring: Mike Minogue, Karen O’Leary
What it’s about: The strange adventures of New Zealand cops who specialize in investigating the supernatural.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Mike Minogue and Karen O’Leary reprise their roles from the hilarious horror-comedy movie What We Do in the Shadows in Wellington Paranormal – a funny, mockumentary-style spin-off series from creator Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.
The Last Of Us (2023-Present)
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey
What it’s about: Decades after a virus turning humans into deadly mutants brings forth the end of civilization, a hardened survivor becomes the reluctant guardian of a teen who may hold the key to a cure.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman’s intense HBO horror series based on the hit zombie survival video game, The Last of Us – which has a second season in the works – is said to have broken the supposed “video game adaptation curse” with its stunning cast and spine-tingling suspense.
30 Coins (2020-Present)
Starring: Eduard Fernández, Paul Giamatti
What it’s about: An ex-convict-turned-priest must contend with the demons of his past and actual demons while serving in a remote Spanish village.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: The title of director and co-creator Alex de la Iglesia’s inventive, viscerally terrifying Spanish-language drama, 30 Coins, refers to Judas’ reward from the Romans for betraying Jesus.
Urban Legend (2022)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: A woman suffering strange side effects from a spider bite, a teen suspecting her prom dress is haunted, and two sisters experiencing spooky events in a house they inherit from their mother are some of the stories explored in this series.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Not to be confused with a 1998 slasher movie, Urban Legend is a horror anthology series from producer Eli Roth that takes inspiration from tales based on alleged facts and exaggerates them to horrifying levels.
Lovecraft Country (2020)
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett
What it’s about: After returning home from the Korean War, a young, Black Chicago native learns that his favorite fantasy stories are more than a product of the imagination while searching for his missing father in Jim Crow Era America.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on Matt Ruff’s 2014 novel, Lovecraft Country boasts many classic horror references but the most terrifying thing about this HBO series from developer Misha Green and executive producers Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams is its brutally honest depiction of racial injustice.
Carnivàle (2003-2005)
Starring: Nick Stahl, Clancy Brown
What it’s about: During the Great Depression, a fugitive working for a traveling sideshow and a California Methodist preacher both possess unusual gifts that lead them to a shared destiny as crucial pawns in a world-shattering conflict.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Created by Daniel Knauf, the Emmy-winning Carnivàle only lasted two seasons but has since been remembered as an addictively suspenseful, visually stunning period drama with engrossing themes of good vs. evil.
True Blood (2008-2014)
Starring: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård
What it’s about: In a world in which vampires and humans can co-exist thanks to an effective blood substitute, a telepathic Louisiana server falls in love with a handsome, fanged stranger.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball and based on Charlaine Harris’ novel series, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, True Blood is a funny, sexy, and deliciously macabre modern-day take on horror folklore.
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn (1997-1999)
Starring: Keith David, Richard Dysart
What it’s about: Slain by his double-crossing best friend, skilled mercenary Al Simmons struggles to outrun the armies of Heaven and Hell while using his powers as a force against earthly corruption.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Fans of Todd McFarlane’s Image comic book series Spawn would likely recommend you watch this Emmy-winning show – heralded today as one of the best non-Marvel-or DC superhero TV shows – over the 1997 live-action film, which Blumhouse is currently rebooting.
The Outsider (2020)
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Jason Bateman
What it’s about: A Georgia police detective is baffled by proof that a teacher brutally murdered an 11-year-old boy and conflicting evidence that proves his involvement is impossible.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: At first, the acclaimed HBO horror series The Outsider seems like another typical crime thriller but, given this is also an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Stephen King, audiences can rightfully assume something far out of the ordinary is afoot.
Off The Air (2011-Present)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: Topics ranging from mundane to broad and mystifying or just plain grim inspire diverse live-action clips and animated sequences in each 11-minute installment of this anthology series.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: There is not one definite way to describe Adult Swim’s Off the Air but these comically surreal segments are linked by a sense of unease and existential dread that firmly plants it in the horror genre.
Room 104 (2017-2020)
Starring: Various
What it’s about: A seemingly normal American hotel room serves as the connective tissue for a series of self-contained stories that only become stranger throughout its four seasons.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From co-creators Mark and Jay Duplass, Room 104 is yet another anthology TV show that is impossible to describe in one particular way but when it delves into the territory of horror, it really goes for it.
Would you agree that these TV shows deliver maximum thrills? Keep an eye on any upcoming horror TV shows that might join this list one day.
