Sometimes, when revisiting some of the greatest horror movies of all time, I find myself disappointed — not in the story itself, but in the fact that it has to end. That leads me to give some acclaimed horror TV shows a try but, in some instances, I find their stories a chore to follow after a while. Thus, when it comes to the scariest stories that the small screen has to offer, my preference is collections of shorter, terrifying tales, such as in the classic horror anthology TV shows below.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
Stories include a flight passenger (William Shatner) convinced he sees something on the wing, a woman (Maxine Stuart) desperate to improve her looks with surgery, a book lover (Burgess Meredith) who becomes the sole survivor of a global disaster, and more.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: The terrifying tales described above only cover a few of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone — creator and narrator Rod Serling’s highly influential fantasy series that is, undeniably, the quintessential horror anthology series.
Stream The Twilight Zone on Paramount+.
Stream The Twilight Zone on Freevee through Amazon.
The Outer Limits (1963-1965)
A collection of bizarre, thought-provoking, and unsettling stories — including a miner chosen to participate in an experiment to monitor the evolutionary process and a race of insect-like extra-terrestrials hoping to turn Earth into a prison planet — framed as an otherworldly force’s infiltration of the airwaves.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Creator Leslie Stevens’ The Outer Limits — which was later rebooted in the ‘90s — is predated by The Twilight Zone’s debut, but for some, it was the scarier anthology horror TV show of the era.
Stream The Outer Limits on Freevee through Amazon.
Stream The Outer Limits on The Roku Channel.
Black Mirror (2011-Present)
Average people contend with extraordinary situations that primarily involve technology and its domineering and transformative effects on the human psyche in the not-too-distant future.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Creator Charlie Brooker’s Emmy-winning anthology is also considered one of the best sci-fi TV shows on Netflix, but many of the best Black Mirror episodes feel all too plausible to be considered fiction, which only makes it even more horrifying.
Stream Black Mirror on Netflix.
Tales From The Darkside (1983-1988)
A graduate student suspecting there is something living in a veterinary school room closet, an angry radio show host (Jerry Stiller) who discovers the consequences of his cynical tirades, an adaptation of a Stephen King story about a magic word processor, and more make up the strange and scary stories in this series.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Created by legendary horror auteur George A. Romero and narrated by Paul Sparer, Tales from the Darkside is a fun, creepy series that later inspired a horror anthology movie favorite: 1990’s Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.
Buy Tales from the Darkside on DVD on Amazon.
Tales From The Crypt (1989-1996)
The skeletal, pun-spewing Crypt Keeper (voiced by Jon Kassir) presents the viewer with a star-studded gallery of stories that range from hilarious to horrific and a mix of both.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Inspired by the E.C. comic book series of the same name, HBO’s Tales from the Crypt is an iconic anthology horror TV show that also begat a few spin-off movies, including a ‘90s movie that could use more love these days, Demon Knight.
Buy Tales from the Crypt on DVD on Amazon.
Monsters (1988-1990)
In an alternate reality in which strange, grotesque creatures are as common as human beings, a family gathers together to watch a weekly presentation of darkly humorous cautionary tales.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: A less iconic, but equally fun, anthology horror TV show from the late 1980s and early 1990s is Monsters — which often gleefully indulges in old school B-movie throwbacks.
Stream Monsters on Freevee through Amazon.
Stream Monsters on Tubi.
Stream Monsters on The Roku Channel.
Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities (2022)
Bear witness to a veteran medical examiner (F. Murray Abraham) encountering his strangest case yet, a beauty product with a concerning affect on a woman (Kate Micucci), a group of people brought together to witness an earth-shattering event, and more truly curious cases.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro serves as the creator and host of Netflix’s Cabinet of Curiosities, which is revered for having some crazy, WTF moments.
Stream Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities on Netflix.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962)
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock serves as the host for this collection of deeply suspenseful, terrifyingly taut, and even wickedly funny short films.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: The aptly-titled Alfred Hitchcock Presents earned three Emmy Awards — for Editing, Writing, and Directing — during its run of 268 episodes, many of which featured some of Hollywood’s biggest stars in their earlier years, such as Steve McQueen and William Shatner.
Stream Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Peacock.
Stream Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Tubi.
Stream Alfred Hitchcock Presents on The Roku Channel.
Buy Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Amazon.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? (1990-2000)
A group of young storytellers gather around a campfire at midnight to entertain each other with the scariest stories they can envision.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: One of the first anthology horror TV shows created with a younger audience in mind was Are You Afraid of the Dark? — one of the darkest Nickelodeon shows, which served as pure nightmare fuel for kids who grew up in the ‘90s.
Stream Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Paramount+.
Buy Are You Afraid of the Dark? on Amazon.
Goosebumps (1995-1998)
A girl whose Halloween mask slowly becomes a part of her, a brother and sister growing suspicious of their father’s activities in the basement, and a dummy that proves to have a lively personality are some of the stories showcased in this anthology inspired by an eponymous, popular series of books by author R.L. Stine.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Another anthology TV show that gave children something to scream about in the ‘90s was Goosebumps, which was originally hosted by Stine himself for the first 12 episodes.
Stream Goosebumps on Netflix.
Buy Goosebumps on Amazon.
American Horror Story (2011-Present)
Follow the lives of a family who discover their new house is haunted, a group of people wrongfully committed to a mental hospital where the patients are not even the craziest things around, a group of witches contending with inside and outside forces that threaten their livelihood, and more inventive reimaginings of gothic lore through a thought-provoking, satirical lens.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: These days, a relatively more common anthology horror TV show structure is not to tell one story per episode, but one per season, and the dominant example in the last several years has been Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s scary psychosexual drama, American Horror Story, on FX.
Stream American Horror Story on Hulu.
Stream American Horror Story on Amazon Prime.
Slasher (2016-Present)
A diverse cast of characters question who among them is a vicious, vengeful, masked murderer in this collection of mysterious, macabre whodunnits which turns its eponymous genre on its head.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Another, more grounded and always exquisitely crafted seasonal horror anthology TV show is Slasher — a Chiller original later picked up as one of the Netflix’s best horror TV shows before it became one of the best horror TV shows on Shudder.
Stream Slasher (Seasons 1-3) on Netflix.
Stream Slasher (Season 4-5) on Amazon with Shudder or AMC+ Add-On.
Channel Zero (2016-2018)
A psychiatrist (Paul Schneider) haunted by memories of a strange TV show from his youth, a grieving young woman (Amy Forsyth) and others experience a haunted house attraction like no other, and more bizarre tales that fans of scary short stories from the internet will find frighteningly familiar.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Another horror anthology that started as a cable network original (SyFy) before being picked up for streaming by Shudder is Channel Zero, which lasted four seasons — each of which, including the psychologically unsettling “No-End House,” is inspired by a different Creepypasta found online.
Castle Rock (2018-2019)
A lawyer (Andre Holland) defends a strange man (Bill Skarsgård) recently freed from a secret, decades-long captivity in his hometown in Maine, where, later, a nurse and single mother (Lizzy Caplan) makes a deadly decision that sets off a shocking series of events.
Why it is a great horror anthology TV show: Each season of one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu, Castle Rock, tells a different story set in the same titular community that takes inspiration from the works of Stephen King, with some of the author’s most famous characters being directly involved or cheekily referenced.
If two hours of terror is not enough for you, get a load of the hours upon hours that these ghoulish, grotesque, great anthology series will grant you. There is more where these came from with the upcoming horror TV shows on the horizon.
