It’s amazing how far the horror genre has come in recent years. It went from being completely neglected by TV bosses to becoming the hottest trend every network wants as piece of. And there’s no better time for some quality frights than Halloween season.
Turn off the lights, turn on the TV and make sure no serial killer will interrupt your couch-based reign of horror. Here’s our ultimate list of horror series you should be watching this fall.
Scream Queens
Network: Fox
The first season of the Ryan Murphy-curated slapstick comedy/gory slasher series was so uneven, clumsy and overall poorly written, that we even demanded its cancellation last year. We’re not entirely sure what happened (maybe the TV Powers That Be actually read our article), but the current season of the show is a vast improvement.
Instead of following American Horror Story’s footsteps and turning the series into an anthology, writers kept most of Season One’s survivors, including feisty Emma Roberts as vain queen bee Chanel and genre veteran Jamie Lee Curtis as an ex-dean-turned-head of the doomed hospital. While last season’s plot was as convulsive as onscreen victims’ final moments, it’s nice to see cohesive storytelling this time around that follows a one-kill-per-episode formula and mixes it with humor that doesn’t make you roll your eyes Chanel-style. It’s hard to deem this show a suspenseful one, but on a good day it brings a hell lot of bloody good times.
American Horror Story
Network: FX
Looks like Ryan Murphy was all about damage control this television season. For the sixth season of his horror anthology, he stripped away all the layers and tried to redefine the show’s very DNA. No more unnecessary scenes of naked people, attention-grabbing graphic content and tedious fashion talk. The new approach (a fake documentary that shows “real survivors” and actors impersonating them) brought a much needed breath of fresh air while the spooks actually hit the bull’s eye. AHS was always about the journey and not the destination, but this time we’re properly excited to see where this story is heading.
The Exorcist
Network: Fox
Over the last decade there was hardly a shortage of filmmakers stepping on the unholy grounds of The Exorcist legacy. So the re-launch of the original franchise was only a matter of time. Surprisingly, the sequel series that consists of seven episodes was trusted into the hands of Jeremy Slater, the screenwriter of the critically ridiculed Fantastic Four reboot. Turns out Slater is much more comfortable re-imagining horror than superhero flicks, as the show about two competing priests was met with high praise.
Salem
Network: WGN
The show set during the notorious 17th century witch trials is a good reason to ask your cable provider to bring you WGN America. The third season premieres this week and brings a tortured town of Salem more troubles straight from hell. The finale of last season saw the arrival of the devil himself, which brought the resident witch bitch Mary Sibley into a rather tricky position: she did after all give birth to the devil but now has to decide which side she is on. All this family drama will be surrounded by death, torture, sex, snakes, rats, maggots and other witchy accessories. And some killer fashion, too.
Channel Zero
Network: SyFy
It was only a matter of time before savvy filmmakers would start utilizing the endless supply of free ideas that is the internet. SyFy’s horror anthology is inspired by creepypasta — horrifying tales and memes that people eagerly share on the web. The first season, which kicked off on October 11 and will span six episodes, is called Candle Cove. It originates from the story by webcartoonist Kris Straub, which was presented as the transcript of a mock-forum with stories about cryptic children’s television show from the '70s.
Van Helsing
Network: SyFy
Yet another addition to SyFy’s blood-thirsty family of horror TV series. Vanessa Helsing, a descendant of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, comes out of a coma in the post-apocalyptic world to, you guessed it, fight an army of vampires.
It may be filled with countless fight scenes and questionable CGI, but apparently the launch of the show was successful enough for the network to already confirm a second season. It may be a far cry from our all-time favorite girl-versus-vampires show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it’s still nice to see a tough female character leading a battle. Also the writers spent some time developing several different tribes of vampires. For example, they came up with an idea that if a vampire feeds on animal’s blood, he acts more primal.
Ash vs Evil Dead
Network: Starz
Ash vs Evil Dead is a rare (and perhaps the only) example of a sequel series that brought back all of the key players from the original franchise. The series is overseen by Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi and stars Bruce Campbell in his classic role of jokes-cracking lady-loving chainsaw-wielding demon fighter Ash.
The second season sees Ash returning to his hometown (and the location of the original movies) where he is hardly seen as a hero. The townfolks consider him a psychopath who made up all the stories about the undead to hide the fact that he’s the one who mercilessly killed all of his friends. Obviously when the actual undead show up, the town has to run to Ash for help. The show was already renewed for a third season.
The Walking Dead
Network: AMC
Despite its title, this long-running series refuses to die: the network already confirmed the eighth season that will start next year. But right now let’s talk about the recent premiere of Season Seven, which was emotional to say the least. The season opened with the murders of not one, but two beloved characters, which proved that the showrunners still know what strings to pull to keep viewers sobbing and shaking. Just like with any great zombie story, you always have to care about the people, and this pack of characters has a huge fanbase by now. But the question is: who's next?
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