Horror fans don’t have to rely on just horror movies during spooky season — there’s also plenty of terrifying television shows that can get anyone into the Halloween spirit.
American Horror Story has become a spooky season staple since it premiered in 2011 as an anthology series on FX. Each season follows a different set of characters in a new setting within the same fictional universe, which has previously led to crossovers. From Murder House to Freak Show to Roanoke to Apocalypse, American Horror Story has found a way to scare even the biggest horror fans.
Meanwhile over at Peacock, Teacup is a newer horror series that relies on secrecy. Based on Robert McCammon‘s book Stinger, Teacup follows a group of people in rural Georgia who must come together to survive a terrifying phenomenon that is killing animals and humans alike. As new episodes aired throughout October 2024, viewers were left with more questions than answers about what was behind the danger.
“It’s very astute that it feels like a movie because that is the idea of the shorter episodes,” creator Ian McCulloch exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “It is not only because we want to leave the audience wanting more — so they move on to the next episode — but there’s an economy of storytelling. In the end, it should feel like a single piece, which is what a movie is.”
He continued: “We didn’t have any extra fat [with the stories]. After a while you can’t just tell one thorough story, you have to go off on some different avenues. We didn’t want that sort of experience. We wanted people to just keep going and keep going. While at the same time, you want to make sure that you’re not throwing things in just to do a twist or a turn.”
Keep scrolling for a guide to the spookiest TV shows to check out this Halloween season:
