In the race for streaming supremacy, Amazon Prime boasts some formidable offerings, including a great line-up of horror TV shows. While Amazon currently sits near the front of the pack when it comes to subscription streaming, it has more competitors fighting for its spot than ever before. In the past three years alone, consumers have seen the launch of Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount Plus and Peacock, all operated by enormous multimedia conglomerates. It's no wonder that longtime streamers like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix are feeling some pain.
Of course, helping Amazon out is the fact that to many, its streaming features are secondary add-ons to the main perk of Amazon Prime, that being the free 2-day shipping. Still, Amazon Prime's catalog isn't one to overlook, featuring a sizable amount of worthwhile originals, and a still pretty large grouping of licensed content from other studios. It remains to be seen how long content creators will be willing to license out content to others instead of hoarding it for their own services, which could greatly impact Amazon Prime.
Among the selection currently available on the service, streamers will find vampires, werewolves, demons, aliens, and even some old-fashioned human serial killers. In the case of every show compiled below, the entire run - or up to the most recently aired season - is available, so there's no reason to worry about getting hooked and then not being able to continue. Here are the ten best horror TV shows currently available to stream on Amazon Prime
American Horror Story
The show that launched the era of season-long anthology stories, FX's American Horror Story continues to go strong heading into season 11. Seasons 1-9 are available to stream on Amazon Prime, with only 2021's season 10 not yet added. While American Horror Story can be an uneven show, its highest heights tend to be great, full of blood, gore, equal opportunity nudity, and an unabashed spirit of insanity. American Horror Story has nearly every horror style in play at some point, and comes close to offering something for everyone.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
While Joss Whedon's most famous creation may not be straight horror, Buffy the Vampire Slayer offers up enough monsters and mayhem to appeal to most horror lovers. One of the defining shows of the 1990s, Buffy made a legend out of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and also helped launch Seth Green and Alyson Hannigan to greater fame. Buffy also led to Angel, a spin-off starring David Boreanaz's reformed vampire that some feel actually surpassed its progenitor in quality.
Angel
Joining all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the Amazon Prime Video line-up is Angel's complete five-season run. Transplanting the action to Los Angeles and showing a willingness to often go darker than Buffy, Angel ended up becoming a noticeably different show. Still, the sharp writing and quick wit of Whedon and his writing staff are still present and accounted for, as are the often world-ending stakes in play.
Dexter
Recently revived via Dexter: New Blood, all eight original seasons of Dexter are available in full on Amazon Prime. Michael C. Hall gives a knockout performance as the titular Dexter Morgan, a blood splatter analyst by day and serial killer with a code by night. Dexter certainly has its weaker seasons, and season 8's original "lumberjack" ending is infamous, but Dexter overall remains a show no one should miss out on watching. For now, however, New Blood is only available on Paramount Plus.
Grimm
Grimm is a show that despite running for a lengthy six seasons on NBC, doesn't always get the respect it deserves. While it is indeed another in a long line of supernatural procedurals, it also offers a glimpse at what Supernatural itself might've become had it not turned into a biblical epic involving angels, demons, and God. The main character Nick is descended from a line of monster hunters and travels from place to place battling things that go bump in the night.
Them
Them is an Amazon original anthology series that has so far only produced one season, but Them season 2 is in the planning stages. Them's first season focuses on a Black family in the 1950s that moves to an all-white neighborhood, naturally leading to racist reactions. On top of that, there are also supernatural forces menacing the central family, meaning they have more to deal with than hateful neighbors.
Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
Having aired on the now-defunct Fearnet channel in the U.S., Todd and the Book of Pure Evil is an Amazon horror TV show offering that many may be unaware of. Running two seasons and 26 episodes total, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil is a horror-comedy blend that definitely takes cues from the Evil Dead franchise, but this was years before Ash vs. Evil Dead became a thing. The story revolves around a group of high school students tasked with undoing whatever damage the titular tome has managed to wreak in their town.
Lore
The second Amazon Prime original show among this bunch, Lore is based on the popular podcast of the same name created by Aaron Mahnke. Each episode is a combination of documentary footage and reenactments of the alleged events in question, some of which feature recognizable actors like Robert Patrick and Campbell Scott. Lore only ran for two seasons and twelve total episodes before ultimately being canceled, but each episode presents a standalone tale.
The Witching Season
A five-episode anthology of terror tales aimed at Halloween, The Witching Season is a treat for horror fans looking for a few quick bites of the macabre on Amazon Prime. It's a low-budget affair, but the episodes are nice and quick, also making them great for those without a ton of time available. Included among the lot are haunted houses, serial killers, and more.
Dark/Web
Another Amazon Prime original, Dark/Web - not to be confused with the recent movie Dark Web: Cicada 3301 - has gone under the radar a bit, but at only eight episodes it ends up being a worthy watch. A sci-fi/horror blend Dark/Web focuses on a future in which technology has taken a turn for the dangerous, in a manner reminiscent of Netflix's Black Mirror. It's not as good as that brilliant show, but Dark/Web makes for an acceptable substitute.