These days, TV lovers are lucky because there are shows from just about every genre. There are shows that are brand new and currently airing new episodes and even a lot of shows that have already ended, so we get to see the entire thing without having to wait for new episodes or wonder what happens next. Among these shows, the horror genre is one that has become really popular and has a wide variety of different shows that fall into this genre.
For people that like scary TV shows, there's definitely a lot of shows to choose from. But, how are we supposed to know which ones are the best? Luckily, there are a lot of like-minded TV show fans out there that have definitely spoken up about the best ones. The horror tag on IMDb is full of TV shows and sorting it by popularity can help you to decide which shows are the best.
To see 10 of the best scary shows, ranked based on their popularity on IMDb, keep reading!
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a supernatural teen series that aired from 2009 through 2017. The series is set in the historic town of Mystic Falls where the residents have a long history of dealing with the supernatural. The series starts shortly after Elena Gilbert, the main character in the series, lost both her parents in a car accident. When she meets a new student at school, her life changes.
The series follows the way that Elena deals with the supernatural as she becomes entangled in the drama of the vampire world. The series has its scary moments, but it's definitely more focused on the drama and tension that the characters are going through for the majority of the series.
Castle Rock
Calling all Stephen King fans! Castle Rock is a series that is based on the world of Stephen King and all the characters that he's created in his novels over his long careers as an author. The series is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine and stars some of the people that have starred in film adaptations of Stephen King's previous works.
This show is a Hulu original series and, since it's a Stephen King-based show, it's definitely heavy on the scares. This anthology series is big on the psychological horror aspects of the story, but is enough to keep any horror fan or Stephen King lover hooked from the very first episode.
The Haunting Of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House is a Netflix original series that premiered in 2018 on the streaming service. This horror show is loosely based on the Shirley Jackson novel by the same name and is set to be an anthology series with each season based on a different story. The second season is said to be coming in 2020 and will be called The Haunting of Bly Manor, based on a Henry James novella.
The series is divided up between two different timelines and different points in the same family's lives. In one, a family moves into a house with their young children and becomes the target of the house's malicious energy. In the other, the children are grown up but haven't been able to leave the house's hauntings behind.
American Horror Story
American Horror Story is an anthology series that began airing in 2011 and has aired nine seasons so far. Because this sereies is an anthology, fans can pick and choose the seasons that have a storyline that interests them. Or, you can watch all of the seasons and enjoy each new story as it unfolds.
This series has had multiple different settings including a scary hotel, a circus, a cult, a coven of witches, and a summer camp back in the 1980s. This series is definitely scary and even has some moments that are funny enough to break up the scares, at least for a little while.
Servant
Servant is a horror series that made its debut on Apple TV+ in 2019. Horror icon M. Night Shyamalan is among the producers of this series, so you know it's definitely going to be scary as well as being full of all kinds of twists and turns.
This series follows a family that recently lost their son. In order to deal with the grief and move on, they get an incredibly lifelike reborn doll, a doll that Dorothy believes to be her real son in her grief-induced state. They hire a nanny in order to take care of the doll, but they start to become suspicious of the nanny shortly after she arrives at their home.
V-Wars
V-Wars is a science-fiction based horror series that began airing on Netflix in 2019. It's based on a graphic novel by the same name and stars Ian Somerhalder and Adrian Holmes as Dr. Luther Swann and his best friend, Michael, who find themselves face to face with a terrifying virus.
The virus, which is caused by a combination of climate change and an ancient virus that has become active again, is turning humans into vampires. The deadly outbreak has changed the way society functions and makes for an incredibly addictive TV show.
Supernatural
Supernatural aired its first season back in 2005 and has become a staple for horror lovers since then. There are a ton of seasons, which is a good thing for people that inevitably become addicted to the series, and the show is hard to stop watching once you start, so it's not hard to see why it's so popular on IMDb.
The series follows a pair of brothers named Sam and Dean who have a really unique family business: demon hunting. The pair travel all over the country, investigating and trying to put a stop to a number of supernatural creatures that are causing problems all over the US.
Stranger Things
Stranger Things is a Netflix original TV show that aired its first season on the streaming service back in 2016 and has become a huge hit since then. Considering just about everyone watches this show, it's easy to see how it landed so high up on this list.
Stranger Things is set in a fictional town in Indiana in the 1980s. It follows a group of friends who set out to uncover the mysterious happenings in their hometown and stumble upon a huge government coverup and mystery that's more intense than they could have ever dreamed.
The Walking Dead
Zombies have been a staple in the world of horror movies and TV shows for decades, so it's no surprise that a TV show that has a heavy focus on the undead is so high on the list of the best horror TV shows out there.
The Walking Dead is a zombie show that has definitely helped for these creepy creatures to make a big resurgence in the horror world. This series has a large cast of characters, all of whom have one thing in common: they're trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. But, as the show reveals, sometimes, the humans that are still alive can be the biggest threat to the survivors.
The Witcher
The Witcher is a Netflix original series that is based on the book series by the same name, which also happened to inspire a series of video games. Although The Witcher is definitely more of a dramatic fantasy or action-adventure series, IMDb put it under the horror tag too, since the fantasy drama and action can sometimes get a little intense.
This series follows Geralt, a monster hunter known as a "witcher" as he tries to make his way in life and deal with the people around him, something that he learns can be more of a struggle than hunting monsters. Even though this series premiered late in December of 2019, it's still already become hugely popular.