Keep this page handy as we celebrate and list what is deemed to be the Best and Highest Rated Horror Series on Netflix Of All Time.
Since the dawn of Nosferatu, the horror genre has been a staple of the entertainment industry. From zombies, ghosts, and vampires to knife-yielding psychopaths, the genre never ceased to try and quench audiences’ thirst for a good scare. Some prefer slow atmospheric horror, while others love being startled by an unexpected something going bump in the night.
Regardless of where you stand, it’s highly likely you’ll find something on Netflix to make you feel uneasy. And if you want to hold on to that uneasy feeling for… say… a few binge-able hours – then a horror series is probably what you’re after.
Netflix has been steadily producing scary series, miniseries, and horror anthologies for years and we’ve put together a list of those considered the best of the bunch. As new shows get released regularly, we’ll keep updating our recommendations. Before you delve into this list, you may also like our Best Horror Movies on Netflix Of All Time list too.
Last Update: September 9th, 2023
Best and Highest Rated Best Horror Series on Netflix Of All Time
25. The Watcher (2022 – )
The Watcher is based on the true story of a couple who bought the infamous 657 Boulevard house and started receiving an onslaw of bizarre letters. Eventually, they were forced to sell the house, and even odder, the letters stopped when a new family took over the property.
Official Premise: A family moves into their dream home, only to be plagued by ominous letters, strange neighbors, and sinister threats.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Terry Kinney
Rotten Tomatoes: 56.00%
IMDB Score: 6.5/10
24. Typewriter (2019 – )
This terrifying Indian horror series centers on a group of teens who get entangled with a creepy house and a haunted typewriter.
Official Premise: A haunted house and a haunted book stir the imaginations of young wannabe ghost hunters.
Cast: Mikhail Gandhi, Purab Kohli, Palomi Ghosh, Sameer Kochhar, Palash Kamble
Rotten Tomatoes: 67.00%
IMDB Score: 6.5/10
23. Locke & Key (2020 – 2022)
This popular series about three siblings uncovering mysteries hidden inside their homes blends elements of the horror, mystery, and fantasy genres. During its three-season run, the show won several accolades, including a People’s Choice nomination.
Official Premise: Following their father’s murder, three siblings move into a house filled with reality-bending keys; from the comics by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.
Cast: Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Brendan Hines
Rotten Tomatoes: 68.00%
IMDB Score: 7.3/10
22. 1899 (2022 – )
Series creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar were planning for this multi-language series to be a three-season mind-bender, like their previous project, Dark, was. Unfortunately, Netflix canceled the critically acclaimed show two months after its premiere.
Official Premise: Immigrants on a steamship traveling from London to New York get caught up in a mysterious riddle after finding a second vessel adrift on the open sea.
Cast: Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, Maciej Musia?
Rotten Tomatoes: 76.00%
IMDB Score: 7.4/10
21. Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)
Based on a namesake novel by Todd Grimson, this limited series centers on a filmmaker who gets more than she bargained for after chasing her dream in LA.
Official Premise: Lisa N. Nova (Rosa Salazar) comes to LA dead set on directing her first movie. But when she trusts the wrong person and gets stabbed in the back, everything goes sideways, and a dream project turns into a nightmare. This particular nightmare has zombies, hitmen, supernatural kittens, and a mysterious tattoo artist who likes to put curses on people. And Lisa’s going to have to figure out some secrets from her own past in order to get out alive.
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Eric Lange, Catherine Keener, Jeff Ward, Manny Jacinto
Rotten Tomatoes: 78.00%
IMDB Score: 7.1/10
20. Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023 – )
This animated anthology series features several truly horrific stories sure to keep you up at night. The stories are adapted from the horror manga collection by famed Japanese creator Junji Ito.
Official Premise: A collection of stories penned by Japanese horror manga artist Junji Ito.
Cast: Bill Millsap, Dorah Fine, Mike McFarland
Rotten Tomatoes: 80.00%
IMDB Score: 6/10
19. Sweet Home (2020 – )
This critically acclaimed K-Drama horror series takes a rather unusual approach to the zombie apocalypse sub-genre. In this universe, those afflicted don’t turn into walking carcasses. Instead, they become actual monsters.
Official Premise: As humans turn into savage monsters, one troubled teenager and his neighbors fight to survive and to hold onto their humanity.
Cast: Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Si-young, Lee Do-hyeon, Park Gyu-young
Rotten Tomatoes: 83.00%
IMDB Score: 8.7/10
18. Ju-On: Origins (2020)
Ju-On: Origins is the most recent addition to the immensely popular Ju-On franchise (also known as The Grudge).
Official Premise: A paranormal researcher hunts for a cursed house where something terrible happened to a woman and her child long ago.
Cast: YosiYosi Arakawa, Yuina Kuroshima, Ririka, Kana Kurashina
Rotten Tomatoes: 85.00%
IMDB Score: 6.1/10
17. Love, Death + Robots (2019 – )
This collection of short animated stories spans several genres, including horror, and was produced by David Fincher.
Official Premise: This collection of animated short stories spans several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror and comedy. World-class animation creators bring captivating stories to life in the form of a unique and visceral viewing experience. The animated anthology series includes tales that explore alternate histories, life for robots in a post-apocalyptic city and a plot for world domination by super-intelligent yogurt. Among the show’s executive producers is Oscar-nominated director David Fincher.
Cast:David Fincher, Tim Miller, Jennifer Miller, Joshua Donen
Rotten Tomatoes: 85.00%
IMDB Score: 8.4/10
16. Vampire in the Garden (2022 – )
Not as scary as others on this list, Vampire in the Garden follows the unlikely friendship between a human and a creature of the night.
Official Premise: After humanity loses its battle with vampires, a young survivor named Momo has a fateful encounter with Fine, a vampire queen, and together they embark on a quest to find harmony.
Cast: Megumi Han, Yu Kobayashi
Rotten Tomatoes: 86.00%
IMDB Score: 6.7/10
15. Archive 81 (2022)
An adaptation of Daniel Powell’s Archive 81 podcast, this found-footage series is as intriguing as it is terrifying. Despite the series receiving rave reviews and audience approval, Netflix pulled the plug after only one season.
Official Premise: An archivist takes a job restoring damaged videotapes and gets pulled into a mystery involving the missing director and a demonic cult.
Cast: Mamoudou Athie, Dina Shihabi, Evan Jonigkeit
Rotten Tomatoes: 86.00%
IMDB Score: 7.3/10
14. Midnight Mass (2021)
From the brilliant mind of horror creator, Mike Flanagan comes this Emmy-nominated atmospheric miniseries. Critics were impressed with the series, and Jonathan Wilson at Ready Steady Cut describes the series as the creator’s “most contemplative work yet.”
Official Premise: The arrival of a charismatic priest brings miracles, mysteries and renewed religious fervor to a dying town.
Cast: Zach Gilford, Kate Siegel, Hamish Linklater, Annabeth Gish, Michael Trucco
Rotten Tomatoes: 87.00%
IMDB Score: 7.8/10
13. Black Summer (2019 – 2021)
The Asylum’s Black Summer is a Z Nation spin-off that ran for two seasons before its untimely cancellations. Apart from being set in the same universe, the two series have little in common with each other.
Official Premise: Set in the “Z Nation” universe, this series follows a crack team of special forces as it fights for hope in the darkest hours of the zombie apocalypse.
Cast: Jaime King, Justin Chu Cary, Kelsey Flower, Christine Lee, Zoe Marlett
Rotten Tomatoes: 87.00%
IMDB Score: 6.6/10
12. The Midnight Club (2022)
Mike Flanagan’s The Midnight Club is a story-within-a-story mystery thriller centered on a group of eight terminally ill hospice patients who meet every night and tell each other disturbing horror stories. Originally, the show was supposed to run for two seasons, but Netflix axed it after releasing the first.
Official Premise: At a manor with a mysterious history, eight members of the Midnight Club meet each night at midnight to tell sinister stories — and to look for signs of the supernatural from the beyond.
Cast: Iman Benson, Igby Rigney, Ruth Codd, Annarah Shephard, William Chris Sumpter
Rotten Tomatoes: 87.00%
IMDB Score: 6.5/10
11. Ghoul (2018)
Starring Radhika Apte, this three-part unnerving series took its inspiration from Arabic folklore stories, specifically the Jinn mythology.
Official Premise: When a new prisoner arrives at a military detention center exhibiting eerie behavior, young interrogator Nida Rahim searches for the truth. Her quest becomes a battle for survival when the prisoner, sect leader Ali Saeed, turns the tables on Nida and the other interrogators, exposing their most shameful secrets. Nida ultimately discovers a ghoul inhabiting Saeed and — after telling her colleagues about it — learns the alarming truth about what its presence reveals.
Cast: Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee
Rotten Tomatoes: 88.00%
IMDB Score: 7/10
10. The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
Another Mike Flanagan creation to make the list, this miniseries is an adaptation of The Turn of the Screw by author Henry James.
Official Premise: A young governess arrives at Bly Manor and begins to see apparitions haunting the estate.
Cast: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Henry Thomas, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller
Rotten Tomatoes: 88.00%
IMDB Score: 7.4/10
9. All of Us Are Dead (2022)
High school is a nightmare on a good day. This excellent K-Drama takes it one step further and adds Surviving Flesh-Eating Zombies to our character’s lesson plans.
Official Premise: Trapped students must escape their high school which has become ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak.
Cast: Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-Young, Jo Yi-hyun, Lomon, Yoo In-soo
Rotten Tomatoes: 88.00%
IMDB Score: 7.5/10
8. Santa Clarita Diet (2017 – 2019)
More hilarious than scary, this series takes a humane approach to the zombie genre. After becoming inconveniently undead, a suburban mom has to balance her life and her newfound love of human brain cravings.
Official Premise: Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star in this Netflix-original series as married realtors Sheila and Joel, who are living a quiet life, raising their teenage daughter in Santa Clarita, Calif. Their world unexpectedly changes when Sheila goes through a dramatic transformation that sends her down a road of death and destruction — but leaves her looking and feeling better than ever.
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson, Skyler Gisondo
Rotten Tomatoes: 89.00%
IMDB Score: 7.8/10
7. Stranger Things (2016 – )
Immensely popular, this nostalgia-inducing series won an impressive 12 Primetime Emmy Awards since it first landed on Netflix back in 2016.
Official Premise: Mysteries unravel in a small Midwestern town in the 1980s, involving supernatural forces, secret experiments, and one strange girl.
Cast: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo
Rotten Tomatoes: 92.00%
IMDB Score: 8.7/10
6. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Created by Mike Flanagan, this award-winning series is widely considered a template for how horror movies should be made. It’s a terrifying tale about family secrets, grief, and, of course, ghostly apparitions.
Official Premise: This modern reimagining of the Shirley Jackson novel follows siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now, adults, they are forced back together in the face of tragedy and must finally confront the ghosts of their past. Some of those ghosts still lurk in their minds, while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House. The ensemble cast includes Oscar winner Timothy Hutton, Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas. Mike Flanagan, a veteran of the horror genre, created the series.
Cast: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen
Rotten Tomatoes: 93.00%
IMDB Score: 8.6/10
5. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022 – )
Launched during 2022’s Halloween season, this horror anthology features eight different tales of the macabre. Each episode is introduced by del Toro himself as a tribute to Hitchcock.
Official Premise: An anthology of sinister stories told by revered horror creators.
Cast: Lize Johnston, Kevin Keppy, F. Murray Abraham
Rotten Tomatoes: 93.00%
IMDB Score: 7/10
4. Marianne (2019)
According to Ready Steady Cut critic Daniel Hart, this French series “has the strength of a firm lead character and a steady premise, and while the horror elements are not scary, the story progression is effective.”
Official Premise: A famous horror writer who is lured back to her hometown discovers that the evil spirit who plagues her dreams is now wreaking havoc in the real world.
Cast: Victoire Du Bois, Lucie Boujenah, Tiphaine Daviot, Ralph Amoussou, Bellamine Abdelmalek
Rotten Tomatoes: 94.00%
IMDB Score: 7.4/10
3. Kingdom (2019 – )
The award-winning period K-Drama horror series ran for two seasons. A 92-minute special came out in 2021, and another special is set to come out in 2023.
Official Premise: The deceased king rises, and a mysterious plague begins to spread; the prince must face a new breed of enemies to unveil the evil scheme and save his people.
Cast: Bae Doona, Ju Ji-hoon, Ryu Seung-ryong, Kim Sang-ho, Heo Joon-ho
Rotten Tomatoes: 97.00%
IMDB Score: 6.6/10
2. Hellbound (2021 – )
Hellbound is a highly acclaimed horror series based on a namesake webtoon. On Ready Steady Cut, Daniel Hart stated, “The violence is guiltily attractive, but the repeated consequences are so fast that the story does not remind you to breathe.”
Official Premise: Unearthly beings deliver condemnations, sending individuals to hell and giving rise to a religious group founded on the idea of divine justice.
Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Won Jin-a, Park Jung-min, Yang Ik-joon
Rotten Tomatoes: 97.00%
IMDB Score: 6.6/10
1. The Order (2019 – 2020)
This intriguing series ran for 2 seasons before Netflix dropped an untimely ax on it.
Official Premise: When Belgrave University student Jack Morton joins a fabled secret society, the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose, he is thrust into a world of magic, monsters and intrigue. Out to avenge his mother’s death, he uncovers dark family secrets and lands in an underground battle being waged between werewolves and practitioners of dark magic. Assisting Jack in the fight is Alyssa, a tour guide at Belgrave and fellow member of the Order, which is led by Jack’s estranged father.
Cast: Jake Manley, Kayla Heller, Sarah Grey, Matt Frewer, Sam Trammell
Rotten Tomatoes: 100.00%
IMDB Score: 6.7/10
And that completes our Best and Highest Rated Horror Series on Netflix Of All Time. What’s your favorite horror series on Netflix? Comment below.
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