The first two episodes of It: Welcome to Derry sparked fear and excitement among new viewers and longtime It fans nationwide. If you love all things horror and found yourself itching for other frightening television shows to hold you over until the next episode of It tormenting the children of Derry airs, well, you’re in luck! Here are my three favorite horror series that are actually scary to watch if you enjoyed Stephen King’s latest addition to his It franchise.
- “Midnight Mass”
Midnight Mass is a supernatural seven-part miniseries created and directed by Mike Flanagan—spoiler alert: all of these television series are directed by this U.S. writer-director, known for adapting other writers’ horrifying work to the main screen, including Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. Midnight Mass, however, is Flanagan’s pride and joy, entirely his own work, inspired by his Catholic upbringing.
The story opens with Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), a man who, after serving time in prison for killing a woman while drunk-driving, returns to his isolated childhood hometown, Crockett Island, known as “the Crock Pot” to its 127 residents. Riley moves in with his parents, devoted parishioners of St. Patrick’s, the town’s dwindling parish. When his parents drag him to mass, Riley meets Paul Hill (Hamlish Linklater), a charming young priest who claims he’s filling in for Monsignor Pruitt, the elderly town priest who has fallen ill while on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Riley soon finds himself as the only parishioner disillusioned by Father Hill’s so-called miracle-working, which comes with grave consequences.
What I loved most about this series was Linklater’s portrayal of his character. Linklater is most known for his comedic supporting role in The New Adventures of Old Christine, which was my first exposure to him. He is a genuinely funny actor with great comedic timing, but in this role, he is horrifyingly mysterious. Have fun speculating about Father Hill’s secret, because you won’t guess it. Flanagan also makes sure to twist obvious plotlines into something far more terrifying, filled with agonizing suspense and unsettling realism, reminding viewers that humans’ actions are just as scary as the supernatural. It is the exact moment when viewers discover Father Hill’s secret that left me horrified, as Flanagan turns our concept of angels and the afterlife on its head.
If you’re someone with a lot of religious baggage, brace yourself.
- “The Haunting of Bly Manor”
The Haunting of Bly Manor was the first of Flanagan’s works I watched with my father on our weekly horror movie nights. Without it, we probably wouldn’t have watched any of his other shows. While it didn’t leave me as scarred as Midnight Mass, it definitely set the precedent for the nail-biting thrill his work always induces.
Viewers meet Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti), a young governess hired by Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas), a wealthy man who has recently taken in his orphaned nephew, Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), and niece, Flora (Amelie Bea Smith), after their parents’ tragic deaths. Dani moves into the Bly estate, a country house that is as magnificently beautiful as it is haunted. Soon after her arrival, disturbing, ghostly occurrences involving former residents begin to unfold. As Dani unravels the manor’s dark past, viewers learn she is also hiding a horrifying secret.
The Haunting of Bly Manor transports viewers back and forth through time, following a nonlinear narrative that shifts among different characters’ perspectives. While this can be confusing at times, these time shifts often reveal the sinister details viewers missed the first time, leaving them on edge as they relive the same horrific moments over and over again. This tension makes even the children in this series off-putting, as you never know who’s truly an apparition.
You can’t watch this series without watching The Haunting of Hill House. Heads up: actors follow Flanagan across his different projects, so these series feature the same actors. If you’re easily confused, don’t watch them back-to-back like I did.
- “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Are you really an Emerson College student if you don’t consume Edgar Allan Poe’s work? The Fall of the House of Usher is an eight-episode miniseries loosely based on Poe’s 1839 short story of the same name.
Instead of following the Usher twins, Roderick and Madeline, and their connection to their house, the series tells a modern adaptation where the Usher family (Mary McDonnell and Bruce Greenwood) is a powerful dynasty in the pharmaceutical industry. After Assistant District Attorney C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) sues the company for malpractice, Roderick’s children start dying one by one under weird circumstances. The twins know exactly what is behind their deaths, and are determined to reveal it all before their trial ends.
Each episode is dedicated to the death of one of the many Usher children, with each death inspired by a different Poe story, including “A Midnight Dreary,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Gold-Bug,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Raven.” It was interesting to see the modern take on each of these stories and to pick up clues about how each tale inspired each death, some of which were absolutely insane. These scenes rely heavily on grotesque imagery and graphic violence rather than on typical jump scares, which heightens the psychological tension that grips you from the start.
If you’re a literary nerd who likes to get scared, you’ll love it.
So, if you’re in need of some spine-tingling thrillers that will keep you guessing, then take some time next weekend to watch one or all of these horrifying series on Netflix. If you’re immune to traditional scare tactics or someone who squirms the whole time, whether they’ll haunt your dreams is up to you.