13 Best Horror TV Shows To Watch On Hulu
While having a good selection of great horror movies and horror TV shows is a basic practice for just about every other streaming service, on Hulu, it is also a means of annual celebration they call “Huluween.” For those who prefer scares that last longer than your typical feature-length thriller and have a Hulu subscription, we have compiled a list of the freakiest (and in some cases, funniest) scary series currently available on the platform – including a few new horror TV shows – to keep you in fear for the entire “Huluween” season or any time of the year.
Ash Vs. Evil Dead (2015-2018)
Years after he and his friends accidentally unleashed malevolent, possessive entities into the world, history repeats itself for an aging grocery store employee (Bruce Campbell) who must join forces with his coworkers (Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo) to exterminate the terror.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Campbell, one of the all-time greatest horror icons, returns to his most famous character for the last time(?) in Ash vs. Evil – a series continuation of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies that may be the franchise’s greatest representation of marrying slapstick comedy with intense, visceral gore.
Stream Ash vs. Evil Dead on Hulu.
SurrealEstate (2021-Present)
A team of real estate agents take on the specialized task of removing evil presences from their clients’ homes in order to make them more fitting for a good sale.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The clever idea of realtors who double as paranormal investigators is explored in SurrealEstate, which stars former Schitt’s Creek cast members Tim Rozon and Sarah Levy is now in its second season on SyFy.
American Horror Stories (2021-Present)
A family experiencing a unique disconnect when moving into a house with a deadly history, a drive-in facing a disaster when screening an infamous horror movie, and a job interview for a doll manufacturer having an unexpected turn out are just some of the twisted tales explored in this series.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Fans of American Horror Story that prefer their anthologies to take things one story per episode will find exactly what they are looking for in the Hulu exclusive spin-off, American Horror Stories, which is debuting its third season in October 2023.
Stream American Horror Stories on Hulu.
Hannibal (2013-2015)
A gifted FBI profiler (Hugh Dancy) receives help – both professionally and personally – from a charismatic forensic psychiatrist (Mads Mikkelson), initially unaware that his most dangerous opponent yet is right under his nose.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Also one of the best Mads Mikkelsen titles, Hannibal is developer Bryan Fuller’s narratively inventive and graphically daring addition to the lore of the cannibalistic title character originally created by author Thomas Harris.
Teen Wolf (2011-2017)
An average teenager (Tyler Posey) becomes swept up in the world of the supernatural after a fateful bite turns him into a half-man, half-animal hybrid.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Developer Jeff Davis’ much darker reinterpretation of one of the best Michael J. Fox movies, Teen Wolf, would become one of the most acclaimed and most popular MTV original series in recent memory and later inspired a feature-length continuation exclusive to Paramount+.
The Fades (2011)
A young man with an unusual gift (Iain De Caestecker) must use it against a furious entity whose plan to resurrect himself as a human could mean the end for all of humanity.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Created by Enola Holmes writer Jack Thorne, The Fades is a gruesome, aggressively creepy, and widely acclaimed six-part, British miniseries that also features one of the earliest performances by Daniel Kaluuya and Lucifer cast lead Tom Ellis.
Scream Queens (2015-2016)
The members of an already dysfunctional college sorority really begin to turn on each other when they are stalked by a masked killer and, later, fall prey to another elusive murderer after they are hired on to the staff of their dean’s new hospital.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: American Horror Story co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk tried their hand at a more humorous and location-based attempt at the anthology horror TV show structure with Scream Queens – a title they earned by casting the most famous of the horror movie Scream Queens, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Wayward Pines (2015-2016)
The search for a pair of missing federal agents leads a Secret Service agent (Matt Dillon) toward a strange small town that soon proves to be harder to leave than one would assume.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: From producer M. Night Shyamalan, developer Chad Hodge’s series adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines book trilogy is an engrossingly suspenseful mindbender that fans of Twin Peaks might get a kick out of.
Monsterland (2020-Present)
A socially isolated teen having an unexpected and unwelcome encounter, a successful business executive at risk of losing everything for past mistakes, and a married couple struggling to overcome their own consuming grief are just three of these eight tales about redemption by uncomfortable and, especially, unexplainable means.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Largely inspired by the stories in Nathan Ballingrund’s book, North American Lake Monsters, the Hulu original anthology series, Monsterland – featuring No One Will Save You star Kaitlyn Dever – takes a cue from The Twilight Zone by exploring the darker sides of humanity through grim and fantastic lens.
Castle Rock (2018-2019)
A small town in Maine lives up to its grim reputation after a lawyer (Andre Holland) returns to defend a man (Bill Skarsg?rd) secretly held captive for decades, and later when a desperate single mother (Lizzy Caplan) makes an emergency stop that sets off a horrifying chain of events.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The titular community of Castle Rock refers to a fictional place that shows up in many stories by horror master Stephen King, whose most famous characters are either directly involved or cleverly referenced in each of the two multi-episodic arcs explored in this beautifully crafted, prematurely canceled seasonal anthology.
American Horror Story (2011-Present)
Witness patients of a sadistic mental hospital fighting for their sanity (and lives), traveling roadshow performers struggling with their own “gifts” (among other things), teenage campers having the worst summer ever, and more stories that boggle the mind and challenge the senses in just about the most popular seasonal anthology horror series on television.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and others make up the cast of recurring actors who play a variety of characters that span decades, and even planes of existence, in American Horror Story – Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s collection of exhilarating, psychosexual, multi-episodic thrillers which will keep you from looking at the genre the same way ever again.
Stream American Horror Story on Hulu.
The X-Files (1993-2018)
FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillan Anderson) often have differing opinions of the cases they are tasked with investigating, but what neither of them can deny is just how strange they tend to be.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: From UFO conspiracies, cryptid sightings, urban legends, and other various encounters with things that are out of the ordinary, The X-Files – creator Chris Carter’s phenomenal marriage of crime procedurals with science fiction and fantasy – never fails to deliver some truly bizarre and harrowing sights that will haunt you long after you finish all 11 seasons.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
A teenage girl striving for an average life instead must accept her destiny as a warrior against demons, bloodsuckers, and all forms of evil with help from her friends and the school librarian.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Unlike Mulder and Scully, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s title character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer – a darker series update of the 1992 horror comedy movie – chases after the supernatural with a more direct and forceful approach that amounts to a stellar, and plenty frightening, display of monster-hunting fun over seven hit seasons.
Stream Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu.
The Strain (2014-2017)
A CDC researcher (Corey Stoll) is in over his head with the discovery of a virus, originating from a commercial jet that mysteriously appeared in New York, that slowly begins to turn those infected into undead creatures of the night.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s series adaptation of their own trilogy of horror novels (the first of which is titled The Strain), takes a more complex and scientific approach to exploring vampire lore and the cataclysmic effect it would have on humanity.
Freakish (2016-2018)
A group of teenagers must rely on themselves to stay alive after a chemical disaster turns the rest of their town into deadly mutants while they were in Saturday morning detention.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: If you cannot get enough of zombie TV shows, Freakish should be a perfect match for you, and was for fans of old school survivalist horror, as well as high school movies in the vein of John Hughes, until Hulu canceled it after two seasons.
The Purge (2018-2019)
A not-too-distant future in which all crime, including murder, is legal for one 12-hour period each year is seen through the eyes of several loosely connected Americans just trying to stay alive by sunrise.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: The two-season run of this USA original offers an, arguably, more fascinating and poignant exploration of the sociopolitical message of the popular franchise of The Purge movies it is spun-off from by its brutal depiction of a society torn apart by its own people.
What We Do In The Shadows (2019-Present)
A camera crew follows a group of seemingly easy-going vampires and their human minions to examine what life is like for the undead in Staten Island.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: This series expands on the concept of one of the best horror-comedy movies – Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s hilarious mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows – by offering even more brilliant and insightful satire on the mythology pioneered by Bram Stoker.
Stream What We Do in the Shadows on Hulu.
Bite Size Halloween (2020-2022)
Get a quick scare with these shorts about a lonely teenage girl discovering she is not so alone at an empty basketball court, a desperate man searching for purpose through a DNA research company, a cruel prankster receiving his ultimate comeuppance, and many more.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu: As the title suggests, Bite Size Halloween is a collection of films exclusive to Hulu that last mere minutes, but offer enough screams, and even laughs, to last you long after that.
Stream Bite Size Halloween on Hulu.
What do you think? Is Hulu your new go-to hub for a blood-curdling binge, or will it take a lot more than any of these series to scare you?
