10 Best Horror TV Shows According to Stephen King

Stephen King’s works are the literary equivalent of a haunted house – they are terrifying but also exhilarating to walk into. As one of the most successful authors of the modern era, King has spent decades scaring and satisfying readers and viewers with his unique brand of horror. From Carrie to It, from The Shining to Pet Semetery, his iconic tales have embedded themselves in the culture and history of cinema.

While his own works have spawned countless classics, he’s also left an indelible mark on the small screen, with adaptations of his books being transformed into limited series and full-fledged TV shows as well. The master of horror, unsurprisingly, is a TV lover like many of us. And after watching so many chilling shows over the years, he’s made sure to shine the spotlight on the most harrowing stories by recommending them to fans.

Whether it’s a mainstream hit like Stranger Things or a crime sensation like Money Heist, King’s recommendations carry a lot of weight for his followers. In the horror medium, particularly, he’s lent his stamp of approval so many times that it’s almost futile to keep count. After all, this is a man who has spent his career navigating the darkest corners of the human mind. Here are 10 horror TV shows recommended by Stephen King.

10 ‘Chapelwaite’ (2021)

Set in the 1800s, Chapelwaite follows the story of Captain Charles Boone, who inherits a dark and foreboding mansion in the small town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine, after his wife passes away. Hoping for a fresh start, Charles takes his children and they move into the mansion only to discover that their new home harbors ancient evil. Otherworldly forces begin to test their limits and drive them insane.

A Gothic Masterpiece

Stephen King has long been a champion of Gothic horror and Chapelwaite is the perfect example of his unique brand of storytelling. The series is adapted from his own short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” and it combines slow-burn supernatural dread with richly drawn characters. On X, King himself praised the show’s moody visuals and revealed how he wrote it in college.

“
CHAPELWAITE
(Epix): Excellent, creepy expansion of my story, ‘Jerusalem’s Lot.’ I wrote it in college. Eight years or so later, I realized it was the prologue to the novel which became ‘SALEM’S LOT.”

9 ‘The Passage’ (2019)

In The Passage, a secret government experiment goes awry and turns the test subjects into infectious vampires. Amy Bellafonte, a young orphan girl, becomes the key to a potential cure for the virus. However, he’s being pursued by the organization behind the experiment as well as the monstrous vampires it has created. So she teams up with Federal Agent Brad Wolgast, who protects her at all costs.

The Passage is a High-Concept Thriller

A thrilling ride from start to finish, The Passage was a short-lived vampire horror series, but it still managed to offer a bold and cinematic take on the genre. It combined elements of dystopian sci-fi, supernatural horror, and a cat-and-mouse thriller to leave a lasting impression on viewers. Even though Stephen King pointed out the use of flashbacks as “fillers,” he still gave The Passage his stamp of approval.

8 ‘Creepshow’ (2019 – Present)

In the tradition of the cheeky 182 anthology film directed by George Romero, Creepshow pulls back the curtain and delivers deliciously dark and unabashedly scary stories in six episodes. Like the original, it begins with Creep, a full-bodied puppet, giving a cold opening before each self-contained supernatural or psychological nightmare arrives to haunt all your senses.

Gruesome and Cheeky

Because the Creepshow film was adapted from one of King’s own works, he’s long been a devotee of the original. It’s no surprise that he’s also a fan of the small-screen reboot and recommends that every horror fan watches it. The series itself is such a brilliant and unhinged combination of chuckles and chills, with an impressive ensemble of actors uniting to pay homage to the anthology format, that for King to reminisce about the old days and urge fans to look for Easter Eggs is only obvious.

7 ‘Yellowjackets’ (2021 – Present)

Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Yellowjackets is currently one of the most popular survival horrors on streaming. It takes place in two timelines – the year 1996 and present day. In 1996, a girls’ high school soccer team is traveling to Seattle when their plane crashes in the remote Canadian wilderness, stranding them for 19 harrowing months. In the present day, the girls who made it out alive grapple with the trauma and the desperate choices they made.

A Dark and Terrifying Character Study

Yellowjackets has earned high praise from critics and fans for its use of psychological elements and complex characters, brought to indelible life by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Ella Purnell, and more. It also does not shy away from exploring the savage human nature that emerges when all resources are stripped away. For King, it is the “sharp characterization and a mordant sense of humor” that makes Yellowjackets so creepy, compelling, and cathartic to watch.

6 ‘Midnight Mass’ (2021)

Mike Flanagan is currently dominating the horror miniseries landscape on Netflix and Stephen King could not agree more. Midnight Mass, a Goth-infused supernatural thriller, follows a mysterious young priest arriving and making room for himself on Crockett Island, an isolated community made of religious people. But when it sets off a series of unsettling events, the townspeople behind experience strange things and long-buried secrets about their pasts come to the surface.

A Slow-Burn Supernatural Saga

A slow-burn cerebral saga that also makes proportionate commentary on themes of religion, existential dread, faith, morality, and the human condition, Midnight Mass is easily one of the most thoughtful and unsettling horror miniseries of the 20th century. It is anchored by a breathtaking performance from Hamish Linklater, who is supported by Zach Gilford, Samantha Sloyan, and Kate Siegel. King sang praise of the show on X by saying:

“
MIDNIGHT MASS
, on Netflix: Mike Flanagan has created a dense, beautifully photographed terror tale that climbs to a high pitch of horror by the 7th and last episode.”

5 ‘Dracula’ (2020)

Bram Stoker’s famous novel has spawned countless adaptations, with the immortal Count Dracula terrorizing every corner of humanity for decades now. In the modern retelling, titled Dracula, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania for the sale of the stately house in Victorian England only to find himself confronting Count, who wants to conquer the world. But Count himself is stuck in an endless battle of wits with a young Sister Agatha Van Helsing, who becomes an unexpected adversary in his game.

Reimagines the Gothic Masterpiece

A bold and stylish reimagining, Dracula makes sure to honor the immortal character’s legacy while also infusing its three episodes with contemporary and modern sensibilities. It’s scary, and it’s fun, something Stephen King has long been a fan of. Not only has he showered praise for putting a fresh spin on the horror archetype, but King also describes:

“The BBC incarnation of
DRACULA
(Netflix) is smart, involving, and bloody terrific. Which is to say it’s terrific and VERY bloody.”

4 ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities’ (2022)

Inspired by Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, the highly acclaimed horror series from the 1970s, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is another anthology series that delivered some of the strangest, most unsettling, and downright horrifying tales of horror. Each episode is a standalone that adapts to del Toro’s distinct vision and reminds you of his bizarre but beautiful aesthetic.

Filled with Delightfully Dark Tales

del Toro has always had a singular cinematic style, and it’s been put on display in movies like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water. His foray into television is marked by a diversity of styles and genre influences, with episodes ranging from Gothic to supernatural, but each of them having one thing in common – they satisfy die-hard genre fans. Stephen King also admires Cabinet of Curiosities for its ability to unnerve and captivate and recommends his followers on X with the tweet:

“I strongly advise you to open
Guillermo del Toro’s CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
, starting tomorrow on Netflix. Scary, sinister, and beautiful to look at.”

3 ‘The Outsider’ (2020)

In the wake of the brutal murder of a young boy named Frank Peterson, a Little League baseball coach and family man Terry Maitland, played by Jason Bateman, is accused. The news sends the town into a deep and disturbing rabbit hole of horrors. An alcoholic detective and a private investigator throw logical explanations of the murder away and confront a sinister force once and for all.

Gripping Supernatural Adaptation

Adapted from one of King’s own works and stamped by him as “one of the best adaptations,” The Outsider thrives on the taut direction by Richard Price and the atmospheric setting similar to the author’s novel. Even though the series starts off as a crime procedural, it slowly begins exploring the nature of evil as well as the moral dilemma that springs up when the rational and irrational collide. Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo lead the series up until the jarring climax.

2 ‘Dark’ (2017 – 2020)

A German thriller that spins the concept of time travel around its head, Dark takes place in the small fictional town of Winden. When a young boy named Erik Obendorf disappears, it brings to light the dysfunction, secrets and shocking pasts of four families across multiple generations as they try to search for the child and other lost children. As the investigation continues, more lies and supernatural events start to occur, sending the families in a spiral.

Tense Time-Travel Masterpiece

King is the self-proclaimed lover of “smart horror” and has championed several creative horror shows. With Dark being one of the genre’s most stunning offerings, it goes without saying that it’s one of King’s favorites as well. The series, with its heady concepts, weaves a complex mystery that’s not easy to understand in just one viewing. The mind-boggling plot twists, haunting environment, and unbearable tension linger long after the three seasons have ended.

1 ‘Marianne’ (2019)

Marianne centers around best-selling author Emma Larsimon, who used to have nightmares about the titular woman, who also eventually inspired the witch from Emma’s horror books, as a child. Now that the woman has begun to reappear in her dreams, Emma is forced to return to her hometown and confront the very real horrors of her past. And the fact that her nightmares are actually connected to an old ancient evil that plagues her town.

Modern Macabre Like No Other

The French-language horror series directed by Samuel Bodin holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The praise comes from its rich storytelling and meticulously crafted scares. At the center of it all is Victoire Du Bois’ fierce performance, and the classic combination of beloved horror tropes and contemporary moments. On X, Stephen King praises Marianne for its scares and says it gives off a “Stephen King vibe.”

“If you’re one of those sickos–like me–who enjoys being scared,
MARIANNE
(Netflix) will do the job. There are glints of humor that give it a STRANGER THINGS vibe. It also has (I say it with all due modesty) a Stephen King vibe.”