Saagar Kote
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Halley Feiffer, FX’s ‘American Horror Story’ is a horror anthology series in which every season tells a separate story tied to a different element of fear. The show explores haunted houses, cults, supernatural entities, and other themes. Season 1 follows the Harmon family, as Vivien Harmon (Connie Britton), her psychiatrist husband Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott), and their daughter Violet Harmon (Taissa Farmiga), move to LA. Their attempt at a fresh start turns terrifying when they discover their new home is haunted.
Later seasons feature an asylum, a witch coven, a traveling freak show, a deadly hotel, a mysterious farmhouse, and a summer camp stalked by a killer, among others. Despite the changing stories and characters, the series builds a larger interconnected world of horror. Season 13 features Cordelia Goode (Sarah Paulson), the Supreme of the witch coven, and delves into a world of uncertainties. If you were entertained by the stories, these shows on Netflix, similar to ‘American Horror Story,’ offer a mix of supernatural intrigue and deadly tales that will keep you hooked from beginning to end.
10. The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
Creator Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ is a gothic horror series set in 1980s England. Following the death of an au pair, Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) hires Danielle Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) to look after his orphaned niece and nephew at the family’s isolated Bly Manor. Danielle joins a small household that includes a chef, a groundskeeper, and a housekeeper. Life at the estate soon takes an unsettling turn when Danielle begins to experience strange occurrences, suggesting the manor is hiding something.
When she tries to understand what is happening around her, the property’s dark history gradually comes to light, revealing secrets shaped by love, loss, and events that refuse to remain buried. This second entry in ‘The Haunting’ anthology series is an adaptation of the novella ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James. The Harmon family discovers that their LA home is haunted in ‘American Horror Story’, while Bly Manor becomes the center of disturbing occurrences and ghostly mysteries in ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor,’ connecting the shows thematically. Watch it here.
9. Midnight Mass (2021)
‘Midnight Mass’ takes place in the isolated Crockett Island, where the arrival of a charismatic new priest begins to transform a community already struggling with its own problems. Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater) quickly becomes an influential presence at St. Patrick’s Church, encouraging the island’s residents to embrace a renewed sense of faith. Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), meanwhile, returns home after serving time for a DUI-related death and finds himself struggling with the weight of his past. His reunion with Erin Greene (Kate Siegel) gives him a familiar connection, but the changes taking place around him are harder to ignore. When unusual and increasingly unsettling events begin affecting the island, Riley’s skepticism puts him at odds with the growing religious fervor.
What follows forces both Riley and Father Paul to confront developments that begin to destabilize the community and challenge the beliefs holding it together. ‘Midnight Mass’ and ‘American Horror Story’ turn ordinary settings into sites of escalating horror. Crockett Island initially feels like a familiar isolated town, but strange developments gradually transform the community, much like the different environments explored throughout the anthology. The horror series from the creative mind of Mike Flanagan is available on Netflix.
8. Archive 81 (2022)
Based on the podcast of the same name, ‘Archive 81’ centers on a collection of damaged videotapes that becomes the doorway to a decades-old mystery. Archivist Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) is hired to restore recordings made in 1994 by graduate student Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi), who was documenting the residents of an apartment building before a devastating fire destroyed it. As Dan reconstructs Melody’s recordings, his work develops into an increasingly personal obsession. What initially appears to be an archival assignment draws him toward questions surrounding a mysterious disappearance and a secretive cult connected to the building.
The more footage he uncovers, the more Dan believes Melody’s investigation may hold the key to understanding what happened to her. His growing fixation eventually leads him to assume that the recordings could somehow allow him to alter the fate of someone in the past. Along the lines of ‘American Horror Story,’ the supernatural horror series delves into the workings of a cult, while also exploring fear and obsession at the individual level. Access the Rebecca Sonnenshine creation here.
7. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020)
In ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,’ teenager Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) is forced to confront the darker side of her heritage as she approaches a major turning point in her life. Half witch and half mortal, Sabrina has always existed between two worlds, but her life in Greendale becomes increasingly difficult to separate from the occult forces surrounding her family. She struggles with the expectations attached to her supernatural personality, and sinister threats begin putting the people she cares about in danger. Rather than surrendering to a fixed path, Sabrina chooses to take matters into her own hands. Her efforts to protect those close to her force her to confront difficult questions of identity and belonging.
The show is an adaptation of the eponymous Archie comic book series by the show’s creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ and ‘American Horror Story’ both explore horror through supernatural worlds filled with witches, occult forces, and threats that exist alongside ordinary human life. Sabrina’s story moves between teenage experiences and a darker supernatural reality, much like the anthology’s shifting horror landscapes. The supernatural horror series is available on Netflix.
6. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is the tale of a troubled family that finds itself permanently scarred by the house they once hoped to transform. Hugh Crain (Timothy Hutton) and Olivia Crain (Carla Gugino) move into the mysterious Hill House with their five children, Steven, Shirley, Theodora, Luke, and Eleanor, intending to renovate and sell the property. Instead, disturbing paranormal experiences gradually destroy the family’s sense of security, culminating in a tragedy that drives them away. Years later, the Crain siblings and their father are brought together again following another devastating event. Their reunion forces them to confront memories they have spent decades trying to escape, as the influence of Hill House continues to connect their past with their present.
With reality, memory, and fear increasingly difficult to separate, the family must face the emotional damage left behind by the house. Driven by the creative vision of Mike Flanagan, the horror-drama series is based on Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same title. ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘American Horror Story’ both make supernatural horror inseparable from the history of a particular place. Hill House shapes the Crain family’s lives long after they leave, much like the ways in which haunted locations across the anthology series carry histories that continue affecting those who enter them. Enjoy the show here.
5. Ratched (2020)
Set in 1947, ‘Ratched’ follows Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson) as she enters a prestigious psychiatric hospital in Northern California under the guise of a capable and compassionate nurse. Mildred quickly establishes herself within an institution known for conducting controversial experiments, but her polished professional image conceals a much more calculated purpose. She becomes increasingly involved in the hospital’s activities, and her intentions grow more unsettling. The institution itself serves as a backdrop for questions of cruelty and morality, while Mildred’s arrival ultimately becomes part of a broader exploration of how evil can hide behind decency.
Created by Evan Romansky and Ryan Murphy, the psychological thriller series serves as a prequel to director Miloš Forman’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. Both ‘Ratched’ and ‘American Horror Story’ turn institutions into disturbing environments. Mildred enters a prestigious psychiatric hospital where controversial experiments take place, while the anthology series similarly uses an asylum as the setting for one of its major horror stories. Access the story on Netflix.
4. Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)
‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ chronicles the experiences of Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar), who enters the LA film world in the 1990s, determined to establish herself as a director. Her ambitions suffer a major setback when producer Lou Burke (Eric Lange) removes her from a project after she rejects his sexual advances. Rather than accept the treatment quietly, Lisa becomes consumed by the desire to destroy the man who has wronged her. Her search for a way to retaliate leads her to Boro (Catherine Keener), a mysterious witch whose involvement pulls Lisa into a far stranger situation than she anticipated.
As her revenge takes shape, the line between achieving justice and losing control of her own life grows increasingly blurred. Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion are the creative team behind this horror drama series, which is based on Todd Grimson’s eponymous novel. ‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ and ‘American Horror Story’ combine horror with deeply personal conflicts. Lisa’s supernatural journey begins with her desire for revenge, while the anthology series frequently builds its horrifying tales around characters whose personal issues become entangled with disturbing forces. You may watch it here.
3. The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ chronicles the collapse of a powerful family and the consequences it leads to. In 2023, pharmaceutical CEO Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) confronts his six children’s deaths within a matter of weeks, leaving him to face a family history built over decades. He recounts that history to Charles Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), a lawyer who has spent his career pursuing Roderick’s company over its corruption. The story then moves between the present and earlier decades, revealing the lives of Roderick and his twin sister Madeline and tracing how the siblings accumulated their immense power and influence.
As Roderick’s account exposes the secrets behind the family’s rise, the deaths of his children become part of a much larger mystery surrounding the Usher dynasty and the forces that ultimately threaten to destroy it. The Mike Flanagan creation is a horror series loosely based on the eponymous short story and other works by Edgar Allan Poe. Akin to ‘American Horror Story,’ the show blends psychological complexity with uncertainty and fear. Roderick’s family is gradually revealed through its secrets and tragedies, while the anthology series frequently centers on dysfunctional families in disturbing supernatural stories. It can be found on Netflix.
2. Slasher (2016-2023)
Creator Aaron Martin’s ‘Slasher’ reinvents its story with each season, placing a different group of characters in the path of a masked killer. In the first season, Sarah Bennett (Katie McGrath) returns to Waterbury with her husband Dylan (Brandon Jay McLaren), hoping to rebuild her life. Her return coincides with a series of killings attributed to someone only known as “The Executioner.” Sarah becomes entangled in the investigation, and buried secrets make almost everyone around her appear suspicious.
Later seasons shift to entirely different settings and characters, from former camp counselors facing an unknown killer to neighbors targeted over a past crime, a wealthy family trapped in deadly games, and elites hunted in 19th-century Toronto. Across its stories, the horror anthology series repeatedly combines masked killers, mystery, survival, and gruesome violence. Both ‘Slasher’ and ‘American Horror Story’ are anthology series that explore multiple elements and themes of fear, violence, and uncertainty through their layered stories. The two shows also use dramatically different settings to shape their tales of horror. Stream it here.
1. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
‘Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities’ presents eight independent stories that approach horror from dramatically different directions. Framed as a collection of curiosities unveiled one by one, the horror anthology series moves between Gothic, grotesque, supernatural, and macabre tales set across different periods and places. One story follows Nick (Tim Blake Nelson) as he acquires an abandoned storage lot in 1991 and discovers a séance table along with books on summoning demons. Another tale centers on Masson (David Hewlett), a desperate grave robber in early-20th-century Salem who hopes to dig out a recently buried aristocrat. In another story, Sheriff Nate Craven (Glynn Turman) asks Dr. Carl Winters (F. Murray Abraham) to examine the bodies of several dead miners in 1978.
Across its eight episodes, some of which are based on separate short stories, the series presents horror as a collection of strange and unsettling possibilities. ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ moves between Gothic, supernatural, grotesque, and macabre stories, while ‘American Horror Story’ similarly explores ghosts, witches, cults, killers, and other forms of horror. Both shows use mysterious objects, places, or circumstances as points of entry into their horrifying worlds. The Guillermo del Toro creation is streaming on Netflix.
Read More: Where Was American Horror Story 13 Filmed?
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