Welcome to Dread Central Unearthed 2024, where we’re sharing our favorite films, moments, kills, scares, and more from this year in horror. Today, Sharai Bohannon is sharing the top 10 horror televsion series of 2024.
2024 has been such a bizarre year for genre television. We have Billy Crystal leading a psychological thriller called Before on Apple TV+. The streamer also just recently started airing my beloved Silo’s second season. Uzumaki landed on Max and introduced some of us heathens to the warped world of Junji Ito. Netflix also did that thing they’ve become known for and dropped a bunch of South Korean thrillers that deserve way more attention. If you’re still subscribed, please check out The Frog, The Trunk, A Killer Paradox, and The Bequeathed because you’ll love at least one of them. We also saw the abrupt (and wrongful) cancellation of Chucky instead of what should have been a guaranteed fourth season. Speaking of goodbyes, What We Do In The Shadows is in the middle of taking a bow as I write this list.
As a professional couch potato, this has been a lot of TV to keep up with. It’s also been some of the best distractions in these neverending “unprecedented times”. I have discovered a lot about myself while checking out what 2024 had to offer us serieswise. I learned I am more into the underseen Domino Day than the popular Agatha All Along. Stumbling upon My Undead Yokai Girlfriend, Inspector Rishi, and Disclaimer served as reminders that sometimes sitting with a show before passing judgment is best. So, while I am about to rattle off the 10 best shows of the year, I encourage you to hit the apps. There’s so much buried treasure out there, and most of it deserves to be seen.
Anyway, here are the titles that I think are the best horror shows of 2024.
10. Hysteria! (Peacock)
I was one of the many people who wrote this off as an attempt to cash in on the newest wave of Satan Panic horror caused by Stranger Things’ latest season. However, Hysteria! turned out to be a very fun little binge in its own right. Benefiting from a fantastic performance by Julie Bowen and Bruce Campbell’s endless reservoir of coolness, this show took us on a chaotic ride. It also kept us guessing if anything satanic was really happening or if it was simply manifestations of our own fears until nearly the very end. So, while we’re having a good time watching teens get in trouble, we also have a very relevant conversation playing out. Hysteria! is the kind of predictable fun in period costumes that becomes a welcome palate cleanser between all of the darker fare we usually feast on.
9. Parasyte: The Grey (Netflix)
South Korea entered the chat with body-snatching gross goodness in 2024. This sci-fi horror mash-up has Invasion of the Body Snatchers and John Carpenter’s The Thing in its DNA. However, it quickly leans into wilder territory and something even more sinister as it becomes an addictive binge-watch. Based on the manga Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki, Parasyte: The Grey is one of the itchiest, most paranoia-inducing shows of the year. In an era where alien invasions and live adaptations are struggling in the genre, it’s so cool to find a series that knocks it out of the park. This show is one of the reasons many of us are still talking to Netflix. Hopefully, the streamer greenlights a second season. We need more stories of lonely girls infected with mutant parasites learning it’s never too late to make friends. More tentacle-headed creatures battling would also be appreciated.
8. Evil (Paramount+)
When Evil was good, it was very very good. While the show spent its time fighting against its broadcast TV beginnings, it maintained its whimsically unique vibe and gorgeous aesthetic. Supported by a strong supporting cast including Andrea Martin, Michael Emerson, Kurt Fuller, and Christine Lahti and some of the best cinematography on television, Evil was fun and challenging as it played with its protagonists every week. Audiences are still rightfully upset by the cancellation of this show and wondering where our trio would have gone in a fifth season. While the extended season four answered a few questions, the show wasn’t able to put a tidy bow on quite a few plotlines. We need more religious-based supernatural horror shows firing at this level that are unafraid to laugh at themselves. I worry that Evil might be the last show of its kind for a while.
7. Tomorrow and I (Netflix)
On the surface, Paween Purijitpanya’s Tomorrow and I appeared to be Thailand’s answer to Black Mirror. However, this four-episode sci-fi anthology quickly sets itself apart visually, emotionally, and spiritually from the other shows it draws default comparisons to. Every episode feels like a movie, and each tackles a different tough topic. I learned early on that the more fun I had with each story, the bigger the emotional toll I would have to pay before the credits rolled. While this show will take many viewers on a surprising emotional journey, the last frame of the final episode is what haunts me the most. What could have easily been a fun exercise in questioning technology’s role in society Tomorrow and I becomes a roller coaster. The highs are fun, and the lows are heavy, but the ride is ultimately one of the best things on TV in 2024.
6. Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
Dead Boy Detectives was everything we have been begging for in a show. Well-written, fun, dark, queer, POC, and packed with badass women characters. So, of course, Netflix canceled it after one season. It’s especially upsetting because the lead actors George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, and Kassius Nelson began this journey with so much effortless charm that it hurt. Can you imagine what they would’ve been capable of with more time to live in their characters and settle into this universe?
Not only was this one of the best shows to come out in 2024, but watching these characters deal with relatable problems under hellish circumstances is something everyone still alive in this decade understands all too well. Whether you found a new chosen family while trying to get an abusive ex out of your head or told your best mate you have feelings for him while running from your demons, Dead Boy Detectives makes you feel seen.
5. Sweetpea (STARZ)
Ella Purnell plays an overlooked girl who turns to murder in this dark, funny, and delightful series. British black comedies are usually a good time, but this one is so delicious that it feels criminal. We love a “good for her” moment, but Sweetpea takes it further as these kills become part of the character’s journey to live, laugh, and love. 2024 was another year filled with painful reminders that society hates women. So, watching a fed-up lady start giving people the business end of the knife was a welcome escape. Especially because most of the men she killed deserved it and then some. In my humble opinion, quite a few more people in her circle could also stand to be stabbed. If you also yearn for a bit of catharsis after the election or just enjoy watching women become killers, this show is a damn good time.
4. Interview with the Vampire (AMC+)
Interview with the Vampire is a decadent treat. The horror series is filled with stunning performances and a design team that understands the assignment every single episode. I didn’t think the first season could not be rivaled, and I was sad to see my favorite Claudia (Bailey Bass) recast. However, Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Assad Zaman, and Delainey Hayles (stepping in as Claudia) embarked upon an even more vicious chapter of this saga. The second season brings more betrayal, more death, and more heartbreak. Even the finale gags the audience one more time for good measure. As someone who never liked the film adaptation, I never suspected there was so much drama to unpack with these messy vampires. This is one of those series that you long for between seasons. It is also one of the shows that makes social media exciting for the right reasons.
3. The Creep Tapes (Shudder)
Creep continues to be one of the most weirdly addictive franchises of this millennium (so far). I never doubted that Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass would find a way to capture all of the WTF moments that made both films unsettling for TV. If anything, the six episodes on Shudder are not enough. Much like Chucky, I now want this serial killer in a series format that allows us to spend more time with his evil deeds.
Duplass has always been great, as this character especially, but The Creep Tapes is him at his most unhinged. Sure, the kills are great. Obviously, the Peachfuzz weirdness is cranked all the way up, and exploration of this character’s queerness feels like magnets pulling us in. However, it’s watching Duplass serve camp Christian counselor energy with a huge Norman Bates undertone that seals the deal. Who knew this was the way to make found footage horror work on TV?
2. True Detective: Night Country (Max)
Leave it to Issa López to make the detective subgenre interesting and relevant again in 2024. She also pushed the series into its horror era when she took the reins as writer, director, and showrunner. While breaking up what seemed like a boys club, she also brought back appointment television. We had a weekly date with Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, and Fiona Shaw, and we were better people for it.
Before López’s arrival, True Detective always seemed like one of those shows where actors I love find work that I would never watch (like most police procedurals). However, López dared to ask what happens when you fill this world with women. More importantly, what happens when the media stops pretending the cops are the heroes as it ignores the harm they cause to Brown people. I also lived for this series because I do not think I have ever seen so many Indigenous women on screen in my entire life.
1. From (MGM+)
From fuses horror and drama in a perfect balance that most shows struggle to find. This makes each character’s brutal death hurt because we cannot help but feel like we are part of the Fromily. This also makes for a compelling watch because no one is safe in the world of From. No matter how closely you follow the rules or how hard you safeguard yourself, there is always something out of your control tapping at the window you forgot to double-check. Or something new scratching at the corners of your mind and getting under your skin.
Part of the appeal of this show is that it feels like being a person born, raised, and surviving “unprecedented times”. It captures millennial anxiety, which is why it is the most terrifying thing on screen for three years in a row. This Harold Perrineau-led series has us under its spell, and we are so welcome.
Honorable Mentions
- Don’t Come Home
- Light Shop
- Teacup
2024 has been a lot, so I didn’t have the energy to argue with the internet. However, Lauren LeFranc’s The Penguin on Max was a gloriously cruel return to Gotham City and another show with a design team working overtime. It is also the first time Cristin Milioti has landed a role that deserves her. It’s a gripping crime thriller that flirts with a few genres and may fall through the cracks.
Let me know if some of these picks made it into your top 10 list at @misssharai.
Categorized:Editorials
