The 10 Best Horror TV Shows Of 2023
It has been a really great year for genre television. We watched Apple TV+ dazzle audiences with chart-topping shows like Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Invasion amid a sea of excellent thrillers. The Flanastans are starting their campaign seeking answers to why Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher isn’t nominated for everything as we speak. Even Disney+ wanted to get in on the action with a more sinister take on Goosebumps. Making a list of the best this year has to offer is no small feat. So, I’m very proud of myself for carving out what I think highlights some of the coolest, most fun, and often the darkest stuff I’ve seen in my near-constant binging. I present to you the 10 best horror TV shows of 2023.
10. Slasher: Ripper
Where You Can Watch: Shudder
It has been a joy to watch this Canadian slasher anthology top itself each outing for the last three seasons. Every single time we think it can’t get better, it swings bigger (and bloodier) in the goriest of ways. This season saw them throw it back to the late 19th Century and enlist Eric McCormack in what became appointment television for anyone with a Shudder subscription. This season had some of the best reveals, most shocking deaths, and mindblowing moments of the entire series. Plus, they did it all in period clothing, so you have to give them extra style points.
9. The Other Black Girl
Where You Can Watch: Hulu
I wasn’t ready for this show to be as good as it was. Not only does it capture the feeling of being the only Black girl in a PWI, but it also continually blows up whatever box you thought you could fit this series into. At one point, I thought it was a weird ghostly possession situation. However, it goes for a much bigger and more thought-provoking story than I could have imagined. I binged this show in 24 hours and then sat in my apartment with my mouth open, trying to collect my feelings. I hope they get another season because the television landscape needs more stories like this.
8. Silo
Where You Can Watch: Apple TV+
Silo feels familiar to us sci-fi kids who grew up in the 90s. However, the Apple TV+ budget makes it look like nothing we ever got in my day. This unique tale of conspiracies and government cover-ups set in a dystopian future where no one remembers how the human race ended up in the silo is chilling, claustrophobic, and intense. We also have a badass cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, Common, and Tim Robbins. This was one of the few shows I felt justified the cost of my subscription this year.
7. Swarm
Where You Can Watch: Prime Video
This is a Dominique Fishback household. Not only did she give us an award-worthy performance, but she’s now one of the very few Black girl slashers in this genre. Her performance was creepy, funny, and often violent in her pursuit of the woman she idolizes. This show has a similar tone to Atlanta, which makes sense because it was created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover. So it’s a fun but uncomfortable ride filled with surprises as it challenges its audience to think about the bigger picture and their participation in stan culture.
6. What We Do In The Shadows
Where You Can Watch: Hulu
You would think after five seasons, a show wouldn’t feel as fresh and funny as it did in season one. However, you would be wrong. This season found our band of misfit vampires up to their old shenanigans as their familiar Guillermo (played by the iconic Harvey Guillén) takes matters into his own hands and decides to become a vampire. Part of what I love about this show is that it’s unafraid to make a drastic change (remember when they killed Colin Robinson) to avoid getting stuck in a routine. This year, they also finally bumped their secret weapon, Kristen Schaal, to a main cast member. So consider me gutted that the series is ending after next season.
5. Black Mirror
Where You Can Watch: Netflix
Black Mirror remains the anthology to beat of this millennium. I have made it a tradition to binge the season the day it drops to avoid spoilers, and I am never disappointed. As usual, Charlie Brooker gave us a handful of episodes that left the internet fighting. This season saw the series take jabs at Netflix while airing on Netflix, a polarizing werewolf story, and a charismatic demon in a fur coat. While many people get stuck on the stars that fill these episodes (and this season brought in so many of our favorite actors), it sadly leads to some of the commentary being missed on the first watch. Black Mirror is still one of the sharpest, most twisted, and unsettling TV shows airing now.
4. Yellowjackets
Where You Can Watch: Paramount+ and Showtime
They finally gave us the cannibal moments we have been waiting for this season. Now I understand what “teamwork makes the dream work” really means. As expected from this squad, the acting was out of this world, the soundtrack was the best on TV, and the secrets and lies continued to pile up. Yellowjackets is one of those shows that the second you start to doubt it, it will punch you in the face and kill someone. While season one gave the adults more to do, this year really gets into the nitty-gritty of what was going down in that cabin with the teens. Not only did Yellowjackets give us some of the most noteworthy moments of TV in 2023, but it also reminded us why it is our Antler Queen.
3. From
Where You Can Watch: MGM+
This is the most stressful and scariest show on TV. I don’t care where we put it on our lists. You cannot take that honor away from this Harold Perrineau-fronted nightmare fuel. This season opens in high-stakes territory with so many souls in peril after the first season finale. It rarely takes its foot off the gas pedal as it puts its characters through different stages of hell. There were so many stress-inducing moments this season that it is a miracle my heart did not give out. All this anxiety is also wrapped in so many mysteries that I might need to invest in a Scandal board to help me organize my investigation. I am looking forward to continuing to scream “What?” every episode whenever season three is ready.
2. The Last Of Us
Where You Can Watch: Max
I showed up to this show knowing nothing but expecting to see some zombies. I walked out one of the millions of people crying every week as this series ripped our hearts out and told us to come back every Sunday. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are superstars in their own right, but together, they were too powerful. So, when the guest stars started lining up to die, it was an emotional overload that none of us were ready for. Very few shows manage to find the difficult balancing act between horror and drama like this one. This is why seeing this one excel in both lanes hurt so damn good!
1. Chucky
Where You Can Watch: Peacock
We were only given four episodes this season, but Chucky has been proving that scary things come in small packages for over 30 years. No one and I mean no one, can top the sheer mayhem that we saw in these first four episodes. Umbrellas, chandeliers, and flags became weapons in the hands of Charles Lee Ray as he proved not even the White House could stop his reign of tiny terror. We are also still being treated to new and creative ways for Jennifer Tilly to mother after being in the franchise for over 25 years. Give her an Emmy already, you cowards! I don’t know what to expect from Chucky Season 3, Part 2, but if it’s half as good as Part 1, 2024 is looking fucking fantastic.
Honorable Mentions
The Horror Of Dolores Roach on Prime Video
Red Rose On Netflix
Romancero on Prime Video
The Village on Prime Video
While 2023 was an awful year, there was some quality horror to give us comfort on every streamer. As someone who tries to check everything out, this year made that almost a full-time job. I loved to see it, and I sincerely hope we keep this energy in the new year.
Let me know if any of my favorite shows made it into your top 10 list at @misssharai.
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