Yearning for the dark and macabre? A mystery to sink your teeth into? A tale full of woe? Whether you’re trying to fill the void between new episodes of Wednesday or simply feel most at home among the shadows, we’ve got your next dreadfully delightful binge watch.
These series all prove that nightmares really do come true. Murderous whodunits, supernatural suspense, teen intrigue, and, of course, scream-inducing scares. No matter what you’re looking for, you’ll find that each of these shows will scratch the itch … no help from Thing needed.
So please, forgo hunting down a Hyde or ensnaring a serial killer — even if it is what Wednesday would do — and instead press play on any of these dark and twisty series. They are sure to deepen a melancholic mood — or if you prefer, sustain a mirthless mentality — and will appease even the coldest of hearts.
As Wednesday says, birthdays are a reminder you are “a year closer to death’s cold embrace.” For half-human, half-witch Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), her upcoming 16th birthday is especially dark: With it comes the choice of either vowing allegiance to the Dark Lord or letting down her magical family. And if you think attending Nevermore sounds like a challenge, follow Sabrina as she balances attending two schools: small-town Baxter High, and the magical Academy of the Unseen Arts.
Just as Wednesday is drawn to a mystery like a moth to a flame, so too are the deceased young men of the Dead Boy Detectives. Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) both died years ago, but joined forces in death to escape moving on to the beyond. Instead, they stayed on earth as ghosts to investigate and solve paranormal cases for their clients, both living and dead. The two queer detectives face demons, mythical monsters, and even Death herself as they take on each new mystery.
You may recognize the main character of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder as Wednesday’s own Emma Myers. Here she takes on the role of Pip Fitz-Amobi, a British high schooler who investigates the unexplained disappearance of local girl Andie Bell (India Lillie Davies) five years ago. Andie’s boyfriend was accused at the time, but he never got the chance to defend himself. Pip partners with the accused boy’s brother to uncover the truth — while facing the possibility that the real culprit may still be out there.
Make yourself at home in the desolate halls and ghost-inhabited corners of Hill House. In this series from Mike Flanagan, the Crain family move into the decaying mansion intending to renovate and sell it. But the longer they stay, the more they encounter terrifying phenomena and serious danger. Flash forward 26 years, and the adult siblings must confront tragedy, face their estranged father, and reflect on what truly happened years ago at Hill House — and the ways it continues to have a haunting hold on them.
Psychic abilities certainly come in handy when solving a mystery, even if they come with a few black tears. In the world of Lockwood & Co., violent ghosts have become a serious threat, and because adults can’t sense them, it’s up to teenagers to train in licensed ghost-hunting agencies and track them down. Lucy Carlyle (Ruby Stokes) is a runaway “Listener” who can see and hear supernatural entities. She joins her fellow teen investigators Anthony Lockwood (Cameron Chapman) and George Karim (Ali Hadj-Heshmati) at a new psychic agency investigating dangerous situations with both the dead and the living.
Is there anything as entertainingly eerie as a good ghost story? The terminally ill teens of Brightcliffe Home hospice cope with the looming reality of their mortality by meeting each evening at midnight to tell each other scary stories. As they face death together, they make a pact to find a way to communicate with each other from beyond the grave. The spooky tales The Midnight Club share are spine-chilling on their own, but the group also discovers that Brightcliffe has a dark history — and that they aren’t the only guests to have sought supernatural solutions to death.
The class politics and school cliques of Nevermore meet their match in the many secrets and trysts of Riverdale High. A noir-ish murder-mystery take on the classic Archie Comics characters, Riverdale has brooding teens, simmering scandals, and even a few musical episodes for anyone craving a dance sequence a la Wednesday’s Rave'N dance debut.
Want a look into the depths of people’s darkest nightmares and the singular entity who creates them? Then meet Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), AKA Dream of the Endless. In this dark fantasy series based on the original Sandman comics, the god-like Morpheus is trapped and held captive when tracking a nightmare on the loose. Escaping after a century, he finds his kingdom in ruins and his dream-making tools missing. So the titular Sandman sets out to earth — and hell — to take back what’s his. If that doesn’t sound dark enough, just wait until you meet Dream’s sister, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).
As Wednesday surmises, the entire concept of high school must have been created by a real sadist. So is the idea of being stuck in school for all eternity. This is Maddie Nears’ (Peyton List) reality when she awakens at her high school, apparently dead, and surrounded by other spirits also stuck in this academic purgatory. Confined to the school grounds and with only her best friend Simon (Kristian Ventura) able to see and hear her, Maddie does all she can to discover how she died — and why she can’t remember it.
Friendship — a notion Wednesday Addams doesn’t much believe in — is at the heart of this atmospheric ode to ’80s sci-fi horror series. When 12-year-old Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) goes missing, his best friends Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin) set out to find him. Along the way, they enlist the help of a supernaturally gifted mystery girl, Eleven (Millie Bobbie Brown). An alternate dimension, a human experimentation facility, and some seriously scary creatures are a few of the bizarre mysteries the Hawkins crew uncover — and that’s just in the first season of Stranger Things.
Morticia and Gomez Addams are doting parents, a trait that Wednesday finds continually vexing. The adopted siblings of the Umbrella Academy can surely relate. The seven superhero children were trained by eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) to become a teen crime-fighting team. When their father dies, the now-estranged adult siblings reluctantly reunite for his funeral, only to discover that a global apocalypse is upon them. They must band together to uncover Hargreeves’ secrets and save the world.
The women of Yellowjackets would likely agree with Wednesday that one shouldn’t bury the hatchet — one should sharpen it. In this series, a high school girls’ soccer team struggles to survive in the wilderness after their plane crashes en route to a tournament. Driven to their basest instincts, and contending with an unknown supernatural force, only some of the team will make it out alive. In the present day, the survivors harbor secrets from each other and the world at large about what exactly went down in those woods.
