If you love horror, sci-fi, or just a good ghost story, there are some critically acclaimed supernatural shows currently streaming on Netflix. These shows are beloved by critics and have won all kinds of awards. Whether you're looking for a multi-season binge or one perfect season you'll never forget, this list has you covered.
Only two of these shows are still producing new seasons, but every single one of them is a critical darling. Before you chime off in the comments, it's worth noting that Penny Dreadful is unfortunately no longer streaming on Netflix. Perhaps these shows will make up for that.
'Stranger Things' (2016 - Present)
Created by The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things is a sci-fi drama about a group of young friends who encounter supernatural forces in small-town Indiana during the 1980s. Packed with nostalgia and incredible performances, Stranger Things made a huge splash when Season 1 quietly dropped on Netflix in 2016. It became an instant phenomenon and brought audiences the return of iconic 1980s/1990s star Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice). The cast also features Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes), Finn Wolfhard (Hell of a Summer), Gaten Matarazzo (Honor Society), Caleb McLaughlin (Concrete Cowboy), Noah Schnapp (The Tutor), Charlie Heaton (The New Mutants), Natalia Dyer (Velvet Buzzsaw), Joe Keery (Free Guy), and David Harbour (Thunderbolts*).
55 Primetime Emmy Nominations
Over four seasons, Stranger Things has won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards -- including Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series in 2017 and Outstanding Stunt Coordination in 2022. Ryder and Harbour have both received Golden Globe nominations for their performances. The show has won five Saturn Awards, the most recent being Best Streaming Horror and Thriller Series in 2022. The show has a 92% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is due out in November 2025.
'Dark' (2017 - 2020)
Dark is a German supernatural time travel series created by Baran bo Odar (1899) and Jantje Friese (1899). The show is set in a German town where children have begun to disappear, focusing on four families across multiple generations. The cast includes Louis Hofmann (Land of Mine), Karoline Eichhorn (Yesterday We Were Still Children), Lisa Vicari (Isi & Ossi), Maja Schöne (The Fire), Jördis Triebel (Emmas Glück), Stephan Kampwirth (The Therapy), and Andreas Pietschmann (1899).
One of the Best TV Shows of All Time
The show ran for three seasons, earning plenty of positive reviews across different publications. Dark has been featured on many "best of" lists and, in 2022, Buzzfeed called it one of "the greatest shows in the history of television." It has a 95% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The show won the Adolf Grimme Award in 2018 and Best Young Actor for Louis Hofmann at the Golden Camera Awards. In 2021, Dark won Best Writing Fiction for Jantje Friese at the German Television Awards.
'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' (2018-2020)
Based on the Archie comic series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a supernatural horror show developed for the screen by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale). Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) stars in the title role as a half-witch, half-mortal fighting evil forces that threaten those she loves. The cast features Ross Lynch (My Friend Dahmer), Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead), Chance Perdomo (Gen V), Michelle Gomez (The Flight Attendant), Jaz Sinclair (Gen V), Tati Gabrielle (The Last of Us), Adeline Rudolph (Resident Evil), Richard Coyle (The Gathering), and Moranda Otto (Lord of the Rings).
Star Vehicle for Kiernan Shipka
Critics were deeply impressed with the show's first season, celebrating Shipka's performance. Season 2 didn't get the same glowing reviews, but Season 3 did. Reviews of the final season were split. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina received two Saturn Award nominations, three Teen Choice Award nominations, plus an MTV Movie/TV Awards nod for Shipka and a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show.
'The Haunting of Hill House' (2018)
This list could easily become a Mike Flanagan appreciation piece, and so we are only including his two best-reviewed Netflix shows. The Haunting of Hill House was Flanagan's first TV series with the network and remains a favorite among critics and audiences. Loosely based on Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name, The Haunting of Hill House is a supernatural horror miniseries about a family haunted by memories of their old home and the supernatural occurrences that took place there. The adult children of the Crain family are portrayed by Michiel Huisman (Rebel Moon), Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), Elizabeth Reaser (Ouija: Origin of Evil), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Invisible Man), Kate Siegel (Hush), and Victoria Pedretti (The Haunting of Bly Manor).
Complex and Complete
Forbes, IGN, and RogerEbert.com all gave The Haunting of Hill House glowing reviews. The Telegraph called it "the most complex and complete horror series of its time." The Haunting of Hill House won Best TV Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and at the IGN SUmmer Movie Awards. It received six Saturn Award nominations, with a win for Henry Thomas as young Hugh Crain. The Haunting of Hill House is certified fresh with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes by critics.
'Marianne' (2019)
Created by Samuel Bodin (Cobweb), Marianne is a chilling French horror show starring Victoire Du Bois (Of Money and Blood) as best-selling horror author Emma Larsimon, who realizes that the evil entity she writes about might just be real. When a childhood friend dies by suicide in front of Emma, the writer returns to the village of her youth in search of answers. The cast features Lucie Boujenah (Cyrano, My Love), Tiphaine Daviot (Une belle histoire), Ralph Amoussou (Missions), Bellamine Abdelmalek (A Place to Fight For), Mehdi Meskar (Hysteria), Alban Lenoir (Last Bullet), and Mireille Herbstmeyer (Pécheresses).
One of the Scariest Shows on Netflix
Marianne only got one season, but critics were enraptured by those eight episodes. The dark supernatural drama is creepy in all the most disturbing ways. Critics have afforded it a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Marianne received a nomination for Best Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and the A.C.S. Awards. Du Bois is fantastic in the role of Emma, and Herbstmeyer's performance will haunt your dreams.
'Evil' (2019 - 2024)
Robert King and Michelle King are best known for creating The Good Wife, but in 2019, they made one of the most cleverly written supernatural shows of all time. Evil is about a psychologist who joins a Catholic priest-in-training and an atheist tech expert to investigate potentially supernatural phenomena on behalf of the church. Katja Herbers (Manhattan), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), and Aasif Mandvi (This Way Up) star in the three main roles, with Michael Emerson (Person of Interest) playing a forensic psychologist with dubious motives who's tracking their every move.
The Genius of Robert King and Michelle King
Season 1 received rave reviews from The New York Times, NPR, and TV Guide. Critics have noted that the writing is incredibly smart. The way Evil walks the line between believing and not believing in the supernatural, especially early on, makes it fascinating to watch. Evil has a 96% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It scored six Saturn Award nominations during its four-season run. It received five Critics' Choice Award nominations, two Satellite Award nominations, and an NAACP Image Award nomination. Be aware, only the first three seasons are available on Netflix. For now, the fourth season of Evil is only streaming on Paramount+.
'Midnight Mass' (2021)
Midnight Mass is Mike Flanagan's second-most-nominated Netflix show. The seven-part miniseries explores life on an isolated island where the community has begun to experience miraculous events with the arrival of a new young priest. The cast includes Zach Gilford (The Fall of the House of Usher), Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli (The Haunting of Bly Manor), Hamish Linklater (Legion), Samantha Sloyan (The Fall of the House of Usher), Annabeth Gish (Halt and Catch Fire), Annarah Cymone (The Midnight Club), Igby Rigney (Grey's Anatomy), Kristin Lehman (The Killing), and Henry Thomas.
A Haunting Meditation on Grief and Faith
Critics agree that Midnight Mass is a slow-burn with some absolutely riveting performances. Linklater gives perhaps one of the best performances of his career. Entertainment Weekly called the show a "keenly affecting, beautifully acted reflection on death, faith, guilt, addiction, and the power of free will." Midnight Mass won Best Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, and Linklater won Best Dramatic TV Performance at the IGN Summer Movie Awards. The show won Best Screenplay at the Bram Stoker Awards for Mike Flanagan, Jamie Flanagan, and Jeff Howard. It also earned two Saturn Award nominations, three Critics' Choice Award nominations, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing.
'Interview with the Vampire' (2022 - Present)
Based on the novels by Anne Rice, AMC's Interview with the Vampire is a Gothic series created by Rolin Jones (Perry Mason). It's about a vampire telling the epic story of his immortality to a curious journalist. Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) stars as the 145-year-old vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac with Sam Reid (The Newsreader) as Lestat de Lioncourt, Assad Zaman (Apple Tree Yard) as Armand, and Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) as journalist Daniel Molloy. Claudia is played by Bailey Bass (Avatar: The Way of Water) in Season 1 and Delainey Hayles (Holby City) in Season 2.
Essential Viewing
Interview With the Vampire has garnered widespread praise and holds a 99% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2024, Indiewire called it one of the "most essential LGBTQ TV Shows of the 21st Century." It has earned two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Critics' Choice Award nominations, two GLAAD Media Award nominations, and four Saturn Award nominations.
'Dead Boy Detectives' (2024)
Based on the DC comic, Dead Boy Detectives is a supernatural comedy-drama created by Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant). George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri (The Lodge) star as Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland, two dead detectives who decide to stay on Earth and solve crimes instead of entering the afterlife. They are aided by a medium named Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), who can see and communicate with ghosts.
Canceled Too Soon
Dead Boy Detectives has a 92% rating from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It did incredibly well when it came out, with many critics praising the show's sense of whimsy and the onscreen chemistry between Rexstrew and Revri. The show won Outstanding Directing Achievement for Episode 5 director Amanda Tapping from the Directors Guild of Canada. In April, Out called it "the queer supernatural mystery show of our dreams." Unfortunately, Dead Boy Detectives was not renewed for a second season. There are petitions all over the internet that are attempting to get this decision reversed.
Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Like Follow Followed Dead Boy Detectives TV-MA Comedy Mystery Adventure 4 /5 11 10.0/10 Release Date 2024 - 2023 Showrunner Steve Yockey, Beth Schwartz Writers Steve Yockey Franchise(s) DC Universe Cast See All George Rexstrew Jayden Revri
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