- 7/24/2025
Sleep isn't an option after watching these shows! Join us as we count down our picks for the most disturbing television series that will send chills down your spine. From supernatural mysteries to psychological thrillers, these shows delve into the darkest corners of human experience and beyond, leaving viewers deeply unsettled.
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00:00It's nice and hot inside.
00:03We've been waiting our whole lives for this.
00:07We're here to help.
00:13Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most disturbing television series that will send chills down your spine.
00:20We're only looking at scripted shows for this ranking, but that certainly doesn't make them any less freaky.
00:24Oh, no, man. The show I'm talking about wasn't real.
00:32You used to sit watching the TV, just watching the static.
00:40Number 10. The Fall of the House of Usher
00:42If you're an eat-the-rich enthusiast with a fondness for Edgar Allan Poe, this is the show for you.
00:47It follows Roderick Usher, the morally bankrupt CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals.
01:00Think of it as the fictional stand-in for Purdue Pharma, the conglomerate that kick-started America's opioid crisis with OxyContin.
01:06After the Usher heirs lose their lives under sinister circumstances, the patriarch of the house sits down for a confession.
01:12Thus unfolds his blood-wrought rise to ungodly success, for which the ominous, shape-shifting Verna exacts revenge.
01:19Are 100% organic.
01:29Now, admittedly, this isn't Mike Flanagan's best work.
01:32Midnight Mass accomplishes a better payoff.
01:34Meanwhile, The Haunting is the finer horror.
01:36However, the way he elegantly conjures the gothic world of Poe here is remarkable.
01:42Number 9.
01:51Utopia
01:52Consider the show a public service announcement.
01:54Leave that conspiracy theory subreddit.
01:56Utopia follows a group of online friends who think the graphic novel The Utopia Experiments has been foretelling major health crises.
02:03No Beesha, no Grant.
02:06Do you think we got the right place?
02:09Funny.
02:11Seeing each other like this.
02:13Curious about the future, they seek out the unreleased sequel only to get involved with a lethal covert organization called The Network.
02:18With the fate of an unnervingly colorful world in their hands, our protagonists descend into the darkness, guided by one mysterious Jessica Hyde.
02:30Hello.
02:31I'm Jessica Hyde.
02:32While there is some heavy-handed violence depicted, what makes this show truly jarring is how it hits dangerously close to home in a matter-of-fact way.
02:41As a bonus, the soundtrack is an eerie delight, so don't miss it.
02:52Don't put the gas away yet.
02:55Number 8.
02:55Channel Zero
02:56Remember those days you spent going down the rabbit hole of creepypastas only to regret it as the clock struck midnight?
03:02Revisit that bone-chilling dread of the mid-2010s with this show.
03:05Channel Zero
03:15Channel Zero breathes life into some of the most bizarre online urban legends with vivid visual detail that'll put your imagination to shame.
03:22It resurrects nightmarish characters like the sickening Tooth Child, evoking a visceral fear in audiences that lingers long after the show ends.
03:30Come inside, Percy.
03:31There's a new friend in there, and he wants to play a game.
03:36But I don't know how to play.
03:39He'll show you exactly what to do.
03:41Come on.
03:42I'll hold your hand.
03:45If you're at least familiar with the original lore of these fiends, you might be spared the nausea.
03:49However, if this is your introduction to creepypasta, good luck trying to sleep at night.
04:01Number 7, Dark.
04:03If you take your dose of horror with a side of self-torment, this German thriller will be right up your alley.
04:08One of the most convoluted yet well-written TV shows in recent history, Dark takes us into the inner quarters of four broken families amid strange disappearances in the town of Vinden.
04:29We're thrown in and out of disjointed timelines from one world to another while the terror of existential nihilism looms over our characters.
04:49The narrative hurls questions at you that it has no intentions of answering until the very end, all while you're grasping for straws in the plot.
04:56The suffocating aesthetic of the show combined with the vein of hopelessness that runs through it is enough to leave you reeling.
05:02Number 6, Mindhunter.
05:15What's creepier than the cruelty of one human toward another?
05:18Mindhunter is a crime drama that plunges into the twisted psyches of serial killers to decode evil.
05:23Edward.
05:24Edmund.
05:25Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed that it was...
05:27Are you tired?
05:28How could you tell?
05:29It's a beautiful drive, but it's long.
05:32Edmund was my mom's idea, so you can call me Ed.
05:39Sure thing.
05:40Featuring the stories of real criminals like Edmund Kemper and Charles Manson, this show is shockingly clinical.
05:46We follow FBI agents Ford and Tench as they experiment with criminal profiling based on interviews with convicted murderers.
05:52If I wanted, I could kill you with your mic cord, with your pants off.
05:57But I want to love myself, so I'm not going to do that.
06:00No, you're going to put it in someone else's circle.
06:03They approach their subjects with an analytical lens while buckling under the pressure of facing their depravity.
06:08The screenplay incorporates actual excerpts from interviews with criminals, which makes the show even more unsettling.
06:14After all, truth really is stranger, and in this case, murkier than fiction.
06:18Thank you, Kyla.
06:22Number 5. Hannibal
06:23Don't let Mads Mikkelsen's fatal allure and Hugh Dancy's tender charms fool you.
06:27Hannibal is not a dark romance, not entirely.
06:30Although you may not feel like it, I need you to smile.
06:32Our titular villain protagonist is a forensic psychiatrist.
06:45Moonlighting is a man-eating serial killer.
06:47He meets FBI profiler Will Graham and suddenly finds himself unraveling like an open book.
06:52An obsessive relationship blooms between the two, often taking the form of emotional intimacy and psychological manipulation.
06:58They're doomed to mutual destruction, but are the only ones who understand each other,
07:02putting the audience in the questionable position of being drawn to both.
07:06How do you see me?
07:11The mongoose I went under the house when the snakes slid by.
07:20Finish your breakfast.
07:21The show makes you stare into the heart of wickedness and look away because our so-called murder husbands made prolonged eye contact.
07:27Still, there's no denying that they are colossally messed up.
07:31Greed.
07:33And blind optimism.
07:37You're optimistic I won't kill you.
07:42Number 4. The X-Files
07:44This series raised generations of sci-fi lovers despite or perhaps because of how gruesome, weird, and peculiar it was.
07:50In case you missed it, The X-Files follows FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who set out to solve the most inexplicable cases.
08:06Mulder believes otherworldly forces such as aliens in the supernatural are at play, whereas Scully prefers science.
08:12However, through their investigations, they encounter strange creatures and unearth buried secrets.
08:16Nothing is as it seems in the world of The X-Files, and a fresh mystery awaits at every turn, likely accompanied by a new monster.
08:34This show is truly timeless, and if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, there's no better time than now.
08:38Number 3. The Twilight Zone
08:54There hasn't been a bigger cultural reset in the history of television than this show.
08:57Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone is the blueprint for the intersection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
09:03You're a very bad man, and you keep thinking bad thoughts about me.
09:16In every episode, the show explores the realm of the great unknown.
09:23The premises are surreal and absurd, but culminate in deeply human moral lessons, which often catch viewers off guard.
09:28A lot of the show's uncanny atmosphere is also owed to the soundtrack, as well as Serling's disturbingly calm monologues.
09:35What do you say, partner? What do you say?
09:37What do you say?
09:40We get down to business.
09:42There are no bells and whistles here, but the storytelling alone will give you goosebumps.
09:46He's hiding!
09:47He's hiding!
09:48He's hiding!
09:48He's hiding!
09:48He's hiding!
09:48He's hiding!
09:49He's hiding!
09:49He's hiding!
09:49He's hiding!
09:50He's hiding!
09:51He's hiding!
09:52He's hiding!
09:53Number 2. American Horror Story
09:55The cult following that AHS enjoys is mostly thanks to the fact that it's consistently and excessively creepy.
10:01Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk leave no stone unturned in creating the most harrowing visuals on the show that never fail to give us the heebie-jeebies.
10:14That's weird.
10:17From spooky pregnancies to horrifying organ transplants and science experiments gone terribly wrong,
10:22the series has ample scares in store for a hair-raising experience.
10:25These tales are brought to life by an excellent lineup of performers across seasons, such as Sarah Paulson,
10:30Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Emma Roberts, and unexpected scene-stealers like Kim Kardashian.
10:35Bye.
10:36I mean, we know what happened, Hamish.
10:39But no one else can.
10:40Got it?
10:41American Horror Story knows exactly how to appeal to current trends while tapping into primal fears,
10:46and that's why it's so successful.
10:47Sanders, watch where you stand.
10:50Donna Nelson, Silent Echoes, Babette Eno, Daddy, Do You Love Me?
10:56Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:00M. Night Shyamalan's study of grief takes a ghastly turn.
11:04The Strain
11:15Guillermo Del Toro brings us vampires on a plane.
11:18My gosh, prove to me no matter what form I take, you shall serve me.
11:28Mia.
11:29Dahmer, Monster, the Jeffrey Dahmer story.
11:32Evan Peters as the Milwaukee monster's pure nightmare fuel.
11:34Is this the family of Ira Lindsay?
11:39Yes.
11:40I'm his sister.
11:41Who's this?
11:42You should stop looking for him.
11:46He's got it now.
11:51Into the vortex.
11:52Into the what?
11:55Who is this?
11:56The Kingdom.
11:57Lars von Trier's dark comedy about a haunted hospital is a fever dream.
12:12The Rehearsal.
12:13A new brand of creepy where the audience eavesdrops on painfully personal conversations.
12:18I've rehearsed it dozens of times.
12:20These exact words in a replica of your home with an actor playing you.
12:26Wow.
12:30Wow.
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12:46Number one.
12:47Twin Peaks.
12:48Coming from the man whose name itself is a whole genre, it's no surprise that this show is legendary.
12:52I'm ready.
13:07David Lynch's Twin Peaks starts as a whodunit about the death of Laura Palmer,
13:11and slowly spirals into a phantasmagoric trance that pulls the viewer in like quicksand.
13:16The quaint setting is an ideal playground for dream logic,
13:19which makes the mundane look trippy if you stare too long.
13:22I don't know.
13:29Mythology, the supernatural, and science fiction collide in spaces like the Black Lodge,
13:34and evil is terrifyingly inescapable.
13:36Decades have passed since Twin Peaks was first released,
13:39but it remains one of the most haunting works of art to this day.
13:41Who's the creepiest character you've ever seen in a TV show?
13:53Tell us in the comments section.
14:03March!
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