Horror lovers, particularly those who enjoy the slasher sub-genre, tend to stick to the classics. While it’s vital to remember the classics and cult films that introduced us to slasher flicks, it’s also fun to try something new, something different, and something more thrilling now and then.
Slasher stories have now found their way to the tiny screen, making them easier to replay and watch at your leisure, and who wouldn’t want some of that? These series represent the future of the horror genre, especially since that movie theaters have been eclipsed by streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, where you can uncover these hidden gems.
Slasher TV programs are similar to slasher flicks, but they are spread out across many episodes, which means more violence, more substance, and a lot more slashing by your favorite masked murderers. Here are the top 8 slasher TV shows you should watch this weekend. Let’s get this party started, shall we?
Scream (TV series)
Much like the movie franchise, the TV series Scream revolves around a group of teenagers being stalked and targeted by a masked serial killer. The first and second seasons of the series are set in the town of Lakewood and follow the story of Emma Duval, portrayed by Willa Fitzgerald. She plays the role of a teenage girl, who is aware of and is also connected to the horrific events of Lakewood’s past. As the masked killer’s main obsession starts to take hold after a brutal murder in the present, Emma finds herself in the center of impending danger.
With both her family and friends in danger, she sets out to uncover the town’s dark mysteries and unmask the identity of the Lakewood Slasher. In the first two seasons, we see Emma’s personality develop from a shy, fun-loving girl to a braver one. The third and final season follows the story of Deion Elliot, who is a local football star in Atlanta and is tormented by the events of his unfortunate past.
As Ghostface uses his darkest secrets against him and continues with a brutal killing spree, Elliotmight loses the future he has worked so hard for, along with his friends and family members, who could potentially become victims of the notorious masked killer.
One of the best things about this TV series that truly stands out is the episode titles of season two. All fourteen episodes are named after popular horror films, ranging from I know what you did last summer, to Psycho. This season was the most popular one of the shows and paid its respect to some classic horror.
The third season, titled Resurrection features Tony Todd as Hook Man, which was a brilliant addition to the series and an exciting surprise for all horror fans, who famously know him as Candyman. While the Scream movies had their fair share of gore and terror, it was tenfold in the TV series, which made it a lot more appealing to the audience.
Slasher (TV series)
There are a total of four seasons, each of which is based on a masked killer with an unknown motive of terrorizing and murdering his victims. The first season titled The Executioner is based in Waterbury, Canada. It is centered around Sarah and her husband Dylan, who has just moved into her childhood home where her parents were murdered years ago. Their arrival to Waterbury is met with a series of murders, all by the hands of The Executioner.
The second season of this series is titled Guilty Party and revolves around a group of former summer counselors who murdered Talvinder Gill and hid her body. They have now returned to the same resort where the crime took place and find out that the body is now missing from the hiding place. One after the other, their fate is decided by a murderer who hunts them down.
The third season is titled Solstice, and as the title suggests, the murder of Kit Jennings takes place during the summer solstice, and now a year later, the murderer is back and hunting down anyone associated with the Jennings case. The fourth season of the series is, titled Flesh and Blood, which is centered around a dysfunctional family who is gathered for a reunion on an island, along with a masked killer, not much can go wrong, can it?
One of the main reasons you should begin watching this show right now is because it has been renewed for a fifth season which will take us back to the 19th century. Apart from that, the show never fails to amaze its audience with a new and more brutal killer every season, making it the perfect watch for a stormy winter night.
As the seasons progressed, we also noticed more diversity, and the show covered some important issues from time to time despite its premise. Even though the show has been passed around to different platforms, from Shudder to Netflix to Chiller, it continues to live on, validating its excellence as the fans now wait for the fifth season.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
This show revolves around a secret that was meant to stay between a group of friends, one that could ruin their lives. The series begins with Lennon Grant coming back home after her first year at college when she discovers that someone knows the secret that was meant to be kept between her friends and her since last summer. The group reunites to discuss this casualty; they must figure out who revealed their secret and what must be done to protect themselves, which eventually leads to another crime.
As the show progresses, more dead bodies turn up as the group of friends realize that they are being haunted, and possibly hunted. However, they can’t report any of this to the police without revealing their crime, so they must solve this mystery amongst themselves while trying to survive. The entire town is now shocked and devasted by all the killings as they, along with the authorities, try and find the killer on the loose. Panic truly sets in when someone from their friendship circle goes missing as more truths are revealed. Eventually, there’s some sense of calm in the town, but will that last long?
A classic teen horror film turned into a series is exactly what young adult is looking for when browsing through platforms. The series is filled with teenage angst and drama, along with some brutal killings that fulfill the slasher genre, while also making it entertaining.
The plot twists of the show are what make it worth sticking around for, along with the cast, who deliver great performances individually and together. Although the series is based on the 1997 classic, one must not draw comparisons between the two if you want to enjoy a true and unbiased experience.
Chucky
This series takes place after the events of Cult of Chucky, which is a 2017 slasher horror film. Chucky is set in the city of Hackensack, New Jersey, where 14-year-old Jake Wheeler buys a Good Guy doll at a yard sale to use for his art project. Eventually, Jake discovers that the doll he purchased is possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, and in the form of a doll is known as Chucky.
It doesn’t take long for Jake to become a suspect in a string of strange events involving the doll, who unleashes a series of murders around Hackensack. In addition to this horror, a series of flashbacks tells us more about Charles’s past and how he went from being a normal kid to one of Hackensack’s most notorious killers. The series tackles different themes of sexuality, bullying, and domestic life. Despite the film being a slasher film, it does focus on the life of Jake Wheeler and how he navigates his own life around a series of murders while owning a possessed doll and being a teenager.
Chucky delivers in the best way possible, especially if you are a fan of gruesome murders and everything in between. This show has a series of murders that might make you flinch, but also rewind and watch it all over again, making it the best part of this show.
This show might be a little bit of a no-brainer, but it is a fun watch nonetheless; not every slasher film has to make you think too much, sometimes, it is all about sitting back and watching the story unfold. The tone of the film, along with the cast and the dialogues, make it worth a watch, and as always, a creepy doll always makes for some great nightmares.
Dead of Summer
The show is set in the summer of 1989, where camp counselors, who are also childhood friends, reach the camp three days before the camp starts, and the camp janitor is found dead in the pilot episode. This follows a series of disturbing events to the new girl Amy, who considers herself an outsider. As the campers begin to come in three days later, the haunting and hunting don’t stop.
Things only seem to get worse with time, and they decide to use an Ouija board to try and communicate with the ghost. This camp is now a part of a satanic ritual of some sort, and they will not rest until the ritual is complete, which forces them to shut down the camp.
However, this isn’t the end of the unfortunate events that continue to take place at camp Stillwater. What was meant to be an ideal summer camp filled with plenty of firsts for young ones, takes a rather turn as the events begin to unfold! Will camp Stillwater remains the same after these incidents? Will calm finally wash over the campers and camp counselors?
Everyone loves a story of a perfect summer gone wrong, and Dead of Summer serves exactly that purpose. When ABC rebranded to Freeform, which was more focussed on young adult and teen shows, this was the perfect series, along with others, to get it started. Although the target audience might be the usually camp goer age, the show can be watched by anyone who likes a good slasher, even though this does avoid a lot of the cliches that come with it. The series came to an unfortunate end after one season because it was canceled; however, the plot twist at the end of season one makes it worth a watch.
Harper’s Island
This show revolves around Harper’s Island and a series of murders committed by John Wakefield, who was eventually killed by the island’s sheriff. Now, seven years later, Henry Dunn, his soon-to-be wife Trish, and Abby, the sheriff’s daughter, who is also Henry’s best friend, all return to Harper’s Island for a wedding, which brings back far too many memories and misfortune.
While everyone who is a part of the wedding party is trying to enjoy themselves with scavenger hunts and bachelor parties, their enthusiasm is short-lived when people start disappearing and getting killed one after the other. These murders are similar to those which had taken place seven years ago at the hands of John Wakefield.
Everyone on the Island is now a potential suspect in these murders, and no one is safe. As the series progresses, the guests begin to uncover various secrets of the island from the last seven years and before, including Wakefield, as Abby learns more about her past before she was moved to LA by her father.
Harper’s Island is the perfect cult slasher tv show; however, it did not return for a second season despite being loved by fans all across the globe. Originally the show was meant to be an anthology, which meant season one did not end on a cliffhanger and tied all its loose ends with the perfect ending and plot twists. Harper’s Island was a little ahead of its time when it came to anthology series, probably why it didn’t do as well, but despite that, it became a fan favorite very quickly with a plot that kept everyone engrossed until the very end.
American Horror Story: 1984
This was the ninth installment of the very popular American Horror Story anthology series, and this season focussed particularly on the slasher genre, with the episodes being heavily inspired by classic slasher films like Friday the 13th and Halloween. The season opens in the year 1970 at Camp Redwood, a summer camp located somewhere in rural California, where three teenage camp counselors, along with all the other children in the camp, are brutally murdered by a serial killer.
Now, in the year 1984, Brooke Thompson is attacked by the Night Stalker and decides to leave town for the summer, and work as a counselor at Camp Redwood, which has only just reopened after many years, along with her new friends Montana, Xavier, Chet, and Ray.
However, things don’t go as planned as strange things begin to occur at the camp, leaving everyone terrified. Each of the friends now must face some of their obstacles and haunting pasts while trying to escape being hunted down by a serial killer who has caused havoc at camp Redwood, questioning the reopening of the camp, to begin with.
American Horror Story is an important part of pop culture today and has made a name for itself in the horror genre, and while every season focuses on a different kind of sub-genre, this season takes the cake as it embraces the slasher roots, making it one of the best slashers shows to have been released so far. The plot and characters serve a sense of nostalgia as the season is set in the 80s, and the story follows the usual summer camp plot; however, the kills in the show are particularly gory and perfect for anyone who is a fan of the slasher genre.
Scream Queens
Scream Queens was the perfect satirical slasher comedy that was canceled way too soon; however, in 2020, they did confirm a third season, so the fans are keeping their fingers crossed. The plot follows sorority girls at the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority at Wallace University, which is led by Chanel Oberlin, played by Emma Roberts. Although there are plenty of other characters in this show, Chanel is the center of it, just as her personality calls for.
Her fellow sorority members are Chanel number 2, played by Ariana Grande, Chanel number 3, played by Billie Lourd, and Chanel number 5, played by Abigail Breslin, who, along with their sorority, are being threatened by Dean Cathy Munsch. As the first season unfolds, a twenty-year-old murder mystery resurfaces along with a serial killer, who is dressed as the red devil mascot, hell-bent on hunting down sorority girls.
As the first season comes to a wrap, the second one follows Cathy Munsch, who has now opened a hospital after leaving her job at the university while hiring Chanel and a few others. As they handle different medical cases, they come across yet another serial killer. There is almost no peace for the girls.
This show was everything you would expect a slasher show not to be. It has comedy, there’s drama, there’s romance, and of course, there is killing, but it is very different from the teen summer camp slasher shows you might have come across before. This show is pure satire with some extremely gory killings and a stellar cast. Who wouldn’t want to see Emma Roberts, Ariana Grande, Keke Palmer, Nick Jonas, John Stamos, and Jamie Lee Curtis share the same screen? There is something for everyone in this show as it checks plenty of boxes and becomes one of a kind.
The fans embraced the show with open arms, and it became a trendsetter as everyone now waits for a third season by Ryan Murphy, the same brilliant mind who created American Horror Story and Glee.