10 Best Horror Anthology TV Shows
There is nothing scarier than a lack of narrative continuity!
Horror presides over a wealth of possibility. The chances for storytelling and scares are so varied that anything aiming to frighten its audience can be classified within it, no matter the sub-genre. Sci-Fi, Comedy even Fantasy, this style of storytelling can live in many places as the scope to scare is unending. This is likely why the concept of anthology horror works so well.
Many projects exist that create short terror experiences and compile them together. This has been seen in the film industry many times with great titles such as VHS, The ABCs of Death, Creepshow and more. But TV seems like the perfect medium for this to exist in. Thanks to the hour long episodic format the small scree can allow for maximum variety in its stories.
The ever changing nature of the episodes ensures that risks can be taken, as viewers won't be stuck with poor decisions. A bad episode doesn't ruin a narrative or a show in general as the next one will have no relation to it anyway. This is the beauty of episodic horror.
With Halloween beginning to loom in the distance now could be the best time to take a look at what could be your next spooky fix.
10. Black Mirror
This show ranks at the lowest point in the list only because it doesn't fully commit to the concept of horror. Despite this, the series still examines our lives in a dark and twisted way and in many instances its episodes are designed to frighten. Although it's not always the shows priority, its horror aspects are bountiful.
Black Mirror has many impressive outings that send shivers up the audience's spines. Examples like White Bear and Shut Up & Dance give the audience a constant sense of dread and unease. This is the legacy of the previous seasons of the show, and sadly it has felt itself decline in later years. The latter end of the show certainly no longer has that frightening edge to it that the first seasons did.
Focussing on how technology can effect us, the episodes within this concept are akin to a modern format of the genre. Examining how the things that make us comfortable could be secretly destroying us is a perfect contemporary outlook on horror that doesn't feel patronising.
Black Mirror has brought dark and scary scenes to the world of the mainstream in a way that many of the other shows in this article have not and for that it deserves credit.