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The new streaming series Crystal Lake takes us back to the early days of the Friday the 13th franchise to explore the origins of hockey-masked killer Jason's power and fury—by focusing, once again, on his mom (Linda Cardellini). Is this backstory we needed? Probably not! But I'm happy to revisit the bloodiest (and horniest) summer camp in America. If you're looking for other like-minded horror adaptations, here are 10 chilling shows to stream next.
Bates Motel (2013 – 2017)
You want some more backstory on an iconic serial killer and his mom? Say no more. Freddie Highmore stars as Norman Bates, the character author Robert Bloch based on the real killer Ed Gein, with Vera Farmiga playing his mother Norma (in her pre-desiccated-corpse days). Norman might not have accrued nearly the body count of Jason, but he's a lot more charming. Like a lot of media spun off from Alfred Hitchcock's seminal Psycho, it's better than it has any right to be, with impressively compelling character development and several surprises, even if we already know more or less where it's headed. Stream Bates Motel on Prime Video.
Hannibal (2013 – 2015)
More high-minded than Crystal Lake, this reboot/prequel/fresh take on the Thomas Harris novels came from Bryan Fuller, who took a first crack at the Friday series before A24 decided it wanted something a little closer to the movies than what he'd proposed. Fuller goes back to the source material here, adapting the first Lecter novel with grand, operatic style and a visual flair unmatched on network television (you're still unlikely to find more gorgeously constructed scenes of carnage). What's more, the deeper, sexier relationship between the Doctor (Mads Mikkelsen) and profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) adds some brilliant subtext as the two work together to hunt serial killers. It ended a bit too early, but the three seasons still make for a satisfying meal. Stream Hannibal on Prime Video.
Wreck (2022 – 2024)
Just a British meta-slasher-comedy on a boat (initially). Oscar Kennedy plays Jamie Walsh, who takes a job on board a cruise ship in order to investigate the disappearance of his sister, last seen working on the same vessel. Once on board, he soon realizes that everyone is a suspect and, being that he's on a boat, there's no escape from the murderous web of conspiracy in which he's deliberately entangled himself. The show has an infectious energy that blends Agatha Christie-style mystery elements with gnarly kills among a largely queer group of suspects. Season two moves the action to an island camping retreat for the ultra-wealthy, offering up an even more explicit Friday the 13th vibe. Stream Wreck on Hulu.
Stan Against Evil (2016 – 2018)
Drawing inspiration from Evil Dead, Stan Against Evil stars John C. McGinley as the crotchety, obnoxious former sheriff of a New Hampshire town overrun with vengeful spirits. Janet Varney comes to town as his replacement, and the two soon realize the uneasy spirits and demons aren’t going to be quiet for much longer. The awkward chemistry between the leads is a big selling point, as are the old-school practical monster effects that harken back to the great slasher horror movies of the late '70s through the '80s. The show leans more toward funny (and it’s often very funny) than scary, but the monster effects are well done, and the show doesn’t shy away from great 80s-style gross-out gags. Stream Stan Against Evil on Shudder and AMC+.
Chucky (2021 – 2024)
One of our most reliable horror franchises went the series route with impressively smart results—not really surprising for fans of the tongue-in-cheek, increasingly meta film series. Zackary Arthur is Jake Wheeler, a queer teen subject to relentless bullying at school and abuse at home from his homophobic father. Jake picks up America's favorite serial-killing doll at a garage sale school art project, and Chucky begins to see the (justifiably) angry kid as a potential protégé. Before long, characters from Chucky's past pop in to complicate things, but the relationship between Jake and Chucky remains the show's beating heart. Even with its dark sense of humor and over-the-top murders, the show became an unlikely critical favorite. Stream Chucky on Peacock and Prime Video.
Slasher (2016 – 2023)
Each season of this series tells the story of a single serial killer and their would-be victims, stretching out a traditional slasher-movie narrative over several hours. With that time, the show (like Crystal Lake) manages to actually build lives and backstories for its characters, something that movies don’t always have time for or can't be bothered with. It works here, and each season has introduced fairly compelling characters—it doesn’t hurt that the focus is largely on adults, rather than more typical teenage victims. The whole series is excellent, but for our purposes, I'll direct your attention to season two's "Guilty Party," in which a group of former counselors returns to the scene of the crime to retrieve the body of the camper they all accidentally killed, and whose death they purposely concealed years earlier. Stream Slasher on Netflix.
Fear Street (2021 – )
Cheating just a tiny bit by including this series, technically a run of movies, but it plays so much like a miniseries as to be pretty indistinguishable. Adapted from the R. L. Stine books, Fear Street Part One: 1994 kicks off the series by introducing the town of Shadyside, which the local kids call “Shittyside,” and which has a dark history of multiple murders. A group of teens upsets the grave of a witch, kicking off the revival of a killer cult, which requires a trip back in time to truly understand. There is some legit gore and scares (it’s YA, more or less, but definitely not kids’ stuff) as Janiak pays homage to a wide range of horror movies past, particularly with an impeccable camp slasher homage in Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and then an origin tale that brings the initial trilogy to a conclusion in Fear Street Part Three: 1666. Stream Fear Street on Netflix.
The Midnight Club (2022)
Mike Flanagan never really misses, and this series has a summer camp vibe with a deeper, darker twist while rarely feeling entirely gloomy. Based on a few different YA Christopher Pike novels, it concerns a group of eight terminally ill young patients at a bucolic hospice home run by a secretive and mysterious doctor (A Nightmare on Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp). Each night the kids meet to share scary stories covering a wide range of genres and styles, with each also promising to return from beyond the grave when their time comes. It's spooky and often moving without ever being schmaltzy or precious. It was planned as more than a miniseries, so the cancellation leaves several questions unanswered—but that works in terms of the overall tone and subject matter, which grapples with unanswerable mysteries about life and death. Stream The Midnight Club on Netflix.
American Horror Story: 1984 (2019)
AHS is always wildly divisive and more or less critic-proof. The fun 1984 season is as over-the-top as you'd expect, with the show's style grounded thoroughly in the milleau of '80s slasher sequels. Starting with a prologue involving a summer camp threesome that turns into a slaughter, we jump forward 14 years to revisit the same camp with a new group of counselors, hunted this time by both the fictional Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch) and the real-life Night Stalker Richard Ramirez (Zach Villa)—at least until the mid-season twist throws everything out the window. The references come fast and furious and the period vibes are exquisite. Stream American Horror Story: 1984 on Prime Video and Hulu.
Friday the 13th: The Series (1987 – 1990)
How does Friday the 13th: The Series tie into the Jason mythology, you may well be asking? It doesn't—not even a little bit, sharing nothing with the film series other than a name, the presence of a couple of actors, and the involvement of producer Frank G. Mancuso Jr. And yet, this creepy, late-night gem has much to recommend it, blending an anthology format with bits of serialized storytelling and a recurring cast. The premise: Cousins Micki Foster (Louise Robey) and Ryan Dallion (John D. LeMay) inherit an antique shop from an uncle who died under mysterious circumstances that turn out to involve years of dealings with Satan that eventually went wrong. Now, the two are stuck trying to reclaim a bunch of cursed artifacts with the help of family friend and occult expert Jack (Chris Wiggins). There's no Jason, but much of the horror goes impressively hard, even if we know that our leads will (mostly) make it through to the end. And if you aren't convinced, consider this: Guest directors David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan helmed standout episodes. Stream Friday the 13th: The Series on Fubo.
