13 Spooky TV Shows To Get You Pumped For Halloween

Halloween is a time for pumpkin-flavored drinks, haunted houses, and watching a frightful amount of TV as the weather turns colder.

With Halloween nearly upon us, we have put together a list of festive TV shows for fans of horror, comedy, and even baking to enjoy this spooky season. Get ready to make these new and different binge-worthy shows a part of your Halloween traditions from here on out.

There is something for everyone on this list, whether you prefer sleeping soundly at night or scaring your own socks off. That’s why we have taken the liberty of rating each TV show on a scale from 1 to 10 regarding just how spooky they are.

Here are 13 Spooky TV Shows To Get You Pumped For Halloween:

1. Scream Queens

Satire done right, this crazy colorful show shares many similarities to Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Story. Set in the high drama world of college sororities and fraternities, there is plenty of gruesome horrors to be had.

However, where Scream Queens sets itself apart from its producer’s predecessor is not in the show’s horror, but rather in its humor.

The first season is filled with memorable and laughable characters like Chanel Oberman, the Chanels, Deaf Taylor Swift, Candle Blogger, and of course Chad Radwell.

Chanel has an over-the-top reaction to go with every ridiculous pink outfit she wears and Chad, her on-and-off boyfriend, is just as dramatic with his clear self-entitlement and love for hitting hippies with golf balls. The two together on screen are exactly what makes this show’s “I don’t care if people are dying my pumpkin latte is cold,” vibe work so well.

Scream Queens is great for fans that enjoy more of a subtle spook. The characters dress up in lavish Halloween costumes, snoop around creepy buildings, and drink plenty of pumpkin spice lattes.

Besides, where else will you see a bunch of dumb frat boys get riled up, grab a bunch of baseball bats, and start calling the murderer’s name in the streets while Backstreet Boys plays in the background?

However, horror fans would be wise not to skip this one as there are plenty of deaths and serial killers roaming around campus to keep you on edge. Just because this isn’t American Horror Story doesn’t mean you won’t see a girl won’t get offed by a riding lawn mower or pushed into a deep fryer.

This show has the perfect blend of comedy and horror to satisfy everyone. But if those two aren’t enough, how about a ton of celebrity cameos?

Nick Jonas has a recurring role throughout Season 1 as a loveable frat bro who has more than just a crush on his roommate Chad. He is also shirtless a lot during his time on the show — so you’re welcome. And Ariana Grande is Chanel #2, a fraternity sister who sports the singer’s signature style and, unfortunately, is an easy target for the show’s killer.

The best part about this show might just be the fact that the cast is brimming with stars most of us grew up watching on screen.

Unfortunately, the fun campy attitude of Season 1 does not transfer over to Season 2. The show’s satire is no longer fun and with half the original cast killed off, Scream Queens is much better off being treated as a one-season mini-series.

Spooky Rating: 5/10

2. Castle Rock

The love child of Lost and a Stephen King novel, Castle Rock is a terrifying tale of past and present that will keep you on your toes until the very last scene.

The writing styles of J.J. Abrams and Stephen King are prominent and at peace with one another on screen as Lost’s signature timeline jumps blend seamlessly with the horrifying multiverse King has been building for years.

There are lots to keep you up at night. The town of Castle Rock is set in the backdrop of misty Maine where the infamous Shawshank penitentiary looms over a place riddled with death.

There are plenty of connections to keep longtime fans of King’s work and horror enthusiasts alike invested in Castle Rock.

One of the most memorable episodes of the first season features Sissy Spacek, the infamous Carrie White in Carrie, facing off against Bill Skarsgård, A.K.A. Pennywise from the IT revival, in a brilliant game of delusional cat and mouse.

Like all good works of Stephen King, the manner of the characters and their stories will both terrify you and make you question who exactly is the monster of the story. But like Lost, you will be left with more questions than answers — which can be both effective and ineffective at times.

So if your worst fears include Bill Skarsgård and uncertainty, you will find this first installment of the series positively chilling. And besides, what would Halloween be without Stephen King?

Spooky Rating: 8/10

3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In a town where one slayer has the obligation to keep a monstrous Hellmouth at bay, practically every day in Sunnydale is Halloween.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is notoriously known for its cult following and helping pave the road for female characters to kick butt in lead roles.

At a time when women were more likely to fill the damsel in distress role, the notion that a girl could be the one chasing the monsters was a relatively fresh concept for the 90s. So if you love supernatural TV shows and female empowerment, this is one spooky good show for you.

Much like Supernatural, which actually takes inspiration from this show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a rotating roster of supernatural creatures for Buffy to slay.

You can look forward to appearances from the typical B list swamp monsters and vengeance demons — and of course lots of vampires.

A large part of each episode involves Buffy and the Scooby gang investigating paranormal mysteries. Which is great if you’re just looking for something spooky but on the lighter and wittier side of things.

However, every once in a while Buffy the Vampire Slayer will jolt viewers out of that lull with a very dark storyline. If you’re looking to never sleep again just watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 Episode 10, “Hush,” and trust me you won’t.

Spooky Rating: 6/10

4. iZombie

When you think of undead television shows, The Walking Dead and Z-Nation are likely one of the first to come to mind — but then again iZombie is no ordinary zombie show.

Paying homage to the classic black & white zombie movies, this show takes a traditional monster of the undead and makes her the life of the party with the help of witty banter and some unusual side effects to eating brains.

When zombies on iZombie eat a brain, they take on the personality traits of that person, which is inevitably where the comedy part of this show truly shines. Rose McIver and the rest of the cast have proven to be brilliant at character work, delivering performances that will have you more delighted than horrified.

Also, the main character’s name is literally Liv — so if you love puns, you’ll love that they never stop coming with this CW show.

If you’re looking for a spooky fun binge watch, or if you usually stay clear of zombie shows because they’re too intense, then this show is defiantly worth checking out. Halloween doesn’t always have to be frightful, and iZombie just to the show to prove that with the most delightful and funny zombies on TV.

But don’t let the comedic tone fool you, once these loveably undead characters steal your heart, you’ll be hooked long past Halloween.

Spooky Rating: 3/10

5. Stranger Things

One of the newer television shows on this list, and arguably one of the best, Stranger Things managed to attach itself to the Halloween season quicker than most franchises. Now it would be bizarre to think of celebrating the spooky season without a trip to Hawkins Indiana for some supernatural shenanigans.

While there is no new season this year to watch, this shouldn’t stop you from binging Season 1 and Season 2 if you love the nostalgia of the 1980s and terror with some stakes to it.

Stranger Things allows a new generation of horror and sci-fi enthusiasts to have an authentic piece of the eighties to enjoy without sacrificing the modern quality of special effects and film quality.

If you enjoy horror, this show has plenty of scares and monsters to keep your heart racing, but to simply watch Stranger Things for the terror is to watch it for the wrong reasons.

Stranger Things is funny, clever, and adventurous, but most importantly, it’s an experience.

The Duffer Brothers will make you feel like you are growing up alongside the kids of Hawkins, experiencing Halloween in a different time where government experiments were talked about in hushed whispers and bikes were the coolest form of transportation.

While every character on this show is phenomenal in their own right, especially the kids, Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers in Season 1 and Joe Keery as reluctant babysitter Steve Harrington in Season 2 stand out as particularly great additions.

Stranger Things practically became an overnight hit when it premiered on Netflix, and if you’ve been wary of watching because of the hype surrounding this series — don’t be.

This show is the perfect excuse to take Halloween off and binge-watch the series, regardless of whether you’ve never seen an episode or watched the entire season multiple times.

So grab the box of candy you told yourself you were buying for trick-or-treaters and get ready to watch a real treat of a show.

Spooky Rating: 6/10

6. Scream

The MTV television remake of a beloved horror franchise, Scream puts good-looking teenagers in the crosshairs of a masked murderer who plans on taking them out one by one.

The classic slasher genre translates over to this small-screen series with a strong enough backstory and significant character deaths to keep fans of traditional horror and murder mysteries intrigued.

The first season delivers plenty of suspense and one particularly horrifying scene involving a saw. Even better, all the characters are so unbelievably shady you won’t know who the killer is until the very end.

However, much like Scream Queens, Season 2 of Scream is rather lackluster compared to the first and while there is another murder mystery to solve it involves a lot more murder than mystery. The first season is best treated as a mini-series.

Spooky Rating: 7/10

7. Supernatural

What would a list of the best shows to watch at Halloween be without Supernatural?

The show follows two iconic brothers as they drive across America in Dean’s trademark black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, saving people and hunting things — you know the family business.

Sam and Dean will take you on the spookiest road trip of your life, slaying some of the nastiest monsters and myths while meeting a genuinely amazing cast of characters along the way. They stay in run-down motels, eating pie and listening to rock and roll — per Dean’s request.

The first three seasons prove just how well the brother dynamic between Sam and Dean works as we see them fight the supernatural on a case-by-case basis. The format is consistent and delivers plenty of spooky demons, ghosts, and other ghoulish monsters to keep you entertained.

In Season 4 the beloved Castiel is introduced and with him comes lore of heaven and hell that changes the basis of the show for good.

After that, you will definitely notice the mythology become more biblical with Sam and Dean taking on the powerful archangels Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel. You’ll even see God make an appearance.

After fourteen seasons Supernatural is still reinventing itself. So the greatest part is if you aren’t loving the current storyline chances are the show will switch things up soon enough.

But if you fall for the Winchester brothers, you will always have something to love about the show no matter the season.

And at the end of the day, it is the brothers’ ability to joke in the face of danger that really gives this show its easy-going attitude even when the material begins to delve into darker stuff in the later seasons.

If you haven’t let Sam and Dean Winchester into your life yet, then what is a better time to start watching than Halloween?

Spooky Rating: 6/10

8. American Horror Story: Murder House

American Horror Story has brought horror to the small screen with an anthology series that delivers completely new and terrifying stories every season.

But none are quite as unique and as haunting as American Horror Story: Murder House. The first season of the anthology series follows the Harmons as they start a new life in Los Angeles and in what is likely the most haunted house in America.

With violent and demonic spirits roaming the house looking for trouble, Season 1 of American Horror Story is by far the scariest.

There are memorable characters like the nosy next-door neighbor Constance, her mysterious son Tate, the dysfunctional couple of Vivan and Ben, and a whole cast of dead and deadly characters to keep you on your toes.

But it is the Harmons’ house that truly shines. The building’s history and aging architecture has so much life and character of its own that the murder house really should be considered its own character — a character that will have you on edge to the very end.

American Horror Story: Murder House is such a staple of the television horror genre and this series that the show decided to revisit the iconic house on American Horror Story Season 8 Episode 6, “Return to Murder House,” for more gory scares and even some closure.

Spooky Rating: 8/10

9. The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is one of Netflix’s newest original shows and is being deemed a horror home run by those brave enough to binge-watch the series. Its premise describes a family dealing with the haunting memories of the terrors that drove them from their old home.

There is some particularly horrifying and unfriendly ghost to look forward to — I’m looking at you, bent-neck lady. However, it is in the quieter moments of this show where something as simple as banging on the walls or a turning doorknob do the trick quite nicely.

But no element of horror works as well as the background ghosts of Hill House.

In nearly every scene of every episode, a ghost of some form can be seen lurking behind one of the characters. We’re talking ghosts under the piano, in the kitchen windows, in between the staircase banisters, and under your feet.

Not only are these great easter eggs for fans to look out for but these hidden ghosts are a terrifying reminder that you could be living in a Hill House of your own and never have noticed.

The Haunting of Hill House is so much more than a ghost story with an emotionally driven plot and a deeper sense of meaning most horror movies and TV shows couldn’t be bothered with.

So not only will it give you some decent scares, it will give you scares with some feeling.

Spooky Rating: 9/10

10. Teen Wolf

After the phenomenon of Twilight films, no one expected the paranormal genre to take off again, let alone on the small screen. Shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood have put terrifying and sexy vampires back on the map, but no show has put such a refreshing spin on the supernatural as Teen Wolf has.

The show originally set out to follow Scott McCall, a less-than-average teenager who is bitten by a werewolf one night in the woods. However, after a surprisingly successful first season, Teen Wolf expanded its universe beyond the mythology of werewolves to far more terrifying creatures.

There are no specific Halloween-themed episodes but that doesn’t stop this show from making it onto our list because in Beacon Hills, every day is Halloween for Scott and his gang as they try to get through high school unscathed.

One of the more underrated shows on this list, Teen Wolf’s ability to rise above expectations and deliver a fantastic series might just be the spookiest thing about this show.

While technically classified as a drama, this show’s best asset is its refreshingly clever comedy. You will fall in love with the characters of Beacon Hills for many reasons, but their ability to make you laugh until your stomach hurts is certainly no trick — it’s always a treat.

That being said, Teen Wolf is no campy werewolf show and sets out to prove this in the later seasons with heart-wrenching deaths and terrifying villains. Not only is Dylan O’Brien’s performance as the villain of Season 3B one of the best on this show — it is one of the best performances period.

This show doesn’t need jump scares in order to keep surprising you.

If you are looking for a comedic teenage drama doused in paranormal mythology and mystery, then Teen Wolf is definitely a show you should be watching. The quality of writing and the actors’ abilities speak for themselves.

And because we couldn’t possibly list all the reasons you should be watching Teen Wolf in this list, be sure to check out our list of 15 Reasons We Really Miss ‘Teen Wolf’ right here!

Spooky Rating: 6/10

11. Halloween Baking Championship

If you don’t spend the colder nights of the year curled up on your couch watching Food Network Specials then you are seriously missing out. For Halloween and reality show enthusiasts alike, there are spooky desserts to enjoy and festive puns to roll your eyes at.

Seriously, what could possibly be scarier than the overwhelming pressure of competition?

Every year Food Network offers fans of food and frights several festive fall shows to sink your teeth into including Kids Halloween Baking Championship, Halloween Wars, and Haunted Gingerbread showdown — yes that’s haunted gingerbread. But none truly compare to Halloween Baking Championship.

Its the only show that combines elements of decoration, taste, and surprises to create a spooktacular experience for food enthusiasts, cake decorators, and people who rely on their microwave for meals.

Host and comedian John Henson brings some much-needed life to the food reality show, participating in witty and sometimes terrifying banter with the contestants over their spooky desserts.

But if witty banter isn’t enough to sell you on Halloween Baking Championship, don’t worry there’s more. The judges also dress in outrageous costumes to critique the contestants’ creations at the end of every episode to keep in the Halloween spirit.

If you don’t find the idea of over-baked cake slabs horrifying and aren’t particularly fond of food splattered in edible blood, then good news! The moment the Halloween Baking Championship wraps up Food Network gears up for Thanksgiving and Christmas with Holiday Baking Championship in early November.

Spooky Rating: 1/10

12. Sleepy Hollow

Based on the 1820 short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, the Sleepy Hollow TV show looks to bring a modern twist to a ghostly story that has been tied to Halloween for centuries.

The series follows Ichabod Crane, a soldier of 1781 who originally beheaded the famous horseman, who awakes in modern-day Sleepy Hollow to find out the horseman is back and looking for his missing head.

Once Crane meets Lt. Abigail Mills a comedic fish out of water story begins that provides some particularly great chemistry and funny side plots. But the main story is much more biblical and dark, with Crane and Mills acting as witnesses and the headless horseman as death himself.

Sleepy Hollow successfully embodies an eerie town vibe on the much larger scale of New York and introduces two rather good looking and strong protagonists.

For the most part, the first two seasons will deliver a fun take on the tale of the headless horseman but be warned that with a missing head comes a complete lack of brains later on in the series.

Spooky Rating: 5/10

13. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Sabrina is no longer a teenage witch living in a quirky household and casting harmless spells on her classmates. No, this teenage witch is taking us on an adventure into a darker version of Greendale, where the magic is as wicked as it is deadly.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina takes homage from the comic of the same name and looks to portray Sabina’s upbringing as a half-mortal/half-witch with a more sophisticated and demonic vibe.

From the promos, we can gather that instead of a talking cat, Salem is actually a talking demon that takes the form of a cat. This time around Sabrina’s Aunts are less about the loveable banter and more about burying each other in the backyard when their arguments get out of hand.

And the hauntingly beautiful backdrop of the Spellman Mortuary, where Sabrina will spend most of her time, is likely what will make her adventures so chilling.

The series has just hit Netflix, which makes this show a perfect binge-watch this Halloween season.

So get a group of friends together for a viewing party or curl up alone next to your laptop — whichever you prefer — and enjoy this haunting reiteration of a classic Archie comic character.

Check out our preview of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 1 right here! And if you’ve already watched, you can read our Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 1 review.

Take a look at the official trailer below and see for yourself if the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s dark and spooky premise is worth checking out this Halloween.

Spooky Rating: 7/10 (If you are going off the chilling trailer)

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Happy Halloween to all of you witches, ghouls, and binge-watchers.

What TV shows do you watch to get pumped for Halloween? Let us know in the comments.

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