15 Spooky TV Shows You’re Sleeping On This Halloween

October is the time for scary movies, but with the evergrowing television landscape, spooky season entertainment is no longer relegated only to feature films. These days, there is an endless amount of TV that can scratch the Halloween itch across any given platform. 

Watching the same spooky TV shows on an endless loop can get repetitive and tiresome, especially when the fun of jump scares and surprises has long been worn out. 

Good news! There is an incredible treasure trove of haunt worth television buried beneath the surface just waiting to be consumed. Stories to terrify you, stories to get you and the whole family in the Halloween spirit, and even some stories you’ve seen and loved, but have long since forgotten.

If you’re struggling to find a new scare-fest TV lineup this October, we’ve put together a niche list of underrated TV shows across various platforms, and given each one its own “Spook Factor” rating, depending on its level of horror. 

Check out our list of the 15 Spooky TV Shows You’re Sleeping On This Halloween. We guarantee you won’t be sleeping much when you’re done with them. 

1. Wizards of Waverly Place

Wizards of Waverly Place lived in the golden age of Disney Channel when it was producing countless megastars and endless hit television. The series was destined to become an instant Disney classic, led by triple threat Selena Gomez, who got her start skyrocketed to fame in this underrated supernatural live-action comedy. 

The series centers around a family and their NYC sandwich shop. There’s studious older brother Justin, rebellious middle child Alex, young rambunctious Max, and their two frazzled, well-meaning parents. 

All things typical, with one small exception — all three children are wizards. 

Justin, Alex, and Max are all born into the wizarding world, training in wizardry to one day compete against each other for the title of Family Wizard. Whoever wins keeps their powers, while the other two turn mortal. 

With Selena Gomez’s outstanding performance, the perfect balance of hormonal hijinks, family dynamics, and light-hearted magic (plus a theme song for the ages), it’s no wonder the show earned itself a Daytime Emmy Award.

Wizards of Waverly Place is the perfect pick during the spooky season, fit for the whole family to enjoy. 

Playing On: Disney+
Spook Factor: 1/10

2. The Secret Circle

The Secret Circle may have only lasted one season on The CW, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from checking out this dark tale of small-town magic, based on the 90’s novel of the same name.

With a stellar cast that includes Britt Robertson, Phoebe Tonkin, and Shelley Hennig, the story follows a group of adolescent teens who discover their destiny as witches and form a powerful coven.

Filled with plot twists, parental betrayal, and plenty of steamy romance (it is The CW, after all), The Secret Circle is a delightful binge for this October. 

A strong story, incredible cast chemistry, and beautiful settings are what will have you reaching for your spellbook and wishing you could move to a small, rainy town in the Northeast.

You’ll also probably want to call The CW and ask them to revive the show before the next Halloween swings around. 

Playing On: CW Seed
Spook Factor: 3/10

3. Daybreak

Another single-season show gone too soon, Daybreak is an ambitious attempt at depicting a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world with fresh eyes and new ideas.

Swimming in camp, Daybreak knows what it is, and plays with a balance of horror, teen angst, and 80’s movie nostalgia. The show takes chances in tone, often breaking the 4th wall to let protagonist Josh talk directly to the camera, shifts point of view at a moment’s notice, and integrates film influence anywhere from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to Kickass.  

There are endless scares, plenty of gore, and a dash of classic Horror cheese — all ingredients needed for a fun Halloween romp — but it’s the characters who will keep invested, rooting for them to come together and survive, and frustrated when Netflix ultimately leaves you with the cliffhanger of the century. 

Playing On: Netflix
Spook Factor: 7/10

4. Good Witch

With seven seasons and a slew of movies to pair them with, Good Witch has enough content to keep you entertained all October long.

The series follows widowed Cassie Nightengale as she builds a new life in the town of Middleton. As she raises her daughter and runs her Bed and Breakfast, she discovers more and more of her mysterious past.

The fun twist? Cassie also seems to have an intuitive sixth sense — one that grants her the power to read people in ways that will change their lives forever.

While it’s never stated what Cassie is, exactly (the show lets viewers use their best-educated guess), Cassie guides her weekly B&B guests through their various conflicts, while finding a new love for herself, and a place to call home.

Gilmore Girls meets Halloweentown, Good Witch is perfect if you’re searching for a cozy series to watch as you curl up in your favorite sweater this Fall. 

Playing On: Netflix/Hallmark Channel
Spook Factor: 1/10

5. Freakish

Zombie films love to depict the aftermath of the Apocolypse, but what about a show that follows characters around as it’s happening?

Set at a high school unfortunately close to a backfiring chemical plant, Freakish follows a group of teens as they take refuge, and try to keep a spreading contagion — and the people it’s affecting — outside their walls. 

When things inevitably go awry, the kids find themselves dealing with food shortages, infected friends, questionable strangers, and plenty of unforeseen secrets. 

There’s also a shocking amount of jump scares and gore, and even those typically not phased by zombies will be sleeping with the light on, taking notes on how to survive a sporadic apocalyptic meltdown. 

You know, just in case.

Playing On: Hulu
Spook Factor: 8/10

6. The Order

The Order raises the stakes of a typical teen werewolf drama with evil secret societies and forbidden romance, set to the backdrop of an unsuspecting college campus. 

Freshman Jack Osborn finds himself thrown into the supernatural world after joining a mysterious secret society, and the deeper he goes, the more he begins to uncover his family’s long intertwined history with the Order of the Dark Rose.

A classic tale of two magical groups pit against each with historic rivalry, Jack — and the audience — find themselves caught in the middle of the madness, unable to escape. 

Twenty episodes in total, The Order takes the typical supernatural high school series and moves it to University for a darker — and slightly raunchier — adventure in magic and otherworldly escapades.

Playing On: Netflix
Spook Factor: 5/10

7. Sabrina The Teenage Witch 

It’s not that people have forgotten Sabrina The Teenage Witch, but the ’90’s classic has been increasingly overlooked in the past few years due to its darker reimagining, Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, debuting on Netflix. 

CAOS is also an excellent Halloween watch — certainly spookier and creepier than its predecessor — but there’s something to be said about the wholesome, friendly version of everyone’s favorite witch that provides entertainment for the whole family. 

Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina may not leave you with nightmares, but it’s still a ridiculously fun seven seasons of witchy hijinks, star-crossed teen romance, and plenty of broad comedy only a 90’s sitcom could pull off. 

The fantastic ’90’s fashion on display is just an added bonus. 

CAOS or Sabrina The Teenage Witch, you can’t really go wrong spending your October with the Spellmans, but in Hart’s version, you get the talking cat. 

Playing On: Hulu

Spook Factor: 1/10

8. Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

Most people remember the 1990’s classic Are You Afraid Of The Dark? but are unaware the series was rebooted by Nickelodeon in 2019, and now has two brand new seasons ripe for the binging this Halloween season. 

The revitalized series sticks close to its original blueprint: the Midnight Society meets in the woods to share scary stories and see who can make their friends have the most nightmares.

The audience jumps headfirst into those stories and is taken through a myriad of dark and twisty adventures mostly made for kids, but certainly able to give an adult a fright, too. 

From hauntings to an evil circus, the new Midnight Society ups their game with the scare factor, and the show itself delves deeper into darker, eerier stories than its predecessors never did.

The kids will get a good scare, but the adults will be overwhelmed with nostalgia as they think back to which Midnight Society episode sent shivers down their spine so many years ago (it was the evil mall clowns, for me personally). 

Playing On: Paramount+/Nickelodeon 

Spook Factor: 6/10

9. School Spirits

While some people get a good scare from werewolves and vampires, others have an aversion to a more traditional supernatural being: the ghost.

Taking a documentary approach, School Spirits centers around different high school and college campuses around the country that have experienced some version of a ghost haunting, or other types of paranormal activity.

The show interviews students and teachers who have had first-person, real accounts with ghosts and then reenacts those same stories for the audience, bringing them to life for a bone-chilling retelling of actual experiences.

This show isn’t for the faint of heart, but certainly will put anyone in the mood for Halloween.

Playing On: Amazon Prime, YouTube
Spook Factor: 9/10

10. Light As A Feather

Nothing is scarier than a psychological mind game, and Light As A Feather will have you reeling for days.

After four best friends invite a new girl out for Halloween, things take a turn for a worse after she suggests a game of “Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board.” The game turns deadly after girls start to turn up dead in the exact way the game predicted.

Banding together to figure out why they’re being targeted, the players become determined to beat whatever evil force is orchestrating their deaths.

The show takes turns no one would ever suspect and isn’t afraid to mix various genres of horror in exchange for shock factor. There’s plenty of jump scares and gore to keep things interesting, but the real terror comes in the twisted and eerie way the story plays out over time.

Playing On: Hulu
Spook Factor: 8/10

11. Hemlock Grove

A Halloween binge-fest wouldn’t be complete without a series so bad, it’s actually deliciously good.

Hemlock Grove may sound like any other teen supernatural drama — complete with werewolves, vampires, and even a few gypsies — but the show takes a gothic and innovative approach to commonly used tropes, daring to integrate old European folklore and sci-fi elements, making the watch more engaging.

The show is easy to fall in love with despite its strange nature, with plenty of romance, interpersonal drama, and a setting that feels as much Twin Peaks as it does Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Playing On: Netflix
Spook Factor: 7/10

12. The Munsters

When thinking about the classic Halloween family, one’s mind usually goes right to The Addams Family. But there’s another spooky brood — at 1313 Mockingbird Lane — who tend to go unrecognized for their iconic place in TV history.

The Munsters!

A family of Halloween misfits, each member of the Munster family is a different, well, monster. There’s Frankenstein’s creation, father and daughter vampires, a werewolf, and…Marilyn.

While the Addams seem to be aware of their peculiarity, the Munsters never seem to understand why people react so strangely, and their well-meaning nature makes for classic misadventures that never cease to entertain.

Adjusting to the black and white throwback may be difficult at first, but it adds a slightly spooky tone that works for the Halloween season and hides Marilyn’s unfortunate looks.

Playing On: Peacock
Spook Factor: 1/10

13. My Babysitter’s A Vampire 

Vampires usually mean scary drama, but My Babysitters A Vampire subverts typical spooky season tropes by creating a half-hour comedy centered around a psychic, a magician, and their half-vampire babysitter.

My Babysitter’s A Vampire proves there’s only one thing more dreadful than facing evil before homeroom: the terrors of puberty.

The series has two hilarious seasons filled with humor and found family, but don’t forget to check out the preexisting movie that started it all.

Playing On: Netflix (TV series only), Amazon Prime (film included)
Spooky Factor: 2/10

14. Goosebumps

Another throwback, the ’90’s classic Goosebumps is based on the infamous R.L. Stines’ famous book series. Kids find themselves in creepy alternate realities as they face frightening situations.

There are certain stories that land much higher on the terror scale than others — a tale of a haunted amusement park, for example, will stay with you for years — but the lighter episodes provide a much-needed recluse from the otherwise bizarre tellings.

Like many of the other shows on this list, there are two movies to go along with the original series, and a revival of the show slated to debut in the next year.

Playing On: Netflix
Spook Factor: 6/10

15. Into The Dark

By far the most terrifying series on this list, Into The Dark is not for the faint of heart. 

An anthology series from horror royalty Blumhouse Productions, every episode is the length of a feature film, with all of them taking place on a different holiday. 

Horror is no longer just reserved for Halloween. 

If you find yourself overwhelmed with the commitment of watching two full seasons of incredibly long and terrifying TV,  the anthology structure allows you to pick and choose with no risk of missing any important developments in between episodes. 

As with any anthology, some episodes are certainly stronger than others, so to avoid picking a dud, we suggest starting off with “School Spirit,” “Culture Shock,” “A Nasty Piece of Work,” and “New Year, New You.”

Playing On: Hulu

Spook Factor: 10/10

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Do you agree with our list? What underrated spooky TV do you watch every Halloween? Sound off in the comments below!

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