In the age of streaming services, it’s simultaneously become easier and harder than ever for a movie or TV show to blow up and attain new heights in their respective industries. New TV shows are coming out on an almost daily basis, but it’s pretty impossible to keep up with them all at the breakneck speed that releases are happening. The worst part is, this doesn’t even give any indication of the show’s quality. It might be perfectly fine or even great, but with other releases or bigger platforms, they never get their deserved time in the spotlight.
This has also been the case for TV shows that have ended, no matter how long ago it was. Streaming has introduced audiences to a wide variety of new and classic shows, but even then, some of the older diamonds in the rough haven’t received their chance. But perhaps they should.These are the best forgotten horror TV shows, which were great, but are barely rememberedby avid television consumers.
10’Perversions of Science' (1997)
Produced by Gilbert Adler
In the late ’80s and early ’90s,the horror anthology seriesTales From the Cryptwas immensely popular, with the show’s narrator, the Cryptkeeper, still being an icon of horror to this very day. Most people have heard of that show, yet it might be news to you that the series also had a spin-off calledPerversions of Science. This was effectively the same concept, with the twist being that it was more about sci-fi horror than supernatural horror, and that it was narrated by a CGI robot rather than the zombified Cryptkeeper.
Perversions of Sciencelasted only ten episodes, with each consisting of one self-contained story with a clearly-defined beginning and ending, meaning there are few, if any, cliffhangers. Unfortunately,the success of its predecessor set an impossibly high bar for the spin-off, and it was never able to achieve the same status. This has caused it to pass into relative obscurity, especially in the 21st century, despite its similarities in terms of formatting and storytelling.
Perversions of Science
9’Lost Tapes' (2008–2010)
Narrated by Rick Robles
Lost Tapeshonestly had quite a phenomenal concept behind it, but it never really took off as much as it could have. Maybe this is on account of the fact that it aired on Animal Planet, as opposed to more popular channels for horror shows. Yet, even now, it remains either unheard of or forgotten about entirely. The premise of this pseudo-documentary series is to reenact anecdotes shared by real people about their personal experiences with cryptids or mythological creatures.
There’s another reason this show may not have taken off: most people aren’t going to believe these stories. But if one can just get past that, it’s very interesting. The show presents itself not just as a documentary, but also in a found-footage type format, utilizing a common trope of many 2000s horror movies.It did some things wrong, sure, but overall, this is a show with a concept that had some serious potential. It’s a real shame that not everyone else saw it the same way, causing it to be largely forgotten.
Lost Tapes
8’Slasher' (2016–2023)
Created by Aaron Martin
Slasheris ananthology series created by Netflix. However, instead of following the traditional anthology format where each episode has its own self-contained story, instead, the show has each season follow a single arc, which proved to work in its favor. See, every season features a brand-new killer that begins hunting down the protagonist, many of them modeled after the classic slasher films of the 80s and 90s. Elegant, simple, and to the point.
An homage to slasher cinema and a love letter to the greats of the genre,Slasherfeatures tons of blood and gore, as well as some admittedly inventive kills and jump scares. The one-story-per-season format works better than the one-story-per-episode format because it allows the audience to really feel the killer’s presence and not have to forget about them after just one episode. But it seems like many forgot about this show anyway, because it wasn’t super popular when it was coming out, but it’s like it doesn’t even exist now, with how little people talk about it.
7’Teacup' (2024)
Created by Ian McCulloch
Set on an isolated ranch in a remote part of the state of Georgia,Teacupfeatures a group of small-town neighbors and acquaintances who suddenly become bombarded by a mysterious and malevolent threat. As far out into the sticks as they are, they realize that little help is coming, and they must put aside their differences and use their combined assets to face this threat head-on, or risk their own destruction.
Teacupis a Peacock original seriesthat got swept under the rug as quickly as it appeared, with the network listing no immediate reason as to why. After just one season, in the wake of many good reviews,Teacupwas abruptly canceled. This definitely had an effect on the horror community, which seems to have decided to kind of forget the show ever happened. Why is anyone’s guess, because critics praised the show for its style. It even received a nomination for a Saturn Award, so why it never got more popular or came up in more conversations is a mystery.
6’Friday the 13th: The Series' (1987–1990)
Created by Frank Mancuso Jr. and Larry B. Williams
Alright, soFriday the 13th: The Seriesmight have dug its own grave (pun intended) with its title, because the movies of the same name had already been out for a substantial amount of time prior to the inception of this TV series. If the two were even remotely connected, it would be understandable, but weirdly enough, the slasher films and the TV show, which share the same titles, have nothing to do with each other.
Don’t expect to find a hockey-masked, machete-wielding maniac in this TV show. What you’ll find instead is two young people who have inherited their relative’s pawn shop, which, unbeknownst to them, is filled with cursed and occult objects. Many of them are stolen or go missing, posing serious threats to the world, prompting them to hunt them down before the spirits contained within can be unleashed.While interesting and thrilling in execution, the title ensured it would never succeed as much as it could, nor could it ever outshinethe popular slasher franchise, which means it has long since been forgotten.
Friday the 13th: The Series
5’The Hitchhiker' (1983–1991)
Starring Nicholas Campbell and Page Fletcher
The Hitchhikeris extremely cynical at heart, so it’s understandable why it didn’t take off as much as it could’ve. But hey, it got six seasons out of its run, which is pretty good. This anthology series is mainly about the worst of humanity, telling tales of exploitation, selfishness, greed, lust, and yes, even murder. It’s a series that can easily bum a viewer out, but if you’re into that sort of thing, it’s a pretty great watch. That might even be the best part about it: none of it is supernatural—the situations presented are entirely feasible, but sometimes, reality is scarier than fiction.
Each episode is narrated byNicholas Campbell, who plays the eponymous hitchhiker, telling the audience a story that he picked up while on the road about some horrible thing that someone, or multiple someones, have done to other human beings for the sake of their own benefit. The fact that it’s about some touchy subjects, coupled with how heavily it needed to be censored for TV in the 80s didn’t bode well for it, andwhile it’s still a fantastic series, its sensitivity kind of tarnished its reputationbefore it even had the chance to spread its wings and fly.
The Hitchhiker
4’Marianne' (2019)
Created by Samuel Bodin
TheFrench miniseriesMariannestarsVictoire du Boisas Emma, who witnessed her childhood friend’s mysterious and abrupt death. Returning to her hometown after taking some time to heal and recover, Emma traverses the French countryside seeking answers about her friend’s untimely demise, eventually unraveling secret rituals, black magic, and witchcraft actively at work in the sleepy little town.
Critics were all over this miniseries, commending it for its dreary, somber tone and its wild level of creepiness, with many reviewers calling it pure nightmare fuel.Horror fans who love to actually be scared should absolutely get a load ofMarianne, because it’s sure to deliver exactly what they’re looking for. But because it’s only eight episodes, and it didn’t blow up as much when it first came out, many horror fans who have seen it have moved on to newer shows and leftMariannebehind, which is a treatment that it doesn’t deserve.
3’It' (1990)
Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
Most people know the story ofStephen King’sItby now. There’s a monstrous killer clown hiding in the sewers in the small fictional town of Derry, and it falls to a bunch of kids to put a stop to it. The story has been really popular in recent years on account of the two films starringBill Skarsgårdas Pennywise the Clown, and while these movies are very good and deserve their success, they’ve unfortunately made it so that theoriginal 1990s horror miniseriesgets left behind in a cloud of dust.
This two-part miniseries might not be as high budget as the movies, but it has a unique charm to it that gave many millennials coulrophobia after viewing the miniseries for the first time. Let’s be honest,Tim Currywalked so Bill Skarsgård could run, as Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise brought a different type of darkness to the killer clown. Curry’s version is less subtly creepy and more outwardly edgy, giving a different take on the character that left a lasting impression on audiences.Since the movies came out, though, the miniseries has sadly fallen to the wayside.
In the small town of Derry, a group of children known as the Losers' Club confronts an ancient, shape-shifting entity that takes the form of a clown named Pennywise. As adults, they must return to Derry to face their worst fears and stop the evil once and for all.
2’Kingdom' (2019–2021)
Created by Kim Eun-hee
Kingdomis aSouth Korean fantasy-horror showset in the years following the Imjin War between the Kingdom of Joseon, which once encompassed the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese Empire. The King of Joseon has fallen ill and died of smallpox, but before his adult son earns the throne, the tyrannical Haewon Cho clan, whom the King is married into, opts to resurrect the King until his pregnant wife gives birth in order to ensure they hang onto their power. To resurrect him, they use a mythical plant, accidentally unleashing a zombie horde in the process.
Kingdomwas the recipient of some really, really excellent reviews, but it’s sort of remained in a state of limbo. There’s been no official announcement from Netflix regarded a third season, yet there’s also been no official cancellation. In any case, the show isn’t just a wild political thriller, but it’s also a period drama with a side of zombies, zombies which, by the way, are uniquely creepy in all the right ways. Nothing out there is quite likeKingdom, and that’s the honest truth.While it was underrated before, it has since become even more obscure since there has been no statement regarding its future.
1’The Outer Limits' (1963–1965)
Created by Leslie Stevens
The Outer Limitscame out in the 1960s, when television anthology series were just starting to come out. Many of the finest anthology series ever came out during this time period, includingThe Outer Limits. Before the 1990s, this was the go-to show for stories about extraterrestrials and government conspiracies. ThenThe X-Filescame along and essentially replacedThe Outer Limits, causing the latter to be scarcely remembered or acknowledged in the 21st Century.
Though short-lived with only two seasons,The Outer Limitswas really something special, with almost every single episode containing some sort of monumental plot twist. It was never clear what developments the plot could take next, leaving it consistently exciting. Unfortunately, even at the time, it could not escape being compared to the more popularThe Twilight Zone, and with the release of other, similar shows in the decades since, this masterpiece of television is rarely talked about anymore.
