Cancel all of your plans, because your favourite streaming sites are full of scary TV shows that you can watch in a single weekend. As much as we love The Walking Dead [1] and American Horror Story [2], long-running series can look intimidating when you have a limited amount of time to squeeze in some terror-filled goodness. What you need in your time of horror need is a show that you can realistically mainline in a single weekend. From Netflix favourites like The Haunting of Hill House [3] to cult classics like The Fades, the shows on this list have two things in common: they're marathon-friendly and they'll deliver the scares that you're craving.
And Then There Were None
We all know that Agatha Christie knows her way around a mystery, but And Then There Were None is a reminder that not all of her books were cosy. Some of them were unnervingly sinister, as this 2015 miniseries demonstrates over the course of three nerve-wracking episodes. A group of unrelated strangers are invited to an island where they are murdered one by one in increasingly elaborate ways in this thrilling adaptation.
Watch And Then There Were None on Prime Video. [4]
Castle Rock
Stephen King is the master of horror, and Hulu's Castle Rock pays homage to his expansive library of creepy characters. Castle Rock, Maine is a small town teaming with weirdness, and with just 10 episodes in season one, it's easy to catch up on this spooky mash-up of King's greatest hits.
Watch Castle Rock on Hulu. [5]
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
With two seasons streaming, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina makes for a serious weekend marathon. There are 20 episodes so far, but if you have the time to plow through them you'll be rewarded with a steady stream of witchy rituals, curses, and quality teen drama — and Kiernan Shipka's winning performance as a dark Sabrina the Teenage Witch is the icing on this devilishly good cake.
Watch The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. [6]
Crazyhead
We're still mad about this Buffy the Vampire Slayer-esque British series getting cancelled after a single brilliant season. Even though there are only six episodes, this quippy horror comedy about two young women fighting demons and dealing with everyday millennial struggles is too good to be missed.
Watch Crazyhead on Netflix. [7]
Dark
There are 18 episodes of this trippy, time-travelling German series on Netflix, and each one takes us deeper into a dangerous conspiracy that spans decades. Dark mixes sci-fi weirdness with creepy small town tropes to create a genuinely unsettling and addictive story that's so good it's worth braving subtitles for.
Watch Dark on Netflix. [8]
Dead Set
Before he created Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker wrote this five-part series about a zombie apocalypse breaking out during the filming of a season of Big Brother. The contestants slowly become aware that something is wrong in the outside world when the doors of their safe haven are thrown open on eviction night and the undead begin streaming in. Gory and terrifying, Dead Set is a modern horror masterpiece.
Watch Dead Set on Netflix. [9]
Black Summer
Black Summer is set in the same universe as Syfy's Z Nation, but you can watch this eight episode series on its own. Set at the start of the zombie apocalypse, a group of strangers band together to survive, but their goal is compromised by hordes of the undead.
Watch Black Summer on Netflix. [10]
Eerie, Indiana
Get ready for nostalgia and scary TV goodness, because the '90s cult favourite Eerie, Indiana is streaming on Prime Video. And, OK, maybe it's not bone-chilling, but the 19 half-hour episodes of this one-and-done series still hold up. Sit back and let Marshall remind you why this show gave you chills as a kid.
Watch Eerie, Indiana on Prime Video. [11]
The Fades
The Fades is yet another British horror series that was cancelled too soon. Clocking in at six episodes, this superior supernatural teen drama focuses on a young man who becomes embroiled in a war between the living and the dead. The superb cast includes Iain De Caestecker, Tom Ellis, Natalie Dormer, Daniel Kaluuya, and Joe Dempsie.
Watch The Fades on Hulu. [12]
Glitch
Three seasons, 18 episodes, and one riveting mystery — Glitch is full of light scares and fascinating characters that make it a fun marathon. Set in a small town where six people come back from the dead in perfect health, the show follows a police officer who is trying to unravel the truth behind what, on the surface, appears to be a miracle.
Watch Glitch on Netflix. [13]
The Haunting of Hill House
Season one of The Haunting of Hill House is still giving us nightmares. From the broke-neck lady to the Crain family's two stormy nights, this tale of a haunted house and the family it tries to tear apart is one of the most riveting series we've seen in years.
Watch The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. [14]
In the Flesh
What if zombies could be rehabilitated and returned to their families? That existential question drives In the Flesh, a series about a teen suffering from Partially Deceased Syndrome. It may sound funny, but the show is an earnest, frighteningly good meditation on what it means to be alive.
Watch In the Flesh on Hulu. [15]
Inside No. 9
Inside No. 9 is Black Mirror's quirky little brother with a wicked sense of humour (emphasis on the wicked part). Each episode of this anthology series takes place somewhere associated with the number nine, but what you get week to week varies wildly. Sometimes the show takes us along on a doomed babysitting outing and other times it delivers a silent farce with a dark twist. (Seasons one and two are on Hulu, but if you finish those and find yourself wishing there was more, you can watch all four seasons and the inventive Halloween [16] special on Britbox [17].)
Watch Inside No. 9 on Hulu. [18]
Marianne
Marianne is the newest show on this list, but its eight-episode inaugural season more than holds its own. The French series follows a horror writer who returns to her hometown where an evil spirit from her nightmares becomes all too real. Fair warning, this show doesn't hold back when it comes to terrifying its viewers.
Watch Marianne on Netflix. [19]
The Returned
Better known as Les Revenants, this French series is a haunting story of a small village that experiences a miracle of sorts when many of their long-dead loved ones return. What should be a happy occasion is marred by a series of murders that coincides with the sudden appearance of the formerly dead residents.
Watch The Returned on Netflix. [20]
Santa Clarita Diet
Netflix cancelled Drew Barrymore [21]'s twisted domestic zombie comedy after just three seasons. But those three seasons (consisting of 30 half-hour episodes) are blood-drenched perfection. Barrymore plays a California wife and mom whose life is turned upside down when she wakes up one morning and realises she's a zombie. In a perfect twist, she's never felt more alive than when she's undead.
Watch Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix. [22]
The Terror
AMC's anthology series The Terror is all about the slow burn. The first season follows a lost expedition to the Arctic as the men slowly realise there's something waiting for them in the ice. Trust us, this series will keep you on edge throughout all 10 episodes of season one.
Watch The Terror on Hulu. [23]
Wayward Pines
Fair warning: season two of Wayward Pines isn't great, but the first season is way too good to disqualify the whole series just because of a lackluster second outing. The first season follows a Secret Service Agent who finds himself in an idyllic small town that no one is allowed to leave. As an added bonus, Stranger Things [24] creators The Duffer Brothers wrote three episodes of season one.
Watch Wayward Pines on Hulu. [25]