What better time than the Halloween season to rewatch The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix (aka one of the best streaming services to subscribe to)? Then again, you might be the kind of fan of Mike Flanagan’s 2018 miniseries, loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s seminal novel, who has already braved the horrifying and heartbreaking story of the Crain Family numerous times.
If you are looking for a new horror TV show (or, at least something new to you) that bears some similarity to the themes, tones, and, especially, the scares of one of the best horror TV shows on Netflix, you have stumbled into the right parlor. Below, I have assembled a list of recommended TV shows like The Haunting of Hill House, along with a tip on how to watch them. Why don’t we start with a few other notable achievements by the series’ creator?
Mike Flanagan’s Other Netflix Horror TV Shows (2020-2023)
Following The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan’s best TV shows include a Henry James-inspired ghost story called The Haunting of Bly Manor, a unique vampire tale called Midnight Mass, a coming-of-age quasi-anthology called The Midnight Club, and an epic tragedy inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe called The Fall of the House of Usher.
Why they are great TV shows for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: Like The Haunting of Hill House, all of these acclaimed miniseries are viscerally frightening, captivatingly mysterious, and emotionally heartwrenching dramas that put a special emphasis on the importance of family in all its forms.
Rose Red (2002)
A college professor (played by Nancy Travis) enlists a team of psychics to explore an abandoned estate with an infamous history.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: One of the main characters of The Haunting of Hill House, Kate Siegel’s Theodora, has psychic abilities, just like many of the characters from Rose Red – ABC’s three-part haunted house story featuring a cameo by original author Stephen King.
Castle Rock (2018-2019)
Strange and deadly things plague a small town in Maine.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: Also based on the work of Stephen King is Castle Rock – a criminally short-lived, seasonal horror anthology TV show that, like The Haunting of Hill House, involves supernatural phenomena, psychics, non-linear timelines, and rough family histories.
Dark (2017-2020)
The sudden, unexplainable disappearance of two children has a life-changing effect on four German families.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: At its core, creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s Netflix-exclusive Dark (which is also a show like Lost) is a family story that is heightened by many of the same supernatural elements that make The Haunting of Hill House a uniquely unnerving experience.
Archive 81 (2022)
An archivist (played by Mamoudou Athie) tasked with restoring videotapes recovered from a burned-down apartment complex becomes embroiled in an ominous investigation of the building started by a documentarian (Dina Shihabi) in early 1990s.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: A great TV show that did not last long enough is Archive 81 – another creepy Netflix original, inspired by a dramatic podcast, which, like The Haunting of Hill House, also plays with time in very clever and often shocking ways.
Ghoul (2018)
An interrogator (played by Nida Rahim) for a dystopian military detention center must fight for her life when a mysterious man unleashes a demonic presence in the prison.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: The three-part Indian import, Ghoul, is another Netflix-exclusive limited series that, like The Haunting of Hill House, takes its time with its scares, favoring slow-paced, eerie dread throughout.
Marianne (2019)
Successful author Emma Larsimon (Victoire Du Bois) returns to her hometown, where she discovers that her worst nightmare exists and has been watiting for her.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: In The Haunting of Hill House, Steven Crain (Michel Huisman) bases his books on his family’s trauma, while the protagonist of Marianne – a terrifying, French-language Netflix miniseries – writes books that end up becoming true, courtesy of a witch that has haunted her since childhood.
Penny Dreadful
A talented gunslinger (played by Josh Hartnett), an esteemed explorer (played by Timothy Dalton), an eccentric scientist (played by Harry Treadaway), and a powerful psychic (played by Eva Green) team up to battle otherworldly phenomena in 19th-Century London.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: While creator John Logan’s Penny Dreadful – also one of Josh Hartnett’s best TV shows – is a more overtly gothic horror series, it is also one that deals with the topic of trauma on a deep level, much like in The Haunting of Hill House.
Shining Vale (2022- 2023)
Courteney Cox stars as a woman who struggles to figure out if the strange things she is seeing in her new home are real or a delusion.
Why it is a great TV show for fans of The Haunting of Hill House to check out: If you were ever curious what The Haunting of Hill House might be like as a comedy, try Shining Vale – a morbidly funny tale about a family that moves into a seemingly idyllic estate where ghosts reside.
BONUS: The Haunting (1963)
The insecure Eleanor (Julie Harris), the clairvoyant Theodora (Claire Bloom), and the skeptical Luke (Russ Tamblyn) are invited by Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) to stay in a large New England estate for an experiment to prove if ghosts do roam there.
Why it is a great movie fans of The Haunting of Hill House should check out: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House inspired multiple adaptations and, before Flanagan’s series, the haunted house movie classic, The Haunting, was considered the best.
If you are already a fan of The Haunting of Hill House, hopefully these TV shows (and one movie) do not spook you too terribly.
Source Agencies
