Eeeek! Snakkle’s Top Horror TV Shows Are a Scream!

From the twisted minds behind Nip/Tuck and Glee came the FX drama American Horror Story. After surviving the aftermath of infidelity, Ben (Dylan McDermott) and Vivien (Connie Britton) Harmon relocate to Los Angeles to start anew. Turns out the creepy mansion they purchase is just as haunted as it looks, and that means a whole new level of scary problems for the couple and their family to overcome. The subsequent seasons have used much of the same cast and focused on serial killers, aliens, Nazis and witches. For more on American Horror Story, check out this gallery! And keep clickin' to read Snakkle's nine best horror TV shows that inspired thrills and chills through the years.

Considered the show that ushered horror onto TV, Dark Shadows was a melodramatic serial about the Collins family, who encountered all sorts of supernatural creatures in their home of Collinsport, Maine. Vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) became the most notorious character on the show and is the model for the myriad of tragic/villainous vamps that have been created since.

While many would argue The Twilight Zone also belongs on this list, Serling explored a lot of non-horrific stories in that classic series. But with Night Gallery, Serling really focused on the macabre and the disturbing in the familiar anthology format. The episode “The Doll” alone forever ruined me from having a baby doll in my bedroom.

Connected to the iconic film series in name only, Friday the 13th: The Series followed a trio searching the country for cursed antiques that plague their owners in a myriad of gruesome ways. Be it freaky living dolls, radios that hum to life with no power, or rings that possess their wearer, the objects set up some very gory and memorable outcomes.

Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigated the weird, the bizarre, and the plain ol' scary every week in The X-Files. With a nine-season run, there are too many frightening episodes to count, but standouts include “Humbug,” “Home,” and “Squeeze.”

Former Hardy Boy Shaun Cassidy created this creepy series about Sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), a truly evil small-town demon who’s gunning for the soul of young Caleb Temple (Lucas Black). It only lasted a season, but Cole’s menacing portrayal made for some long-lasting creeps.

Try balancing racing teen hormones, the indignities of the high school hierarchy, and a supernatural calling to rid the world of demons that constantly threaten mankind. Such was the life of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the Chosen One, destined to vanquish vampires and monsters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Episodes like “Nightmares,” “Killed by Death,” “Passion,” and “Hush” were truly chilling. For more on Sarah Michelle Gellar, check out this gallery!

The BBC version of Being Human first introduced the idea of a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost living together with their cumulative demons under one roof. While it certainly can be cheeky at times, the series really focuses on the horrors of what blood addiction, turning into a hairy monster, and being unable to communicate with those you love can do to a mere mortal. It’s not pretty, people.

Humble waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) invites a whole lot of frightening into her small-town Bon Temps life when she falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). In seven seasons, the series has explored all kinds of horrific frights, from its unsettling opening credits to vampire killing sprees, supernatural possessions, and brujo-bad mojo. Want more Before They Were Stars photos of the cast of True Blood?

Based on Robert Kirkman’s gory black-and-white comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead brought hard-core zombies to television, and audiences ate it up. A ratings success for AMC, the series comes back for its fifth season in October and it looks like the undead are just gathering numbers against what’s left of humanity.