If you have not checked out any of the best horror TV shows on Max yet, you are missing out on some of the best horror TV shows ever made. While having a Max subscription gives one access to many of the best horror movies of all time, these titles prove that the scares do not need to end at just feature-length thrillers. See for yourself by taking a look at our picks for the best horror series on HBO, some chilling shows from other networks you may recognize, and even some spooky favorites exclusive to the platform, which make Max one of the best streaming services to subscribe to today.
Falling Skies (2011-2015)
Months after malicious extraterrestrials destroy all of Earth’s major cities, a modest group of survivors from Massachusetts struggle to maintain stability and aspire to regain control of the planet.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From executive producer Steven Spielberg and starring Noah Wyle, Falling Skies came out at a time when post-apocalyptic TV shows were all the rage, but managed to stand out as a strong entry to the alien invasion genre.
Fringe (2008-2013)
An FBI agent (played by Anna Torv) teams up with a disgraced scientist (played by John Noble) and his son (played by Joshua Jackson) to investigate a series of unexplainable cases.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, Fringe is a strange and sometimes terrifying procedural drama that fans of the classic sci-fi TV show, The X-Files, will surely love.
El Hipnotizador (2015-2017)
A talented hypnotist (played by Leonardo Sbaraglia) who can coerce people into revealing their deepest secrets struggles with a dark secret of his own.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on the graphic novel by writer Pablo de Santis and illustrator Juan Sáenz Valiente, El Hipnotizador is a bizarre and, indeed, hypnotic Portuguese supernatural drama.
Stream El Hipnotizador on Max.
The Winchesters (2022-2023)
A Vietnam War veteran (played by Drake Rodger) and a young woman with unique talents (played by Meg Donnelly) fall in love while working together to defend humanity from the paranormal in the early 1970s.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From developer Robbie Thompson and executive producer Jensen Ackles, The Winchesters serves as a prequel to Supernatural, following the adventures of Dean and Sam’s parents, Mary and John.
Stream The Winchesters on Max.
Los Espookys (2018-2022)
A group of horror lovers start a business constructing elaborate scenarios of a bizarre and terrifying degree for their clients.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, and Julio Torres both created and star in Los Espookys – a unique, Spanish-language series that blends horror with comedy in remarkably unique ways.
The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)
A teenage girl (played by Nina Dobrev) falls for a young man (played by Paul Wesley) who happens to be a vampire and becomes embroiled in the strange world of his kind.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Based on a series of novels by L.J. Smith and developed by Scream writer Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, The Vampire Diaries is an addicting, romantic, gothic drama.
Stream The Vampire Diaries on Max.
Folklore (2018-2021)
Terrifying tales include a single mother who goes to extreme lengths to please her son, a migrant worker whose life changes after he stumbles onto a corpse, and a ghost’s struggles to scare a new victim.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Folklore is a horror anthology TV show that explores mythologies originating from different Asian countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, China, and more.
Halfworlds (2015-Present)
A young street artist finds herself embroiled in a violent collision between humans and vicious creatures disguised as humans in modern-day Jakarta.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Another title inspired by Asian mythology, Halfworlds is a dark, unique, and visually stunning fantasy series.
A Haunting (2005-Present)
Learn the allegedly true tales of ordinary people making extraordinary – and extraordinarily dangerous – encounters with the dead.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: The fifth, tenth, and eleventh seasons of A Haunting – a long-running docuseries exploring first-hand accounts of unsettling paranormal activity – are available to stream on Max.
Wellington Paranormal (2018-2022)
The strange adventures of New Zealand cops who specialize in investigating the supernatural.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Mike Minogue and Karen O’Leary reprise their roles from the hilarious horror-comedy movie What We Do in the Shadows in Wellington Paranormal – a funny, mockumentary-style spin-off series from creator Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.
Stream Wellington Paranormal on Max.
The Last Of Us (2023-Present)
Decades after a virus turning humans into deadly mutants brought forth the end of civilization, a hardened survivor (played by Pedro Pascal) becomes the reluctant guardian of a teen (played by Bella Ramsey) who may hold the key to a cure.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman’s intense HBO horror series based on the hit zombie survival video game, The Last of Us – which has a second season in the works – is said to have broken the supposed “video game adaptation curse” with its stunning cast and spine-tingling suspense.
30 Coins (2020-Present)
An ex-convict-turned-priest (played by Eduard Fernández) must contend with the demons of his past and actual demons while serving in a remote Spanish village.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: The title of director and co-creator Alex de la Iglesia’s inventive, viscerally terrifying Spanish-language drama, 30 Coins, refers to Judas’ reward from the Romans for betraying Jesus.
Grace (2014)
A man makes a grave mistake that causes his family to suffer a nightmarish circumstance.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Created by Andrew Chin, Garon De Silva, and Nicholas Gauron, Grace is a four-part miniseries based in Singapore and rooted in unsettling themes of Asian folklore and curses.
Urban Legend (2022)
A woman suffering strange side effects from a spider bite, a teen suspecting her prom dress is haunted, and two sisters experiencing spooky events in a house they inherit from their mother are some of the stories explored in this series.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Not to be confused with a 1998 slasher movie, Urban Legend is a horror anthology series from producer Eli Roth that takes inspiration from tales based on alleged facts and exaggerates them to horrifying levels.
Lovecraft Country (2020)
After returning home from the Korean War, a young, Black Chicago native (played by Jonathan Majors) learns that his favorite fantasy stories are more than a product of the imagination while searching for his missing father in Jim Crow Era America.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: The inclusion of an influential horror author’s name in the title rightfully suggests that snarling beasts and other strange phenomena are to be expected in Lovecraft Country (based on Matt Ruff’s 2014 novel), but not even its many classic references to the genre are as terrifying as the brutally honest depictions of racial injustice in this HBO horror series from developer Misha Green and executive producers Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams.
Stream Lovecraft Country on Max.
Carnivàle (2003-2005)
During the Great Depression, a fugitive (played by Nick Stahl) working for a traveling sideshow and a California Methodist preacher (Clancy Brown in one of his best credits) doing his best to serve God’s will both possess unusual gifts that lead them to a shared destiny as crucial pawns in a world-shattering conflict.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Created by Daniel Knauf, the Emmy-winning Carnivàle only lasted two seasons, but the HBO horror series has since been remembered as an addictively suspenseful, visually stunning period drama with engrossing themes of the ultimate battle between Good and Evil.
True Blood (2008-2014)
In a world in which vampires and humans can co-exist thanks to a drink that effectively substitutes blood, a telepathic Louisiana server (played by Anna Paquin) falls in love with a handsome, fanged stranger (played by Stephen Moyer).
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, True Blood is a funny, sexy, and deliciously macabre HBO horror series adapted from Charlaine Harris’ novel series The Southern Vampire Mysteries, offering a unique, modern-day take on horror folklore that also involves werewolves, shapeshifters, and other fantastic beings over the course of seven seasons.
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn (1997-1999)
Slain by his double-crossing best friend, skilled mercenary Al Simmons (Keith David) struggles to outrun the armies of both Heaven and Hell while using his powers as a force against corruption on Earth from beyond the grave.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: Fans of Todd McFarlane’s Image Comics series Spawn would likely recommend you watch this Emmy-winning show – heralded today as one of the best non-Marvel-or DC superhero TV shows – over the 1997 live-action film, which Blumhouse is currently working on a reboot for.
Stream Todd McFarlane’s Spawn on Max.
The Outsider (2020)
Upon the discovery of a brutally murdered 11-year-old boy, a veteran Georgia police detective (played by Ben Mendelsohn) is baffled by proof that the child’s teacher and Little League coach (played by Jason Bateman) is responsible and conflicting evidence that proves his involvement is impossible.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: At first, the acclaimed HBO horror series The Outsider seems like another typical crime thriller, but given this is also an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Stephen King, audiences can rightfully assume something far out of the ordinary is afoot with this investigation.
Off The Air (2011-Present)
Topics that range from the mundane (such as food or work), the broad and mystifying (like religion or space travel), or the just plain grim (death, in particular) serve as inspiration for the stylistically diverse live-action clips and animated sequences presented in each 11-minute installment of this anthology series.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: There is not one definite way to describe the various short films on Off the Air – named for its reputation to seemingly appear at random times late at night on Adult Swim – but one aspect that connects all 37 brazenly surreal and comical segments is a constant feeling of unease and existential dread that firmly plants it within the horror genre.
Room 104 (2017-2020)
A seemingly normal room in an American hotel serves as the connective tissue for a series of self-contained stories – including a housekeeper who meets her younger self, a reporter interviewing a woman who claims to be an android, a family from a ‘90s sitcom seeking a new life structure, and plenty more tales that only become stranger throughout its four seasons.
Why it is one of the best horror TV shows on Max: From co-creators Mark and Jay Duplass, Room 104 is yet another anthology TV show that is impossible to describe in one particular way, but when it delves into the territory of horror, it really goes for it and makes for a challenging 30 minutes.
Would you agree that these TV shows deliver maximum thrills? Keep an eye on any upcoming horror TV shows that might join this list one day.
