10 Thrilling Series To Watch After ‘Stranger Things’
If you just finished binge-watching Stranger Things and feel like something’s missing from your screen time, you’re definitely not alone. That mix of supernatural mystery and nostalgic vibes is hard to replicate, but plenty of other shows come pretty close.
Craving eerie small-town secrets or time-bending puzzles? More thrilling series are waiting.
Note: This article recommends TV series based on widely available, well-documented premise information and general genre and tone similarities to Stranger Things. Streaming availability, episode edits, and regional access can change over time, and descriptions here are meant to guide entertainment choices rather than offer a definitive ranking.
10. The Umbrella Academy
Offbeat doesn’t even begin to cover this wild ride.
A family of super-powered misfits reunites after their mysterious father dies, only to discover they have days to prevent an apocalypse. Their powers range from super strength to time travel, but their biggest obstacle might be each other.
Quirky humor collides with genuine heart as these adopted siblings clash, reconnect, and try to outrun destiny. Every episode escalates the stakes while keeping things fun and unpredictable.
9. Dark
Time travel rarely feels this intricate or this addictive. A quiet German town turns into the center of a mystery that stretches across generations and tangled timelines.
Disappearances set everything in motion, long-buried secrets surface, and families slowly realize their lives are connected in ways that seem impossible at first.
Fans of eerie, otherworldly vibes will find plenty to love in the caves and bunkers, where the atmosphere runs just as chilling and the mythology digs even deeper.
8. The X-Files
Before Hawkins had its government conspiracies, Mulder and Scully were chasing aliens and monsters across America.
This classic pairs paranormal case-of-the-week episodes with a sprawling mythology about extraterrestrial cover-ups. The chemistry between the believer and the skeptic keeps things grounded even when the cases get wonderfully weird.
Creepy creatures and shadowy organizations make every investigation feel urgent and atmospheric.
7. Twin Peaks
Who killed Laura Palmer?
That question launched one of television’s strangest journeys into small-town darkness. FBI Agent Cooper arrives to solve a murder but discovers a community hiding surreal secrets and supernatural forces.
Director David Lynch turns the Pacific Northwest into a dreamlike nightmare where every character feels slightly off. A shared DNA shows up in the small-town unease and the uncanny hovering around the edges.
6. Fringe
What if the FBI had a division dedicated to impossible science?
Fringe opens with bizarre procedural cases, bizarre cases and unsettling experiments, then slowly widens into a bigger story about parallel universes and reality itself. Agent Olivia Dunham teams up with scientist Walter Bishop and his son Peter to investigate fringe science cases that link to bigger mysteries.
Monster-of-the-week thrills mix with long-term mythology that grows more ambitious and surprisingly emotional as the seasons move forward.
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer
High school turns into a supernatural nightmare when a campus sits on a portal to demon dimensions.
Buffy Summers juggles homework, dating, and her fate as the chosen warrior meant to battle vampires and looming apocalypses. Teen drama blends with supernatural danger, creating real scares alongside sharp humor and deeply emotional character arcs.
Friendship becomes the ultimate superpower, just like in Hawkins, and many of the monsters mirror genuine teenage fears and growing pains.
4. Supernatural
Two brothers, a vintage Impala, and every monster from folklore you can imagine.
Sam and Dean Winchester hunt demons, ghosts, and creatures across America while searching for their missing father and confronting their own tragic family legacy. The sibling bond powers fifteen seasons of scares and an increasingly epic mythology involving angels, demons, and the apocalypse itself.
Early seasons deliver creepy standalone cases, while later arcs swing for cosmic stakes with genuine emotional weight.
3. Black Mirror
Technology often promises to improve life, right up until everything goes wrong.
Standalone episodes dive into different nightmare scenarios where modern tech that spirals in disturbing directions. Anthology format lets viewers jump in anywhere, while sharp twists and dark satire fuel that familiar “just one more” urge.
Some stories lean into horror, others drift toward psychological thriller territory, yet all leave you rethinking your relationship with screens, data, and the systems shaping everyday life.
2. The OA
Seven years after vanishing, a blind woman returns with her sight restored and an unbelievable story to share.
Prairie Johnson brings together a small group of outsiders and begins recounting near-death experiences, alternate dimensions, and strange movements that might unlock the fabric of reality itself. Bold creative choices mix science fiction with mystery and character-driven intensity into something that feels unlike anything else on television.
Big questions about faith, consciousness, and human connection run through every episode, keeping viewers guessing right up to the final frame.
1. The Haunting Of Hill House
Ghosts are terrifying, but family trauma might be even scarier.
Five siblings return to confront the haunted mansion where they grew up and where their mother died after the family’s terrifying time in the house. The show weaves between past and present, revealing how one horrific summer shaped their entire lives.
Jump scares land hard, but the real horror comes from watching this family fracture under the weight of grief and secrets. Every character feels real, making the supernatural elements hit with genuine emotional force.
