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The greatest single seasons slices of small screen terror.
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00:00There is so much horror TV out there that it can be pretty overwhelming knowing where to start.
00:05Decades and decades of different styles and trends and focuses and monsters and baddies
00:11and heroes. When you look at them all, how are you meant to know what's good and what's not?
00:15You don't want to waste a bunch of time watching things that are just no good and
00:18not going anywhere, and that includes sitting through 14 seasons of a show when really it
00:23stops being good after one. So let's keep things short, and we'll tell you where to
00:27look for the good stuff. I'm Amy from WhatCulture, and here are the 10 best single horror TV seasons
00:32ever. 10. Midnight Mass
00:35A limited series with actually only one season to offer, I thought Midnight Mass was a great place
00:40to start here. Not necessarily because I think this should be lowest on your list of priorities,
00:44but more because I'm saying it first, I'm hoping you'll watch it first. Released in 2021, this
00:50Mike Flanagan offering made a fantastic addition to his already highly regarded list of horror TV shows.
00:55Set on a remote fishing island plagued by a host of issues following a past oil spill,
01:00this supernatural horror series has more scares to offer than you initially think.
01:04Managing to work on a psychological level, looking at the residents' isolation,
01:08complex relationships, and their fear of the future in an unstable world,
01:11it uses its supernatural vampiric baddies as a vehicle for the horror. It's not all flying
01:16draculas and sucking blood out of virgins. Instead, it's cleverly framed against a backdrop of
01:21fanatical religion, emphasising society's flaws as a whole in supporting our people and on leaning
01:26on religion when maybe we should be leaning on each other sometimes. There's gore and guts,
01:31but there's also discussions of life and consciousness itself, and moments so perfectly
01:35pitched in emotion that they will make you weep. Also, there's Rahul Kohli as a brooding
01:40sheriff with a troubled past. At this point, need I say more?
01:439. Lovecraft Country Season 1
01:46Blending horror and drama, fiction and fact, HBO's Lovecraft Country seemed destined to become one of
01:52the modern greats of TV. Claudettes from critics and viewers led to showrunner Misha Green starting
01:57to map out a second season, when it was surprisingly announced by HBO that they would not be pushing
02:02forward with this. Added to that, ratings for Lovecraft Country were decent, and the series was
02:06nominated for a massive 18 Emmy Awards, picking up two Emmy wins. For its one season, Lovecraft Country
02:11was dripping with quality all across production. Dropping many of H.P. Lovecraft's creations into
02:16the landscape of segregated 1950s America, the tale itself initially focused on Atticus Freeman
02:22travelling across Jim Crow USA in search of his father. And it's a story where Jonathan Major's
02:27Atticus faces racism that's just as troubling as any one of the Lovecraftian monsters.
02:32The show looks glorious, the performances are mesmerising, and the series brings far more than
02:37simply classic scares. It's a crying shame that for whatever reason, Lovecraft Country only got the
02:43one season to wow us. 8. American Horror Story Murder House
02:48This one could be controversial, saying that Murder House was the best of all the series of
02:51American Horror Story, because I know everyone has a very different opinion on that. But still,
02:56with the insane amount of seasons it now has under its belt, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone
03:00that disagreed that the first few seasons were the best. And its very first season, Murder House,
03:05was certainly the most memorable. One of the great things about this first American
03:09Horror Story offering is that none of us knew what to expect. This was a fresh,
03:13sleek show that wasn't afraid to shock in twisted and at times tragic ways, with the Harmon family
03:19moving into the titular house and slowly falling apart in their new surroundings. Throw in a subplot
03:24centred around a school shooting and the sobering imagery of the act, and Murder House genuinely had
03:29most of us in awe, and that is for reasons both good and bad. Regardless of the varying quality of
03:34subsequent seasons, American Horror Story is famed for its fantastic ensemble casts and stellar
03:39performances. And frankly, since Murder House, that ensemble and those performances have simply
03:44never been bested. Of course, there has to be special praise here for the marvellous Jessica Lange
03:48as a sniping, sinister neighbour. Ever since she left the series, things have not been the same.
03:547. Stranger Things Season 1
03:57I myself was a huge fan of Stranger Things Season 2, but I know that I might be quite alone on that.
04:02And now, with the fourth season creeping ever closer, the show has a hell of a lot to live up to.
04:07All three prior seasons of this behemoth of a show have been incredibly strong, but nothing has yet
04:12to quite eclipse the debut year of the Duffer Brothers series. Part horror, part sci-fi, part kid-friendly,
04:18and part bringing the sort of scores that'll unsettle any adults in the room, Stranger Things
04:22ticks so many boxes and appeals to so many. Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana in 1983,
04:28this show started off hot by introducing mysterious monsters and the Upside Down. It threw in the
04:33disappearance of young Will Byers and gave us the unique, all-powerful figure of the Ego-Devouring
04:38Eleven. And that's just in the very first episode. Stranger Things is a mainstream pop culture
04:42phenomenon these days, and the show was positioned in that spot thanks to how immediately it struck a
04:47chord and became water cooler and schoolyard chatter as soon as it debuted on Netflix back in 2016.
04:52Few series have managed to become as instantly popular, and then sustain that popularity as
04:57Stranger Things. And that's testament to just how fantastic that debut season was.
05:026. Hannibal – Season 2
05:04It feels like barely a month goes by where there's not some speculation that Hannibal could be back
05:09for a fourth season, with star Mads Mikkelsen only recently talking about the chances of just
05:14such a return. Of course, the reason that there's still hope of Season 4 is because the passionate fans
05:19of Hannibal are forever keeping the show in the public eye. Such was the quality of the series,
05:23it's so disappointing that it was just curbed at three 13-episode seasons. Still, though,
05:28what a three-season run it was. Very much a game of cat and mouse by this point. The first half of
05:33the season has Hugh Dancy's FBI agent, Will Graham, locked up and desperately trying to prove his
05:38innocence, all whilst Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter manipulates the situation to gleefully keep Will
05:43imprisoned. Once freed, Dancy's character would get closer and closer to Lecter, that is,
05:47until the spectacular season finale left audiences reeling as Will joined Jack and Alana in being
05:53left to bleed to death as Hannibal strolls free. Hannibal, and in particular its second season,
05:58show that you can do smart, thoughtful horror and still make it delightfully gory and twisted when
06:04called for. 5. The Walking Dead – Season 4
06:07Few TV shows have once been so hot, then gradually become so cold as The Walking Dead. When it's been
06:14good, The Walking Dead has been the absolute best horror show on TV, but the problem is that when
06:19the series has been bad, it's been utterly dire. In terms of the best season from the series so far,
06:25that honour goes to one of them in the first few, but the debate is very hot as to which.
06:30For argument's sake, we're going to say Season 4, because that seemed to be the office consensus.
06:34With Frank Darabont at the helm, The Walking Dead's debut season was brilliant and very much in the
06:39conversation for the show's greatest run. However, it's the fourth year of shuffling undead action
06:44that edges that out there, and in fact, a large part of what made Season 4 so special is its use
06:49of the series' first great villain. We'd seen Shane framed as a no-good rogue previously, but in
06:54David Morrissey's Governor, we had a thorough bastard at the highest order. Having been introduced
06:59in the year prior, the fourth season of The Walking Dead had the Governor truly cement his
07:04spot amongst the great modern-day villains of TV. Here, there's the introduction of Abraham,
07:08Rosita, Eugene and Tara. There's the shocking beheading of beloved Herschel by the Governor.
07:13Remember we also get those really poignant flashbacks to Michonne's life as a mother,
07:17and the heartbreaking look at the flowers moment which haunts everyone still? Honestly,
07:22I could sit here all day and just list great moments. Regardless of whether you agree that Season
07:264 was the absolute best, you have to admit that it was so incredibly strong.
07:314. All of Us Are Dead
07:34A fairly recent addition to my mental library of horror TV, All of Us Are Dead offers something
07:39a bit different from everything else on this list in that it's the only one not from the good old
07:43US of A, or at least anywhere in the West. Most of us are guilty of failing to really enjoy
07:49international TV and cinema, but as many of us found when this started being pushed on Netflix,
07:54we have been really missing out if we're not looking into it.
07:57This Korean limited series follows a group of teens who find themselves trapped at school as
08:02a zombie outbreak begins, all with a new take on the zombie virus, a great host of lovable characters,
08:08and some incredibly well-crafted emotional moments. Whilst not exactly being a straight-cut horror
08:13comedy, it does lean into a good bit of humour. Aided by this and the romantic undertones, although
08:18they're not exactly low-key, so maybe more romantic overtones, the show manages to keep its forward
08:23momentum even when things are looking a bit bleak. Visually fantastic, wonderfully acted and directed
08:28in a way that'll have you binging the whole damn thing without a second thought, All of Us Are Dead
08:33is an all-round delight. And if you're looking for some horror TV on Netflix that isn't just directed
08:38by like one of the same three guys, I'm sorry Mike Flanagan but you're too damn powerful,
08:42search this up and I promise you will have a good time.
08:463. Twin Peaks Season 1
08:48Whilst it also works as a drama series or a thriller, Twin Peaks is undoubtedly a prime
08:53piece of horror television. Well, at least the first and third seasons are. The less we say about
08:58the second season, the better. 2017's Twin Peaks The Return was phenomenal, yet it's hard to look
09:04past the show's debut year when looking at the all-time great seasons of horror TV. The basic
09:08premise of that first season was the question of who killed Laura Palmer, yet in reality, Twin Peaks
09:14was so, so much more. Whilst some of the seasons featured elsewhere on this list
09:18revolve around jump scares, terrifying creatures or supernatural shenanigans, Twin Peaks was a
09:23meticulous slice of psychological horror. The mystery of Laura's death was the driving
09:28force of this first season, but it was the journey, not the destination, that really counted in the
09:33search for her truth, as the wiggling, windy unraveling of this puzzle really had audiences hooked.
09:38The tension and fear are crafted expertly, as all the dread is amped up through trippy dream
09:43sequences, chilling visuals and an exquisite use of sound. For all the amazing stuff they did for the
09:49story arc in Season 1, it's a shame that they scuppered it all within seven episodes of Season 2.
09:542. The Haunting of Hill House
09:57In terms of single season stories, few slices of horror television have ever been as consistently
10:02brilliant, and obviously terrifying, as The Haunting of Hill House. Sure, it was followed up by
10:07Bly Manor, which was really good and I genuinely did enjoy it, but despite featuring many of the
10:12same cast, Bly Manor was an entirely different story, with different characters, and a very
10:17different vibe. It was well made, the story was good, and of course the actors were phenomenal,
10:21but it just couldn't quite live up to the standard that Hill House set.
10:25Set across two different timelines, The Haunting of Hill House revolved around the Crane family,
10:29their time having previously been spent living in the titular abode. The show explores the terrors they
10:35experienced during this time, and the long-lasting impact Hill House still has on them 26 years
10:39later. This Mike Flanagan-crafted show, you know, I told you it was already too powerful,
10:43is loosely adapted from Shirley Jackson's novel of the same name, and truthfully it's everything
10:48you want from a horror series. There is no lag here at all, with each of the ten episodes bringing
10:53new information, new twists and new scares. And trust me when I say, my good god, it does bring those
10:59scares. Thoughtful, stylish and delicate, this really is horror TV at its best.
11:041. Bates Motel Season 5 Across all five of its seasons,
11:09this A&E offering managed to maintain the sort of consistently high quality we rarely see. To
11:15pinpoint one season as being the series' high point is quite a tough task, but it's fair to say that
11:20Bates Motel has the unique honour of saving its finest season until last. By the time we reach season
11:255, the action has jumped ahead two years from the conclusion of the previous season. Here, Norma Bates
11:30is dead, Detective Romero is locked up in prison, Marion Crane is introduced, Norman was in full
11:35mother mode, and audiences were more than ready to see what the show was going to bring in terms of
11:40its own version of what was originally seen in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho way back in 1960. Bates
11:45Motel is the ideal example of taking an existing IP and reworking it for a new audience, whilst also
11:51staying somewhat faithful to what has come before. In that final season, the audience had a fear of how
11:56this might all end, but there was no need to fear at all, because when it does end,
12:00it does so in the most heartbreaking, inevitable way.
12:03And with that, we've actually reached the end of this list of the 10 Best Single Horror TV Seasons
12:09Ever. When you call anything the best list, you're going to get some pushback, so let me know in the
12:13comments below what your actual favourite seasons are. Are any of these on there? And tell me what
12:18seasons you would have put on this list instead. At the same time, remember to check out
12:22whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day. As always, I've been Amy
12:27from WhatCulture and I'll catch you next time.
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