Horror TV shows have become very popular in recent years, especially with the rise of streaming services and on-demand viewing, along with many of these services creating their own original series that can’t be found anywhere else, as an incentive to get people to subscribe. In today’s fast-paced culture, it’s difficult to get a break, and it can be even more difficult to keep up with your favorite shows, especially if they have like seven seasons.
If you’re in need of a break, especially a spooky one, it might be time to kick back and watch a shorter horror series over the course of one weekend, whilst also leaving plenty of time for other activities, too. If that’s what you’re in the mood for as spooky season rapidly approaches, there are multiple horror series that are engrossing, yet nice and concise. These are the best horror-themed TV shows that can be binged in one short weekend.
10
‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ (2023–)
The Walking Dead was a massive success in the world of television, spawning numerous spin-offs of varying quality. The Walking Dead: Dead City is definitely one of the better ones in this regard, although it, of course, can’t compare to the original TV show. The initial series is based on a graphic novel series of the same name, and received a whopping 12 years’ worth of new episodes. Obviously, this is a show that’s impossible to finish in one weekend, but the same can’t be said for the Dead City spin-off.
Dead City follows two particular characters from the original show, who make the dangerous trek to New York City during a widespread zombie apocalypse in search of a missing family member. New York, like much of the world, has crumbled into disrepair and anarchy with the onset of the zombie virus, meaning zombies aren’t the only danger—humans are too. While Dead City is still ongoing, it currently consists of only 14 episodes, so it can safely be consumed in just one weekend.
9
‘Interview With the Vampire’ (2022–)
Image via AMC
Interview With the Vampire is a modern exercise in the Gothic horror genre, featuring, believe it or not, vampires. The TV series is based on the hit novel series by author Anne Rice, which propelled her to stardom and caused her to become one of the most popular romantic horror authors of modern times. Admittedly, this isn’t a show for everyone, as not everyone appreciates romance or new age efforts at Gothic horror.
But for those who enjoy this sort of thing, Interview With the Vampire is a resounding success, introducing audiences once again to the horror icon Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), the hedonistic French vampire. At present, Interview With the Vampire is still ongoing, planning a third season to be released at some point in the near future. But for the time being, if you’re hoping to cram the whole series into one uneventful weekend, it’s possible. There are only 15 episodes, which range from being 45 to 71 minutes long, so it’s definitely feasible to finish in just two days.
8
‘Squid Game’ (2021–2025)
Image via Netflix
Squid Game might be three seasons long, but it only consists of 22 episodes, each of which is anywhere from 30 to 70 minutes long. The original season first reached audiences in 2021, and made for a perfect show for people to binge during quarantine. Following this, two more seasons were released in 2025. They definitely suffered a significant dip in quality, but many still enjoy them in their own right. Story-wise, the show is about a group of competitors who participate in a game show where they are forced to play childhood playground games for cash, with the price being death if they lose.
It’s a pretty messed-up dystopian horror, with many subplots about the divide between the rich and poor, and how reality game shows often compel people to perform dangerous tasks for the sake of entertainment. This South Korean series isn’t easy to watch in just one weekend, both due to its length and its heavy subject matter, but it’s totally possible. If you’re anything like the millions of fans the series has garnered, you won’t soon regret it, either.
7
‘All of Us Are Dead’ (2022–)
Image via Netflix
South Korean horror series All of Us Are Dead is more than just a zombie apocalypse show. The series is set in a high school, where a science teacher’s experiment accidentally unleashes a zombie virus, infecting many of the students, and, by extension, the town around them. Now, it’s up to a ragtag band of kids to contain the virus and escape the dangerous environments.
The thing that sets All of Us Are Dead apart from other zombie shows is that it’s not just a zombie horror, but also a touching coming-of-age tale, with each of the adolescent characters delving deep into their past and having to grapple with their own personal problems. The zombie plague forces them to confront their demons quickly or die. It’s a pretty immersive show, dealing with some heartfelt and relatable themes about adolescence while simultaneously featuring an outlandish zombie plotline. With only twelve episodes, it’s easy to binge in one weekend. All of Us Are Dead Season 2 is also currently in the works, making it the perfect time to catch up.
6
‘The Exorcist’ (2016–2018)
Image Via Fox
The Exorcist is a classic ’70s horror film that surely needs no introduction. The original film is widely cited as one of the most terrifying films of all time, with visuals and effects that still hold up 50 years later. The TV version of The Exorcist takes place in the same universe as the horror movie franchise, adding some extra spice to an already horrifying world. The show actually serves as a direct sequel to the original film and is a much more satisfying follow-up than the disastrous second movie.
Like the film, it heavily features demonic possession, and the titular exorcist’s efforts to rid a young child of their literal demons and bring peace to a beleaguered family through the power of divine intervention. While it only received two seasons, it was very much a critical success and was acclaimed for its unflinching tension and creeping horror. The show consists of twenty episodes, each 45 minutes long, so it’s easy for any savvy horror fan to get it done in just a weekend.
5
‘The Terror’ (2018–2019)
Image via AMC
The Terror is an anthology series that is supposed to see a third season, but hasn’t had any new developments since the second season aired in 2019. The series isn’t the typical anthology, with each episode following its own story. Instead, the anthology is broken up into seasons, meaning Season 1 has a totally different setting and plot than Season 2. Season 1 follows 19th-century explorers in expeditions to the Arctic, and Season 2 follows Japanese prisoners on US soil during World War II.
Each of these unique settings features some paranormal entity or force that begins to hunt the characters down. The adversaries in the show aren’t particularly inventive, as they are largely based on monsters from Indigenous and Japanese folklore, but they do get points for not being shown on TV as often. With only two seasons, The Terror is totally worth binging in just one weekend, especially if one were to do one season a day, allowing for some separation between the two distinct stories.
4
‘Santa Clarita Diet’ (2017–2019)
Image via Netflix
Santa Clarita Diet is actually a comedy-horror. While there’s no shortage of freaky visuals or gore, this is all accentuated by gallows humor and bleak punchlines, making for a pretty stark contrast. It also makes it more palatable for people who aren’t huge fans of horror and aren’t keen on having the pants scared off of them. The series follows a couple of real estate agents, one of whom abruptly becomes undead, causing them to try and balance their work lives whilst also keeping the secret undead fed with a constant supply of human flesh.
It makes for an amusing setting, imagining these chipper, picture-perfect real estate agents in sunny California who are abruptly forced to start abducting people just so one of them can feed. It combines the most idealistic setting with one of the most grisly crimes, which is often comedic. The TV show lasted for three seasons, each consisting of ten episodes. While 30 episodes might seem like a lot to get through in one weekend, one can breathe a sigh of relief upon knowing that the episodes are generally shorter, usually only 30 minutes long, meaning a two-day binge of this series is definitely possible.
3
‘Servant’ (2019–2023)
Image via Apple TV+
Film director M. Night Shyamalan may have produced some real cinematic gems over the course of his career, but his woefully inconsistent, as he has also produced some serious travesties. Fortunately for horror fans, Servant is one of his better efforts and garnered some amazing scores from both critics and audiences alike. The series is about a bereaved couple who become obsessed with a lifelike doll of their deceased baby. They even go so far as to hire a nanny to take care of it, which is when bizarre events begin to occur in the family home.
Shyamalan generally does pretty well in the realm of horror and psychological thrillers, and this is no exception to that rule. It’s a real diamond in the rough in his long-running repertoire, which is why it lasted for four whole seasons. Even though there are indeed 40 episodes, they are generally on the shorter side, each approximately thirty minutes in length. This means that if one wanted to binge the entire series in two or three days, they could definitely do so.
2
‘The Last of Us’ (2023–)
Image via HBO
Based on the award-winning video game of the same name, The Last of Us is the hit HBO series that is single-handedly redefining horror television. The show stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, a grizzled cynic who lost his daughter during the onset of a zombie apocalypse. Pascal stars alongside Bella Ramsey as Ellie, a girl whom Joel is paid to smuggle out of the city, forming an unlikely attachment to her. The zombie apocalypse in this series is no airborne virus, though—it’s a fictitious mutation of the real-life cordyceps fungus, one that can affect humans.
Not only does the series feature some really gnarly designs for the infected, but it’s also a harrowing drama at heart, all set in a world punctuated by ruin and societal collapse. Currently, there are only two seasons, each consisting of eight episodes, though there are plans to have more. But for the time being at least, it is entirely possible to binge in one weekend, and the series is so engrossing that you’ll probably find yourself doing just that, albeit unintentionally.
1
‘Kingdom’ (2019–2021)
Image via Netflix
Kingdom is a forgotten South Korean fantasy/horror series that has unfortunately been soft-canceled. While Netflix has made no official announcement of its cancellation, there hasn’t been any word of a new season, either. In any event, every single second of this series is brilliant, and it’s easily one of the greatest horror TV shows ever made. It was initially based on a web comic, but it has far outgrown its source material and become a huge underground phenomenon.
Kingdom takes place in the early 17th Century, where a tyrannical noble family accidentally unleashes a zombie horde in their efforts to seize the throne of Joseon, a realm that once encompassed the Korean Peninsula. The zombies in this show make The Walking Dead look like The Muppets, as they are so much more vicious and evolved. They behave completely differently and are much harder to take down due to the absence of modern weaponry. With only 12 episodes and one 90-minute special, this is an easy show to finish in one weekend, and it’s totally worth doing.
