20 TV Shows to Watch If You Love ‘It: Welcome to Derry’

If you enjoyed the spooky atmosphere and unsettling childhood fears in ‘It: Welcome to Derry,’ you’ll find similar thrills in these TV series. They all explore themes like missing children, hidden secrets, and mysterious threats that haunt towns and their people. These shows focus on character development and build suspense through intriguing mysteries. You’ll discover everything from self-contained stories to multi-generational dramas and folklore-inspired horror—all centered around friendship, fear, and the monsters lurking beneath the surface of everyday life. Here are twenty shows that capture those same feelings.

‘Stranger Things’ (2016–present)

‘Stranger Things’ takes place in a peaceful town in the Midwest and centers on a group of young friends who stumble upon a secret government experiment. This experiment creates a portal to a dangerous alternate world. The show blends everyday issues like school and family with the mystery of hidden labs and a terrifying monster. Relying on bikes, walkie-talkies, and their own bravery, the kids investigate strange happenings that adults overlook, including disappearances and a growing sense of dread connected to something sinister in their town.

‘Castle Rock’ (2018–2019)

The series ‘Castle Rock’ weaves together characters and settings from Stephen King’s books into original stories, all set in a haunted town in Maine. Season one follows a mysterious death row inmate whose arrival unleashes unsettling events. Season two delves into a bitter rivalry that escalates into terrifying supernatural violence and questions of identity. Both seasons connect the characters’ pasts to the town’s dark and troubled history.

‘The Outsider’ (2020)

Inspired by a Stephen King story, ‘The Outsider’ starts with a shocking crime where the evidence seems to undeniably point to two people – but it doesn’t quite add up. As detectives investigate, they discover a string of similar cases, hinting at a dangerous, shape-shifting being. A private investigator combines traditional detective work with local legends to track this entity. The show explores themes of loss, uncertainty, and how quickly fear can grip an entire community.

‘Channel Zero’ (2016–2018)

Each season of this horror anthology series takes creepy online stories and turns them into terrifying movies. Shows like ‘Channel Zero’ feature haunted children’s programs, houses that warp reality, and neighborhoods overrun by monstrous beings. The stories focus on towns and groups of people who avoid or twist the truth, ultimately leading to their downfall. The scares come from realistic special effects, unsettling ceremonies, and memories that can’t be trusted.

‘American Horror Story’ (2011–present)

This horror series reinvents itself every season with a fresh location, frequently trapping characters in a haunted or dangerous place. Past seasons have taken place in a mansion with a dark history, a remote asylum, and a town consumed by sinister desires. The characters encounter everything from dangerous cults and witchcraft to pacts with terrifying consequences. While the storylines change, familiar actors often return to play new roles, and themes sometimes reappear across different seasons.

‘Yellowjackets’ (2021–present)

Okay, so ‘Yellowjackets’ is seriously gripping. It’s about a high school girls soccer team whose plane goes down, and they’re stranded in the wilderness. The show jumps between what happened to them right after the crash – they basically have to create their own society to survive – and their lives 25 years later. As adults, old secrets start coming out, and you realize the trauma of what happened still completely controls them. There’s this creepy vibe throughout, with rumors of strange rituals and something else lurking in the woods, which makes you wonder just what went on out there and who, if anyone, actually got rescued. It’s fascinating to see how that shared experience both connects and completely destroys these women’s friendships.

‘From’ (2022–present)

A quiet town becomes a trap for anyone who enters, with no way to leave. As night falls, terrifying creatures appear, disguising themselves as the people you love. To survive, the trapped residents form groups with harsh rules, relying on things like protective charms, strong homes, and secret signals. Each new person who arrives brings pieces of a puzzle, hinting at how the town became this way and revealing a hidden network of tunnels beneath it.

‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (2018)

A family revisits the mansion where they spent their childhood, a place marked by a past tragedy. ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ slowly reveals its secrets by showing events from different characters’ viewpoints and repeatedly returning to the same locations within the house. The ghosts aren’t just scary figures; they represent the family’s sadness and unresolved issues. As adults, the siblings must confront their shared history and figure out what the house is trying to tell them.

‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ (2020)

‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ tells the story of a young nanny who takes a position at a remote country estate. She quickly notices the two children in her care are acting oddly. As the story unfolds, a romance develops, but it’s complicated by a sense of being haunted and controlled. The secrets behind the haunting—and a mysterious, faceless figure—are tied to the estate’s lake and grounds. The story is presented as a warning about how unreliable memories and promises can be.

‘Midnight Mass’ (2021)

When a captivating new priest arrives on a remote island, strange miracles start happening alongside unsettling disappearances. The series ‘Midnight Mass’ delves into themes of addiction, faith, and a deep, gnawing hunger as a terrifying danger emerges at night. What begins with town halls and church services quickly transforms into desperate attempts to control the growing threat. As the situation worsens, the island’s beaches and the ferries that serve it become the only possible ways to escape – but escape proves difficult.

‘Twin Peaks’ (1990–1991)

A teenager’s murder in a quiet logging town reveals a dark underbelly of secrets and strange occurrences. The show ‘Twin Peaks’ mixes everyday small-town drama with surreal, dreamlike sequences and a sinister organization that exploits people’s flaws. An FBI agent relies on gut feelings and interpreting clues to solve the case. Years later, a continuation of the story revisits unresolved mysteries and expands on the far-reaching effects of the original events.

‘Dark’ (2017–2020)

The German series ‘Dark’ begins with the disappearance of a child, which unravels a complex mystery involving a network of caves connecting different time periods. The story follows several families over multiple generations as they become entangled in a time loop that affects their relationships and the crimes committed within them. A power plant, a secret bunker, and a device for time travel are central to solving the puzzle, revealing how decisions made by ancestors echo through the present.

‘The Mist’ (2017)

When a strange fog descends on a town, those who survive take refuge in places like malls, churches, and hospitals. But as danger lurks outside, the real threat becomes the fear and conflict within these shelters. ‘The Mist’ explores how quickly groups can fall apart when people disagree about what to do, and how those internal struggles become just as deadly as the creatures in the fog. The mist also conceals secrets about what caused this terrifying event.

‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ (1990–1996)

As a total horror and anthology series fan, ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ always hooked me. It’s about this group of kids, the Midnight Society, who meet up and tell scary stories – and those stories actually happen for the audience. Each episode is its own self-contained creepfest, usually dealing with classic urban legends, haunted objects, or ghosts looking for payback. What I loved was how the show always started with the Midnight Society’s ritual, which tied everything together. And the best part? They’d take totally normal places – schools, parks, your neighborhood – and give them this unsettling, spooky edge. It was brilliant!

‘Goosebumps’ (2023–present)

This new story centers on a group of teenagers who discover a heartbreaking event from the past that connects their parents to a mysterious haunting. It weaves together ideas from several classic ‘Goosebumps’ books into one big, ongoing mystery. Certain objects, like masks and cameras, trigger specific and dangerous situations that mirror previous stories. As they investigate, the teens find that the mystery connects their ordinary homes and school lives to a much larger, hidden plan.

‘Marianne’ (2019)

When a novelist goes back to her hometown, she discovers that a witch she created in her books is somehow becoming real. The series, ‘Marianne,’ centers on a group of old friends who reunite to face a terrifying force that preys on families. The eerie atmosphere of the coastal town, with its lighthouses, attics, and deserted streets, adds to the suspense. Through old diaries and writings, they uncover how their stories might have unleashed this evil.

‘The Returned’ (2012–2015)

I recently watched this incredible series, ‘Les Revenants,’ and it really stuck with me. It’s set in a small mountain town where people who’ve passed away just… come back to life, but they don’t remember anything after their death. It’s not a typical ‘return from the dead’ story, though; it’s about how the community tries to cope with this impossible situation. As more people return, things start getting really weird – strange things like fluctuating water levels, power cuts, and unusual animal behavior. It slowly becomes clear that something bigger is going on, and it’s tied to a local dam and a past tragedy that seems to be repeating itself. It’s beautifully unsettling and really makes you think.

‘Wayward Pines’ (2015–2016)

A federal agent finds himself in the strange town of Wayward Pines, which is tightly controlled by rules and constant monitoring. The town keeps its isolation a secret through fake emergencies and a threatening fence. Those in charge enforce odd traditions to maintain order and a carefully constructed lie. As the agent learns the truth about what happened to the outside world, he’s forced to reconsider who he can trust and how he’ll survive.

‘Hemlock Grove’ (2013–2015)

In a small Pennsylvania town, a murder uncovers a dangerous rivalry between families involved in secret biotechnology research and local legends. The series ‘Hemlock Grove’ follows the complex friendship of two teenage boys, both hiding dark family secrets. As the investigation unfolds, they discover shapeshifters, hidden laboratories, and a far-reaching, global project. The town’s old mill and school become central locations for gossip and conflict.

‘True Detective’ (2014–present)

Each season of ‘True Detective’ features a new investigation that reveals hidden conspiracies tied to a particular place. The show explores how crimes are connected to the area’s past, its main industries, and the beliefs of its people. Detectives deal with issues like political corruption, missing children, and strange symbols, and the story unfolds through intense questioning and a careful look at the timeline of events, ultimately exposing secret connections and the damaging effects of being consumed by a case.

Let us know which show you’d recommend starting with, and share any other spooky small-town series we should add in the comments below.

2025-10-29 05:47