If you loved Netflix's Stranger Things and look forward to other series filled with the same thrilling actions featuring uncanny monsters, we have just the thing. It may take a while for the next release of Stranger Things, even though Netflix renewed the show for its fifth and final season, four months before the release of season four.
While the science fiction series may easily be anyone's favorite, being open to other possibilities can be the start of an exciting new experience.
Anyone who has seen the Duffer Brothers project can testify that Stranger Things is a unique, beautifully written piece of art. It combines investigative drama and supernatural elements that juxtapose horror and childlike sensibilities. In four days of its release, it broke Netflix's viewing record with 40.7 million views, leading to a malfunction of Netflix's servers.
But, again, there are equally outstanding, arguably even better series for all who have seen greatness and cannot settle for less. So, here's your guide to a terrific television series exploit.
1. Lucifer
While the world awaits the second coming of Christ, the devil appearing on Earth out of sheer boredom is undoubtedly an exciting twist. Lucifer is an absolute delight that captures the animation of Los Angeles. Upon the first season's release, Dan Wickline of Bleeding Cool called it enjoyable because of the lead actors' relatable dialogue and stunning performance.
The Devil Just Wants To Have Fun
Lucifer Morningstar has a simple mission after God unjustly casts him away from heaven. Like girls, the devil just wants to have fun. On Earth, he's the owner of a nightclub in Los Angeles—until he meets a fascinating detective who is immune to his charms. As a supernatural being, he helps investigate alongside the detective, forcing culprits to expose their deepest desires, often linked to the crimes.
But when Lucifer feels some human emotions, his brother, Amenadiel, and right-hand demon, Maze, insists that spending too much time on Earth is changing him and making him vulnerable. However, Lucifer knows the truth that the detective is to blame.
It is a fantasy thriller, but critics have also described it as genre-bending for its brilliance. Although it contains bits of everything, significant themes include urban fantasy, mystery, crime, occult detective fiction, and comedy. There are only six seasons, but fans won't stop speculating about the seventh season.
Of course, this may have something to do with Tom Ellis' devilishly handsome face or proof of the series' genius.
2. The Witcher
Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, is only interested in killing monsters and collecting coins. However, his easy life changes the day he follows Jaskier to a royal ceremony. To his dismay, Geralt's invocation of the Law of Surprise links his destiny to Princess Ciri's. As a result, Geralt grows protective over her.
He has to help the young princess of Cintra fight against adversaries who want her magical powers and Elder Blood to accomplish malevolent pursuits. Not only does he have to protect Ciri, but he also must guard his heart against the ravenous Yennefer.
Toss a Coin to Your Witcher
Lauren Schmidt Hissrich created the Netflix original fantasy drama series in 2019, based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski. Currently, there are only two seasons, each with eight glorious episodes. It boasts stellar actors, including Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, and Freya Allan.
There is even an anime feature titled The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, released in August 2021. Later that year, in September, Netflix announced that there would be a second anime feature for the series.
3. Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf is still making waves as one of the best television series ever created. It is a coming-of-age story starring talented actors, namely Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, and Dylan O'Brien. Jeff Davis created it for MTV as an adaptation of the 80s movie by the same name that Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman wrote.
Bitten by an Alpha Werewolf
The supernatural thriller tells the story of Scott McCall. He lives in Beacon Hills, a fictional city in California, where he attends high school. A night before he emerges into his sophomore year, an alpha werewolf bites Scott, turning him into one.
He has to go through several hurdles in his transformation, dealing with denial, especially when he has to balance it with the everyday day-to-day life of an American teenager. With his new identity and power comes the responsibility of protecting his hometown, which becomes a site of supernatural activity.
Teen Wolf won many accolades, including thirteen Teen Choice Awards.
4. Archive 81
This American supernatural horror series created by Rebecca Sonnenshine is an epic newcomer to the television world. After its release, it gathered many positive reviews, making it to Netflix's top ten category. The opening scenes from the pilot episode are intriguing enough to lead any audience into the entire season, which explains the shocking number of views.
1990s Tapes Containing a Documentary
Archive 81 is based on the podcast, which first aired in 2016. Mamoudou Athie and Dina Shihabi, the main characters in the series, play Dan and Melody, respectively.
Virgil Davenport, a mysterious man, hires Dan Turner to restore some 1990s tapes containing a documentary of a graduate school student's project on a burnt apartment building. As easy as it seems, the task assigned to Dan is onerous. The viewers follow Dan into a demonic cult era with a significant shift in time and space, baring cosmic horror.
Unfortunately, despite how engaging Archive 81 turned out to be, they canceled it after the release of the first season, just as so many other magnificent series that bit the dust too soon. Regardless, it is still worth seeing.
5. Paper Girls
Many hoped this could be the new Stranger Things. Based on a comic produced in 2015, Paper Girls explores the sci-fi genre through the tales of four girls. It premiered in July 2022 on Amazon Prime Video, and Rotten Tomatoes ranks 86%, which is not bad for a new series. On Metacritic, it also has a pretty good score of 70.
This series features young stars Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, Sofia Rosinsky, and Fina Strazza.
Meet Grown Versions of Themselves
The morning after Halloween, four adolescent girls are out delivering papers. Along the way, a strange encounter takes them on a time voyage. An adventure the girls won't easily forget or recover from, not when it changes their lives. Caught in this time globe-trot, the four paper girls meet grown versions of themselves. The plot leaves them with only two options.
One is to embrace the future that had met up with them too soon, and the other is to choose the present.
Paper Girls is a fun watch with splendid dialogue and enthralling, fleshed-out characters that anyone, wildly comic book lovers, would enjoy. Unfortunately, it was also canceled after a single season.
6. Dark
The mysterious disappearance of children in the fictional village of Winden, Germany, sets the story in motion. The strange occurrence triggers a chain of events that unravel a connection between four estranged families, a sinister conspiracy through several generations. Everyone has skeletons in their closets—especially the old town and its citizens.
Four Estranged Families Connected
The Netflix original series first aired in December 2017 and ended in 2020 after three seasons. Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese produced and created it in Germany—hence the language preference. Like Stranger Things, the series includes several genres, from sci-fi to mystery to thriller and tragedy. But it is distinctive from the former in terms of emotional and character/plot depth.
Dark is wildly acclaimed for its unique storyline and action sequences. In addition, it stars brilliant actors who bring life to the television series. Through it, one can appreciate the existential impact time has on human nature.
7. Evil
CBS and King Size Productions were the producers of the series that began streaming in 2019. In 2021, however, Paramount+ took over as the producer. Since its initial premiere, the series has pulled positive reviews from critics, including Rotten Tomatoes, with a 92% rating.
Mysterious Occurrences
A psychologist, Kristin, investigates the church's backlog of mysterious occurrences alongside David (an aspiring Catholic Priest) and a contractor. They begin their search for a logical explanation or supernatural power behind the oddities. Also, they investigate the origin of evil while trying to mark the line between science and religion.
Evil is as comical as it is horrific, balancing being light-hearted and overly serious while maintaining good pacing.
The series dares to delve into the depths of the uncomfortable questions it poses, bending religion, psychology, and reality.
8. Outer Range
This is an American science fiction neo-Western series streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Brian Watkins created the series, which features an ensemble of slick actors, including Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, and Noah Reid. The first season's eight episodes led viewers into a world where the line between reality and science becomes blurred.
A Rival Family Threatens
Royal Abbot of Wyoming must do all he can to protect his family and land. However, while trying to recover from the painful ordeal of their daughter's disappearance, the Tillersons, a rival family, threaten to take over their land. As the sole protector of his family and land in the pasture, Abbot finds an unfathomable, mysterious black void at the edge of Wyoming wilderness and a drifter connected to his ranch.
A tragedy follows; a murder that the whole family must conceal.
Outer Range is a mix of everything that makes for a good thriller, hence its exciting nature. The plot is original, with enough suspense and intrigue to make one oblivious to the few corny scenes and long for continuity.
9. Paraíso
Fernando González Molina, Ruth García, and David Oliva, directed by Fernando González, created this speculative Spanish series, which started airing in 2021 on Movistar+. Paraíso means Paradise in English, as the series attempts intricately to bring every viewer to an ecstatic state with its unexpected twists and mystery.
It features a great number of brilliant actors like Macarena García, who plays the role of Paula Costa, Iñaki Ardanaz, and Gorka Otxoa.
In Search of Missing Girls
They set the series in the fictional city of Spanish Levante around the '90s. It's 1992, and three girls—Sandra, Elena, and Malena—are missing in the Valencia coastal town of Almanzora de la Vega, another fictional town. They conduct investigations in search of the three girls, but none yield any results.
Finally, Javi, Sandra's younger brother, tired of waiting for the procedural studies to produce results, goes all the way with his friends, Quino, Alvaro, and Zeta, in search of the girls. On their quest, they discover an unforeseen reality, a journey into a fantasy world.
Most viewers condemn this as a poor rip-off of Stranger Things. Still, Paraíso is exciting with core originality and impressive cinematography.
10. Locke & Key
Carlton Cuse, Meredith Averill, and Aron Eli rub their minds to deliver this enthralling, mind-blowing series. Locke & Key is a fantasy horror based on the comic-book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. It features performances by Darby Stanchfield, Emilia Jones, and Connor Jessup, to name a few.
Mysterious Keys Unlock…
Rendell Locke is murdered by his former student Sam Lesser. Seeking protection, his wife leaves Seattle with her three sons for Mathewson, where they have Keyhouse, their new home. In this new house, the three sons find special mysterious keys in almost every part of the house capable of unlocking different doors.
However, it seems they are not the only ones fascinated by these keys. A demonic entity searches for them to use for evil, and the boys' involvement leads to a scary adventure.
There are three seasons, the final one dropping in August 2022. Locke & Key is a commercial success and garnered many positive reviews from critics. According to USA Today, its debut was just as solid as Stranger Things.
11. Black Spot
Black Spot is a French-Belgian television series created by Mathieu Missoffe and produced by Ego Productions, Be-Films, and RTBF. Black Spot (or Zone Blanche in French) is a supernatural thriller. It premiered around April 2017 on France 2 following the debut during the 2017 Festival des créations télévisuelles de Luchon.
The second season, still commissioned by France 2, premiered on Netflix in 2019. It stars Hubert Delattre, Suliane Brahim, and Laurent Capelluto.
Beautiful Cinematic Experience
Unprecedented murders happen in the fictional town of Villefranche, and Laurène Weiss (police major), head of the Gendarmerie police force, must do something about it. Villefranche is only a small town in the center of a 50,000-acre forest up the mountain, and this forest is the place where most of these murders happen. So, they employ prosecutor Franck Siriani to take over the case.
As he resumes duty, he gradually discovers why the murder rate is rising. His interest in this investigation drives him to look into the major's dark past.
Black Spot has an amazing cast. The dash of magic makes for a beautiful cinematic experience involving a well-paced storyline that seems neither tired nor stereotyped.
12. The Originals
The Originals may be everyone's go-to vampire comfort story. A combination of witches, wizards, vampires, and werewolves brings enthralling entertainment to television lovers. The American fantasy supernatural series is a daring spin-off of The Vampire Diaries. Within a short while of its release, it met massive success.
Even die-hard fans of The Vampire Diaries, who would naturally disapprove of a spin-off, gave into the lure of a tale wrapped around Klaus Mikaelson's family.
A Vampire Werewolf Hybrid
The series follows the story of Klaus Mikaelson (a vampire-werewolf hybrid) and his family as they get involved in the politics of the supernatural in the French Quarter of New Orleans. With his baby on the way, Klaus is prepared to fight all kinds of supernatural beings to keep her safe.
In addition, he reunites with a former apprentice as he plots to take back the city he helped build years ago.
Because of its ingenuity, The Originals was nominated for several awards. It was, in fact, the first expansion of the franchise. Showrunner Julie Plec went on to create a second spin-off show, Legacies, and also wrote a trilogy of novels in the Originals universe: The Rise, The Loss, and The Resurrect.
13. X-Files
Two FBI agents, Mulder and Scully, let their beliefs/doubts about life and science affect their jobs. Mulder believes aliens exist and that the paranormal is real. Meanwhile, Scully, a medical doctor and person of science, does not indulge Mulder's beliefs. Her job is to debunk Mulder's findings and provide rational theories for the phenomenon.
Mulder and Scully are initially involved in a conflict which ultimately leads them to trust each other. And what begins as a newly established work relationship has both agents falling into something less and less platonic.
Aliens and The Paranormal
This American science fiction drama series was first produced and aired around 1993 through 2002 on Fox, with a revived version streamed from 2016 to 2018. From 1993 to 2002, they were nine seasons, but the show did not continue until 2016, when it returned with the tenth season.
Apparently, Carter (the creator) and his crew had spent all fourteen years building something that would outlive them. Based on its commercial success, the show continued into the eleventh season. Early TV series, including Kolchack the Night Stalker, and Twilight Zone, influenced X-Files.
14. Warrior Nun
A young woman wakes in a cemetery and finds a divine artifact on her back. She slowly discovers that waking in that state means she has become a member of the Order of the Cruciform Sword. This Order fights demons on Earth, but because she has something the others don't, she becomes a huge target.
A Divine Artifact
The series was first developed as a feature film adaptation but was reimagined as a series when Netflix issued a production order for the first season to the production company. Portuguese actress, Alba Baptista, features as the narrator and takes on the role of Ava Silva.
This is worth noting as it marks Baptista's debut in an English-language series. Other cast members include Toya Turner, Kristina Tonteri-Young, and Thekla Reuten.
The visuals and set of the movie are exceptional, and the fight scenes are as entertaining as they are realistic. Though there is just one season, Netflix has renewed it for a second.
15. The Order
The Order is an American horror drama television series that premiered in 2019 and got canceled in 2020. The Netflix original was created by Dennis Heaton. There were a lot of positive reviews for the first season, which is no big surprise if you've seen it.
A Quest for Revenge
Aside from the theme, which bears many similarities to Stranger Things, viewers may liken its very premise and characterization to that of the older Netflix original. A college student at Belgrave University, Jack Morton, joins the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose, where they teach and practice irresponsible magic.
He is driven by a quest for revenge against his father, who abandoned him, leading to his mother's death. Devoting himself to the cult not only means revealing family secrets, but he also has to fight werewolves and wrestle with the magical dark arts. Along the line, he discovers more family secrets and that this cult is owned by his father.
Jack becomes a member of a different cult, whose goals are in total opposition to The Order, and the fight between good and evil begins. The Order is an entertaining and riveting watch with an adequate dose of humor.