3 Terrifying Horror Series To Watch Ahead Of HBO’s ‘It: Welcome to Derry’
We’re still a few short months away from the release of HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry, but already fans couldn’t be more excited about the imminent return of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
A terrifying continuation of the popular It horror series, Welcome to Derry also promises to be yet another thrilling TV series based on Stephen King’s work, joining other memorable TV shows like Creepshow, The Outsider, and Castle Rock, among many others.
As audiences look ahead to the show’s release later this year, we decided to put together a list of similarly-veined horror series viewers might want to check before It: Welcome to Derry’s official premiere this coming October.
Lovecraft Country
If the early trailers have been any indication, it seems that It: Welcome to Derry is opting for a more thematic takedown of the horror genre, specifically using its ‘60s settings to explore issues related to race, social justice, and integration. With that being said, it’s hard not to see some obvious parallels between It’s prequel series and HBO’s previous Lovecraft Country. A bold and timely translation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraft Country might very well be one of the best horror series of the modern era, leaving its abrupt cancellation at the network a heartbreaking mystery to this very day.
Castle Rock
As with the aforementioned Lovecraft Country, Castle Rock’s cancellation after just two seasons on Hulu continues to befuddle us almost six years later. While it sometimes struggles to properly execute its ambitious plans, Castle Rock’s first two seasons nevertheless act as an impressive ode to Stephen King’s fictional universe. With references and tie-ins to everything from The Shawshank Redemption and Carrie to Misery and The Shining, Castle Rock is the perfect gift for longtime fans of the author’s stories, unfolding like a who’s who of King’s larger bibliography.
Midnight Mass
Director Mike Flanagan has produced plenty of remarkable films based off of King’s most underrated novels. Yet, as admirable as his adaptations of Doctor Sleep or Gerald’s Game are, Midnight Mass might very well be the filmmaker’s masterpiece. Taking some degree of inspiration from King’s various stories (‘Salem’s Lot, It, and The Stand in particular), Flanagan manages to create the most chilling vampire story of the past decade – one capable of measuring up to the very best vampire media in recent years, be it Nosferatu, Sinners, or Abigail.