Netflix: Best original horror currently streaming for scares

— Courtesy of Netflix

Looking for some great original horror movies and series to stream on Netflix? Look no further, here are my recommendations.

Netflix has been a hard hitter in the streaming horror game over the past year or so. Of course, everyone knows about Bird Box, since it was a huge success (both as a movie and as a thousand memes), but are there any other Netflix originals worth watching?

The answer is YES! And I am going to give to you a short list of what I consider to be the best Netflix horror originals currently streaming on Netflix.

Hush — Written by The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan and wife Kate Siegel, Hush premiered at South by Southwest in March of 2016, then began streaming on Netflix a month later. Both Stephen King and William Friedkin are fans, with King comparing it to Wait Until Dark and Halloween.

Hush tells the story of Maddie (Siegel), a deaf woman who lives in an isolated house in the woods. A masked killer slaughters Maddie’s friend right outside of her front door, and realizes she is deaf when she doesn’t respond to her friend’s screams for help. He then torments and stalks Maddie, who is trapped in her home. Maddie is a fighter, and her plans and schemes are both thrilling and tense. I loved this movie!

Hush—Courtesy of Netflix

The Babysitter – This has become one of my favorites, I have watched it multiple times while introducing it to my friends. Wikipedia classifies it as horror comedy, but I would also add that it has a very large amount of blood and gore.

12-year-old Cole (Judah Lewis) is rather nerdy, and regularly gets bullied at school. Lucky for him, his hot babysitter Bee (Samara Weaving) takes up for him – and genuinely seems to like him. One of the high points of this flick is the friendship these two unlikely characters share, a friendship that is put to the test when Judah finds out Bee is the leader of a demonic cult. The Babysitter is both scary and ridiculously hilarious, and all of the performances are dead on.

The Babysitter—Courtesy of Netflix

More from Netflix

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• 31 Days of Horror: Mindhunter is a chilling, mind-blowing series
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Gerald’s Game – Mike Flanagan both directed and wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of Stephen King’s very dark novel. I always loved the book, but doubted there would ever be a movie made…I am very glad that I was wrong!

Jessie and her husband Gerald visit their isolated lake house for a little time away, and Gerald gets carried away during some bondage play that Jessie was not expecting. When she objects, Gerald refuses to stop, they argue, and her husband drops dead of a heart attack. Making things worse is the fact that Jessie is handcuffed to the bed, with no idea of how to break free.

Dehydration, hallucinations, a stray dog, buried childhood memories and a horrifying deformed intruder make this an intense, scary tale. Carla Gugino gives a killer performance in this movie, which scored an impressive approval rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.