27 best horror shows to watch (and 14 shows you should skip)

Horror shows: Yellowjackets

• Seasons: 1
• Created by: Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson
• Starring: Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Sammi Hanratty, Steven Krueger, Warren Kole, Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis
• Channel: Showtime

Unless you’re completely cut off from all social media, odds are you’ve already binged or at least heard of Showtime’s hit new series Yellowjackets. Part coming-of-age story, part survivalist drama, and part psychological horror, Yellowjackets is prestige television at its absolute best. With a stellar cast and compelling storyline, this gripping show is incredibly addicting. If you haven’t watched it yet, now is the perfect time to catch up before the second season debuts, with the bonus you can binge it at once instead of waiting a week between episodes.

The story begins with a championship high school soccer team boarding a flight to nationals in Seattle, only for their plane to crash somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. The first season bounces between dual timelines: 1996 during the 19 months the survivors got by in the woods, and in the present where we catch up with at least a handful of survivors, now all grown up and traumatized by what they experienced and what they did, in the forest. Over time, the survivors must go to extreme lengths to keep themselves alive, including ritualistic killing and even cannibalism.

Don’t expect the truly grisly stuff to happen right away (although we do get a truly disturbing glimpse at what’s on the horizon in the first episode). Yellowjackets prides itself in building compelling characters and the first season is primarily about setting the foundation for what’s to come. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of chilling discoveries, shocking twists, and addicting drama in the first ten episodes.

Verdict: WATCH