If you can say anything about teen dramas, it’s that there’s a show within the genre for every occasion. Beyond the Heartstoppers and Sex Educations of feel-good teen TV, there are many teen shows available to get you in the perfect mood for Halloween. Spanning everything from 26-year old classics to brand new one-season wonders, the spookier side of young adult TV is sure to send a chill down your spine as we welcome the spooky season.
Below, we’ve listed the best teen dramas to bundle up with as the fall air sweeps in, starting with series that so far (or, unfortunately, forever) only have one season for a quick fright, and ending with full-on television universes to sink your teeth into.
Vampire Academy
Vampire Academy’s inclusion on this list is bittersweet. On one hand, at least it hasn’t been erased from its original streaming service like other canceled series, so it can live on in all its vampiric immortality. On the other hand, one of the best teen dramas of the past 10 years is never coming back for more, and that’s just downright depressing. From the minds behind The Vampire Diaries Universe comes Vampire Academy, an adaptation of Richelle Mead’s novel series of the same name. Despite getting staked in the heart far too soon, Vampire Academy stands out as a soapy and mature teen drama that features a slew of compelling characters, an intriguing world, and intricate drama capable of rivaling even the most gasp-inducing twists from its predecessors. The series’ unique vampire lore makes it stand out in an overcrowded genre, and its vicious vampiric politics and battles makes it the perfect series to watch as Halloween approaches.
Wolf Pack
Besides marking horror icon Sarah Michelle Gellar’s return to the supernatural genre, Wolf Pack is also just a bloody good time. Debuting alongside the long-awaited Teen Wolf movie (despite having no canonical connection to the film or the Teen Wolf world), Wolf Pack follows a group of four teenagers who find themselves becoming a pack after two of them are bitten by a mysterious beast during a California wildfire. It’s a slow-burn at first, but the series picks up as the episodes progress, providing haunting imagery and an unshakable tension tied to the season’s various mysteries. This show has all the bite and drama of larger worlds like Teen Wolf or The Vampire Diaries in a small package, and it’s certainly worth a watch as fall rolls in—even if it still has yet to be renewed for a second season.
Wednesday
Last year’s breakout hit Wednesday felt like it came out a touch too late. But even despite its Thanksgiving release date (to coincide with its distinctly-pilgrim themes), the series became one of last year’s runaway successes, and is slowly creating buzz once again as spooky season approaches. This Halloween marks the first since Wednesday’s release, and the streets are sure to be lined with Wendesdays and Barbies making their way house to house.
Coming from the mind of Tim Burton and the showrunners behind Smallville, Wednesday is a take on the iconic Addams family, as the titular Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) attends Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcasts” like werewolves, vampires, gargoyles, and more. Ortega’s compelling (and Emmy-nominated!) performance and the show’s addictive mystery and drama allow this series to stand out from its peers of forgettable Netflix originals, and has transformed it into a true cultural phenomenon perfect for a Halloween rewatch.
Nancy Drew
Despite having a bit of a rushed conclusion in its fourth and final season, The CW’s Nancy Drew remains one of the network’s most compelling, ambitious, and frankly frightening young adult dramas. Following the titular sleuth played by a pitch-perfect Kennedy McMann, Nancy must join forces with her friends Bess (Maddison Jaizani), Ace (Alex Saxon), George (Leah Lewis), and Nick (Tunji Kasim) to solve ghostly mysteries around her small Maine hometown. Featuring genuinely chilling jump-scares and a lot of wholesome heart, Nancy Drew feels like the last of its kind, and is definitely worth watching for its spooky, found family vibes.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
