We’re praying to Kaelego that Netflix’s dark horse hit “Archive 81” gets a second season, but until then, if you’re craving more strange cults, peel-back-the-wallpaper moments, and mind-bending, non-linear mysteries, these 11 series might fill the void. We’ve rounded up a list of shows like “Archive 81” that will give you your fix, ranging from series that are spooky, mysterious and mythological to horrifically devastating.
Ares
Biracial first-year medical student Rosa Steenwijk (Jade Olieberg) joins the mysterious secret society Ares in this Netflix Dutch series set in Amsterdam. What exactly are the membership fees to this elite, and largely white, group? In the first episode, a student stabs herself with a pair of scissors and Rosa’s friend Jacob (Tobias Kersloot) has disturbing visions of a terrifying black figure when he gets cold feet during their initiation ceremony.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
Castle Rock
In the first season of this series, which is set in the Stephen King multiverse, lawyer Henry Deaver (Andre Holland) reluctantly returns to his home town of Castle Rock, Maine, after a newly discovered prisoner at Shawshank State Prison known only as The Kid (Bill Skarsgård) asks for him by name. Cue kids in animal masks, disturbing visions and horrific events as Henry tries to remember what happened to him as a boy when he disappeared for 11 days and how he is linked to The Kid and empath childhood friend Molly (Melanie Lynskey).
Where to Stream It: Hulu
Beyond the Walls
After the occupant of the crumbling mansion across the street from her is found dead, Lisa (Veerle Baetens) is stunned to learn the man, whom she never met, has left her the house. When she moves in, she hears strange noises behind the cracked walls. She takes a sledgehammer to them and finds an ever-expanding world on the other side. The three-part French mini-series co-stars Geraldine Chaplin and François Deblock.
Beyond the Walls is not currently streaming but you can purchase episodes on Apple.
Brand New Cherry Flavor
Like “Archive 81,” the Netflix series “Brand New Cherry Flavor” dabbles in media and horror and is set in the 1990s. Rosa Salazar stars as an aspiring filmmaker who comes to L.A. dead set on directing her first movie. A wicked curse soon turns her world upside down, and her dream project becomes a nightmare.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
Fringe
The cult sci-fi series “Fringe” featured a possibly mad scientist (John Noble) trying to bridge two worlds. Like “The X-Files,” it was about a government department investigating strange phenomenon, but more of the fringe science variety than the alien kind. While there are plenty of standalone episodes, including one with a tragic time-traveling scientist played by “RoboCop” star Peter Weller, the overarching mythology is the cataclysmic overlap of this reality and the Alternate Universe, where everyone has a double who’s just a little bit different and 9/11 never happened.
Where to Stream It: HBO Max
The Haunting of Hill House/The Haunting of Bly Manor
“Doctor Sleep” and “Oculus” director Mike Flanagan crafts eerie, layered new takes on literary classics “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Turn of the Screw,” both of which involve spooky old mansions with sinister secrets. The first season takes place in two timelines as the Crain children encounter terrifying ghosts at Hill House and years later as a tragedy brings the still-traumatized family back together. In “Bly Manor,” a governess (Victoria Pedretti) sees a mysterious man no one else can and senses something is wrong with her two young charges.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
Midnight Mass
Hamish Linklater is a charismatic priest whose arrival in a small town brings about miracles in this acclaimed series from Mike Flanagan, but in contrast to the “Haunting” shows this one’s a bit less spooky and a bit more devastating. To reveal the nature of the supernatural secret within would be to spoil the fun, but “Midnight Mass” proves to be a horrifying meditation on mortality, and its limited series nature promises genuine closure.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
Orphan Black
Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) is shocked when she sees a woman who looks exactly like her leap to her death at a Toronto train station, but is quick-thinking enough to grab the woman’s purse and take over her doppelganger’s life. Pretending to be straight shooter police officer Beth is a breeze for this con artist, but that’s just the beginning of Maslany’s tour-de-force performance as several wildly different characters. The mystery of her past is far-reaching, incredibly strange and frequently very funny. The sinister cabal behind it all is one for the books.
Where to Stream It: Amazon Prime Video
Requiem
Matilda (Lydia Wilson)’s quest to find out if her mother’s shocking suicide is connected to a decades-old missing child case takes her to a remote village in Wales, where the locals are none too happy she’s re-opened old wounds. Invited to stay at the imposing Dean House by the attractive new heir, she marvels over the strange symbols on the property and why she knows things about the house that she’s never been told. The supernatural aspects, which seem to be all in Matilda’s head at first, escalate as she gets closer to the answer.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
The Sinner
In the first season of this anthology series, Jessica Biel (who also produced), stars as a woman who can’t explain why she stabbed a complete stranger to death on a beach. Why does she keep having flashes of a masked man and a room with creepy Victorian wallpaper? Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) isn’t content to let her rot in prison and nearly gets himself fired trying to find out the truth. In the second season, Harry comes to the aid of a boy accused of poisoning two people. All roads lead to a cult led by Carrie Coon, while we find out more about Harry’s own troubled past. The less said about the third season, the better.
Where to Stream It: Netflix
Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets, a high school girls soccer team, crash land in the wilderness and, as we see in shocking flashes, descend into brutal “Lord of the Flies” behavior. The truth of what really happened in the wild slowly unfolds as the not-OK adult survivors – played by Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, and Tawny Cypress – are sent anonymous postcards with a cryptic icon they’d all rather forget. Cult shenanigans and cannibalism abound.
Where to Stream It: Showtime
