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Scream: The TV Series poster

Shows that feel likeScream: The TV Series (2015–2019)

What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town's troubled past. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game.

If you loved Scream: The TV Series, the closest series we have are Bates Motel (2013), The Chestnut Man (2021) and Defending Jacob (2020). All three share Scream: The TV Series' contemplative and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Alienist (2018).

★ 7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗3 seasons · MTVcreated by Jay Beattiecontemplativegrittytwisty
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

If Scream: The TV Series hit the spot, these will too

Bates Motel poster
Bates Motel
2013–2017 · 5 seasons · A&E
★ 8.1drama · crime · mysteryPrime Video

Two things both keep coming back to: serial killer and based on movie

A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.

The Chestnut Man poster
The Chestnut Man
2021–2026 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.6drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: murder

At a grisly murder scene sits a figurine made of chestnuts. From this creepy clue, two detectives hunt a killer linked to a politician's missing child.

Defending Jacob poster
Defending Jacob
2020 · 1 season · Apple TV
★ 7.7drama · mystery · crimeApple TV+

Both keep coming back to the same thing: high school

A family's lives are irreparably disrupted when the 14-year-old son is accused of murdering a fellow classmate.

The Alienist poster
The Alienist
2018–2020 · 2 seasons · TNT
★ 7.7drama · crime · mystery

Common ground: serial killer

New York, 1896. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt brings together criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper illustrator John Moore and secretary Sara Howard to investigate several murders of male prostitutes.

The Night Of poster
The Night Of
2016 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryMax

One thread runs through both: murder

After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.

Girl from Nowhere poster
Girl from Nowhere
2018–2021 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.6drama · mystery · crimeNetflix

The same preoccupation in both: high school

A mysterious, clever girl named Nanno transfers to different schools, exposing the lies and misdeeds of the students and faculty at every turn.

The Purge poster
The Purge
2018–2019 · 2 seasons · USA Network
★ 6.6mystery · crime · drama

One thread runs through both: based on movie

Set in a dystopian America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. Tying them all together is a mysterious savior who’s impeccably equipped for everything the night throws at them. As the clock winds down with their fates hanging in the balance, each character is forced to reckon with their pasts as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.

How to Get Away with Murder poster
How to Get Away with Murder
2014–2020 · 6 seasons · ABC
★ 8.1crime · drama · mysteryHulu

Contemplative and gritty in the same breath

A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their lives.

The Outsider poster
The Outsider
2020 · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.6drama · mystery · crimeMax

Drama built on twists, twice over

When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.

ERASED poster
ERASED
2016 · 1 season · Fuji TV
★ 8.4animation · drama · mysteryHulu

Both lean on stillness more than on mystery

The difference: Leans harder into animation than Scream: The TV Series does

Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has the ability to turn back time and prevent deaths. When his mother is killed he turns back time to solve the mystery, but ends up back in elementary school, just before the disappearance of his classmate Kayo.

Luther poster
Luther
2010–2019 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.4crime · drama · mysteryMaxHulu

Gritty crime in both cases

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Mare of Easttown poster
Mare of Easttown
2021 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.4drama · crime · mysteryMax

Drama with a pulse of twists, in both cases

A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed series that share Scream: The TV Series’ defining feeling.