
Shows that feel likeThe Strain (2014–2017)
If you loved The Strain, the closest series we have are Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022), Swamp Thing (2019) and Manifest (2018). All three share The Strain's cerebral and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Wayward Pines (2015).
If The Strain hit the spot, these will too

Del Toro's love of gorgeous, grotesque creature design, distilled
The difference: An anthology of one-offs — no ongoing war to sink your teeth into

A CDC scientist chasing an outbreak into full-blown body horror
The difference: Cancelled after one season — the story stops mid-stride

An ordinary New York flight's aftermath spiraling into the uncanny
The difference: Network mystery-box earnestness — sentiment where The Strain goes gory

A creeping wrongness that keeps escalating past each explanation
The difference: Small-town containment — a twist engine more than a monster war

Two things both keep coming back to: outbreak and survival
The difference: Trades the ideas of The Strain for an angle of its own

Dread closing in on people who realize the threat too late
The difference: Slow-burn prestige chill — patience required, no pulp momentum

Ancient vampires treating a city as territory to be ruled
The difference: Soapy family power plays — vampires as romantic leads, not parasites

Monsters both literal and human stalking an American landscape
The difference: Anthology-loose structure — big swings that don't always connect

Apocalyptic evil unearthed beneath an unsuspecting modern town
The difference: Buddy-cop breeziness — the apocalypse comes with banter

Something old and hungry hiding inside a familiar setting
The difference: Gothic romance at heart — mournful ghosts, not monsters at the throat

Cerebral where it counts, dreamlike underneath

The same mix in both: stillness, then twists
In the mood for more cerebral?
all cerebral shows →The best-reviewed series that share The Strain’s defining feeling.









