The 15 Best Serial Killer Shows Ranked

Our obsession with serial killers and true crime probably has concerning implications for our collective psyche. Why are we so drawn to darkness? The same could be asked of many of the protagonists of our favorite homicidal TV shows, meaning the detectives and psychologists who spend their lives facing down humanity at its worst.

Serial killer stories often explore existential questions of morality, trauma, grief, and obsession, putting their characters through the wringer to extract meaning from grotesque violence. Series about killers leave us on the edge of our seats, wondering if our hero will catch the murderer they’ve been chasing before losing their grip on reality. Other takes on the genre put us in the mind of serial killers themselves, forcing the viewer to confront the face of evil, which might not look how we’d expect.

But don’t worry — this is a safe space for fans of murder mysteries, as we take a deeper look at the very best the genre has to offer. Check out our picks for the 15 best serial killer shows of all time.

Though horror fans most associate Kevin Williamson with the “Scream” franchise, the writer got his start in television, creating “Dawson’s Creek” before moving on to darker projects like “The Vampire Diaries.” The 2013 series “The Following” was Williamson’s first foray into creating a serial killer story for the small screen, though it originated as a film project. Williamson wrote an outline for “Scream 3” that was never used, and part of that story became the Fox thriller “The Following.”

With shades of “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Criminal Minds,” the series stars Kevin Bacon as disgraced FBI agent Ryan Hardy. Hardy returns to the job to recapture a serial killer named Joe Carroll (James Purefoy), a former English professor with a passion for Edgar Allan Poe. While in prison, Carroll assembles a cult of followers willing to do his bidding, regardless of whether he’s there to direct them or not.

One of the most gruesome thrillers to ever appear on network television, “The Following” ratchets up the violence level and never slows down. While some have criticized the show’s lack of realism, the series reinforces Williamson’s commitment to gory thrills, and it gives Bacon a chance to show us what he’s made of.

Building off the success of his acclaimed British/Swedish show “The Bridge,” screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt came up with the British detective series “Marcella.” Anna Friel, best known for “Pushing Daisies,” plays the titular character, a former detective in London who is brought back to the police force when they believe a serial killer she failed to apprehend 11 years ago committed a string of murders. Reinstated as a detective, Marcella’s unconventional ideas aren’t well-received by her superiors.

Meanwhile, Marcella’s home life is falling apart. Her husband has abruptly left her after 15 years, and her kids, whom she left work to raise, are off at boarding school. To make matters more complicated, Marcella has been suffering blackouts, and something may have happened with her husband’s mistress — only she can’t remember. A fascinating show in part because Marcella is such an unreliable narrator, “Marcella” keeps you guessing until the very end. And even then, the truth is far from black and white.

Is “Millennium” a good TV show? It depends on who you ask. Fans of “Millennium” profess a deep love for the series, while naysayers dislike it with a fiery passion. If you ask us, it veers into greatness far more than it does into awfulness. Created by “The X-Files” mastermind Chris Carter, “Millennium” dives into the darkest elements of his more famous show, but without the levity of Mulder and Scully’s sillier escapades.

Lance Henriksen plays Frank Black, an ex-FBI agent. A brilliant profiler who can literally see into the minds of killers, Black now works as a consultant for the Millennium Group, a shadowy organization intent on thwarting the apocalypse. Black moves his family to Seattle, and every episode sees him investigating a serial killer who represents pure evil.

An unrelentingly grim show, “Millennium” takes the style and some of the thematic ideas of “The X-Files” and mixes them with the gritty violence of “Se7en.” Ambitious, surreal, and quite edgy for its time, the show remains a unique take on the serial killer genre.

In 2017, prolific TV writer David E. Kelley — he’s created at least seven new shows since then — tackled one of the most-adapted authors in recent memory in Stephen King. “Mr. Mercedes” is based on King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, beginning with the novel of the same name. In a departure from his previous work, “Mr. Mercedes” contains few supernatural elements and fits squarely within the detective/mystery genre.

Brendan Gleeson plays Bill Hodges, a retired detective. Listless and depressed, Hodges can’t get over an unsolved case from two years ago in which someone wearing a clown mask drove a car into a group of people, killing 16 victims. We find out who the killer is in the first episode, and for the rest of the season, he taunts Hodges about his inability to close the case.

Though the show retains some of King’s dark humor and eerie atmosphere, Kelley doesn’t let allegiance to the book hold him back from telling a good story. With a stacked cast that includes Harry Treadaway, Kelly Lynch, Holland Taylor, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jharrel Jerome, “Mr. Mercedes” is a strong entry in the Stephen King televisual universe.

If you haven’t watched “American Horror Story: Asylum” in a while, you’ve likely forgotten the finer points of the plot. In the present day, a newlywed couple explores Briarcliff Manor, a building that used to house an insane asylum. A killer named Bloody Face hunts them down. In 1964, we meet Kit Walker (Evan Peters), accused of being Bloody Face and committed to the asylum. Journalist Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) visits Briarcliff to expose its secrets, but she herself winds up being committed for being a lesbian. The magnificent Jessica Lange plays Sister Jude, a tyrannical nun with a dark past.

Ryan Murphy packs as many plotlines and nightmare scenarios into the season as he can. But the show’s central question is the identity of Bloody Face, the seemingly ageless serial killer. Is it Kit, a troubled young man who claims an alien mutilated his wife? Or is someone else hiding in plain sight? “Asylum” features an abundance of ghastly revelations, but few are as shocking as the final Bloody Face reveal. By our estimation, it’s the best season “American Horror Story” has to offer.

Following up on one of the greatest horror films ever made with a television prequel seems a daunting task, but the creators of “Bates Motel” rose to the challenge. Set in the present day, the series follows Norma (Vera Farmiga) and Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) after the death of Norman’s father. Norma buys a seaside motel in Oregon, and the duo attempts to start a new life.

Their fresh start is complicated by Norman’s growing mental instability and the violence that seems to follow them everywhere; they commit murder by the end of the first episode. Though the premise sounds questionable, the series does an admirable job of revealing Norma and Norman’s backstory while carving out space to tread its own ground. Plus, the addition of Rihanna as Marion Crane gives “Bates Motel” an unexpected thrill. 

Though the writing is quite compelling, the most impressive element of the series is the acting. Highmore keeps Norman sympathetic even as he begins turning into the monster we know from “Psycho.” Farmiga gives a powerhouse performance as Norma, embodying her mercurial ways -– from abusive to loving and back again -– with striking vulnerability and terror.

One of the most critically acclaimed detective shows of the decade, “Luther” is a dark, brooding, violent, and occasionally romantic crime thriller. The commanding Idris Elba plays DCI John Luther, a brilliant, obsessive, and unstable homicide detective. In the first episode, Luther meets the genius psychopath Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson). He correctly surmises she killed her parents, but can’t find any evidence to prove it.

Luther continues hunting serial killers and develops an unusual dynamic with Alice, who helps him solve his most difficult cases. Their relationship eventually expands beyond the bounds of friendship, making Luther question his commitment to upholding the law. The cases Luther takes on are horrifying, and ultimately present us with a riveting look at how difficult he finds it to keep the darkness at bay. But it’s Luther’s relationship with Alice –- and indeed, Wilson’s magnificent performance -– that distinguishes the show from other detective series, compellingly questioning the boundary between good and evil, and between right and wrong.

Created by Nic Pizzolatto with all eight episodes directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Season 1 of “True Detective” — by far the best of the anthology series — follows Louisiana detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson). Rust and Marty spend much of the season recollecting their investigation into the murder of a woman named Dora Lang more than 15 years ago, after the perpetrator of that crime is linked to a series of contemporary murders.

Told in a non-linear narrative, we learn about the case piece by piece, through flashbacks, as Rust and Marty reckon with the dark period in their lives. “True Detective” is often considered an example of auteur television — that is, a project that directly reflects the perspective of its creator. Indeed, “True Detective” takes a unique approach to storytelling, weaving philosophical, existential themes into the larger mystery. The directing is equally striking, most notably the one-shot takes and tracking shots. The pinnacle of prestige TV, “True Detective” carved itself a place in the bloated crime genre.

As the longest-running serial killer show ever, “Criminal Minds” deserves credit for establishing many of the genre’s rules and tropes. The series focuses on the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), a team dedicated to profiling and capturing serial killers. The unit creates a psychological profile of the “unsub,” which helps them narrow down their search. Although it lessened in quality in the later seasons, “Criminal Minds” is a deeply satisfying procedural, in part because of its formulaic nature.

While the cases are interesting, it’s the characters that have kept fans coming back for more. We have the team’s no-nonsense boss, Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson); the debonair, badass Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore); former child prodigy Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler); the kindhearted but steely JJ Jareau (A.J. Cook); the confident, composed Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster); and the bubbly, eccentric tech expert, Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), along with many other temporary and long-term agents. It’s their charm and the team dynamic that make the show so endlessly watchable.

The only true-crime series on this list in an oversaturated market, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” transcends the genre. Based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Michelle McNamara, who died before it was published, the series follows McNamara’s investigation of the Golden State Killer, focusing most critically on the killer’s victims and McNamara’s experiences during the investigation. In this way, the series distinguishes itself from other true-crime shows by not sensationalizing the murders or the murderer, keeping it grounded in the reality of the victims’ lives and the vulnerability of women everywhere.

The series preserves McNamara’s stirring prose through a voiceover, with Amy Ryan reading excerpts from the book throughout. We also hear from Patton Oswalt, McNamara’s husband, and other people in her life, giving us as much insight into McNamara’s mind as it does the killer’s. A haunting exploration of McNamara’s incredible work, which eventually led to the Golden State Killer’s capture, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” is a standout piece of true-crime television.

The NBC series “Hannibal,” the first TV adaptation of Thomas Harris’ famous book series, takes his well-known characters to new heights. Hugh Dancy plays Will Graham, a criminal profiler with the ability to empathize with killers by imagining himself in their shoes. His boss, Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), puts the fragile Graham under the care of psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), who we all know is a cannibalistic serial killer.

Will and Hannibal develop an intimate relationship, with Will revealing the inner workings of his mind to Hannibal, and Hannibal attempting to push Will to the brink of insanity. Hannibal infiltrates the FBI as well, cooking delicious dinners — comprised of human meat, of course — for Will and his colleagues.

The relationship between Will and Hannibal is the most fascinating aspect of the series, as it’s never totally clear what they mean to or want from each other (though the shocking “Hannibal” series finale gives us a pretty big hint). The series is anchored by incredible performances from Dancy and especially Mikkelsen, who are backed by an amazing supporting cast that includes Gillian Anderson. It’s a miracle that creator Bryan Fuller got away with showing that much violence and gore on NBC, but we’re sure glad he did.

One of the few shows to feature a serial killer as a protagonist, “Dexter” speaks in a unique voice. Michael C. Hall plays the titular character, a serial killer trying to be good as he works as a blood splatter analyst with the Miami Police Department. Taught by his adoptive father to channel his horrible impulses into vigilantism, Dexter only kills vicious criminals who escape justice. Meticulous in both his killing and forensics, Dexter aims to keep these two parts of his life separate.

Though the series includes several recognizable tropes (a peculiar detective, a brilliant protagonist with slow-witted colleagues), Dexter’s singular dilemma gives the show a compelling POV. The most interesting aspect of the series is Dexter’s struggle to reconcile the two sides of himself, and this remains a source of great dramatic tension throughout. His relationships with other people, most notably his sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz), are equally important, as they serve to humanize a character we might otherwise find abhorrent.

David Fincher fans are still holding out hope that the auteur will make another season of “Mindhunter,” which concluded its second season back in 2019. The critically acclaimed series takes place in the 1970s and 1980s, tracking the establishment of criminal profiling and the early days of the FBI unit we now know as the BAU. Jonathan Groff plays FBI Agent Holden Ford, who works alongside agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) to get inside the minds of serial killers. They are joined by Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), a psychology professor and closeted lesbian.

The trio conducts its research by traveling around the country and interviewing the most notorious killers of their time, attempting to parse out what they have in common. These include Edmund Kemper, also known as the Co-Ed Killer — one of their most high-profile subjects — brought to life by a bone-chilling performance from Cameron Britton. Every actor involved in the project is firing on all cylinders, leading to one of the most compelling FBI shows we’ve ever seen. Add to that Fincher’s exacting eye for detail and sleek style, and you’ve got a masterpiece on your hands.

Gillian Flynn is arguably the most successful crime thriller writer of the 2010s, and her novels have spawned a critically acclaimed blockbuster film (“Gone Girl”) and a revered TV miniseries (“Sharp Objects”). Nominated for eight Golden Globes, the latter — directed by late visionary filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée — is an outstanding television achievement. Amy Adams plays Camille Preaker, a mentally unstable journalist who returns to her Missouri hometown to investigate the murder and disappearance of two teenage girls. Along with the heinous crimes, Camille must confront her painful family history in the form of her tyrannical mother (Patricia Clarkson) and much younger sister, Amma (Eliza Scanlen).

All of the actors involved deliver some of the best performances of their careers, particularly the powerhouse trio of women at the center of the story. Vallée’s distinct style, as seen in “Big Little Lies,” perfectly captures Camille’s fractured mental state. And as far as mysteries go, “Sharp Objects” is unbeatable. The final reveal of who the killer is, which only happens in the last 10 seconds of the series, is one of the most astonishing twists in TV history.

We’ve come to the end of our list, and the winner of this contest is none other than Agent Scully herself, Gillian Anderson. Though “The X-Files” is by far Anderson’s most popular project, her work on “The Fall” is equally impressive. She plays Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, sent to Belfast to oversee an open investigation. She discovers they’ve got a serial killer on their hands, and works with local law enforcement to identify the perpetrator.

Armed with Anderson’s steely gaze, Stella is a commanding presence who doesn’t care what people think of her and is used to overpowering sexists at every turn. Indeed, what makes the show feel so distinct in a sea of murder mystery shows is Stella’s embodiment of womanhood. While chasing the serial killer she comes to know as Paul Spector (a chilling Jamie Dornan), Stella empathizes with his female victims in a way male detectives can’t. Moreover, though Stella is a powerful, competent woman, we’re reminded in her more human moments that she’s just a person like anyone else, and is perhaps just as vulnerable as Spector’s victims.

This mixture of confidence and vulnerability makes Stella more engaging than many of her peers. The game of cat and mouse between Paul and Stella has its own distinct flavor, as well. Not simply a tale of love and obsession as in “Hannibal,” Paul and Stella’s dynamic contains shades of peculiar sexual tension and hatred that don’t diminish either person’s power.