Horror fans know it’s always a good time to discover a new (or old) series, and Slasher is an underappreciated show that should be talked about more. When it’s Friday or Saturday night, and you’re in the mood to be scared, it can be tough to find something that actually delivers. Sadly, too many horror TV shows feature final girls with no genuine character arcs, cheap jump scares, or ghost stories that veer more corny than chilling.
2025, thankfully, featured some great supernatural and sci-fi releases, from HBO Max’s It: Welcome to Derry to Alien: Earth. But what’s a horror fan to do when they’ve binge-watched everything that sounds compelling and surprising, including Mike Flanagan’s five impressive Netflix series? So, if you’ve watched every episode where Pennywise freaks out a new Losers Club and are waiting for Alien: Earth Season 2, Slasher has plenty of seasons that any horror fan will enjoy.
Why ‘Slasher’ Is an Exciting and Underrated Horror Series
Slasher has five seasons plus a miniseries, and each one is interesting. After Season 1, The Executioner, was released on Chiller in 2016, Netflix got the rights to the series in 2017, and seasons 2 (Guilty Party) and 3 (Solstice) followed. Shudder then got the rights for seasons 4 (Flesh & Blood) and 5 (Ripper). Finally, there is a miniseries called Hell Motel, which was released on Shudder in June 2025.
Let’s get it out of the way: Slasher is corny, and it doesn’t come up in conversations about the greatest anthology series. You won’t find the absolutely impressive storytelling of Mike Flanagan’s five series here. However, it’s so much fun because it leans into its cheesy nature, and it still tells somewhat realistic and creepy stories about interesting characters. Instead of relying on cheap twists, like claiming the paranormal was really responsible for mysterious deaths or another explanation that doesn’t actually make any sense, each season of Slasher features a memorable serial killer. And, most importantly of all, their motives are explained by the season finale.
The series is undoubtedly bloody, but there’s some character development, too, particularly in Slasher Season 1. In what is perhaps the most classic horror story, it follows Sarah Bennett (Katie McGrath), who is living in her hometown again with her husband Dylan (Brandon Jay McLaren), years after a killer brutally murdered her parents. It’s easy to care about Sarah, who fits into the final girl category, and hope she finds happiness in her marriage, life, and career. The season might have a typical masked killer and some big twists, but it also asks an important and big question about whether an entire town can move on from a devastating and disturbing murder spree.
The other seasons live up to the promise of the first one. Slasher Season 2 takes on the classic setting of a summer camp, although it features a toxic friend group who come back in the winter, which creates a scarier atmosphere. While Season 3’s story about a killer at an apartment complex is great since you truly have no idea who the villain is, Slasher Season 4 might appeal to horror fans the most. While the characters try to win their family’s inheritance, the season features some particularly gory kills. Plus, the season stars beloved body horror filmmaker David Cronenberg.
Rather than telling the same story over and over again, Slasher keeps things fresh even in Season 5, which takes place in the 19th century in Toronto. Although it might seem like Hell Motel is Slasher Season 6, it’s a miniseries, and explores the always compelling horror trope of true-crime fans who are now dealing with a real-life killer.
Will every moment of Slasher absolutely terrify horror fans who have seen it all? Maybe not… and it’s not elevated horror, either. But there are enough eerie scenes that will stick in any horror lover’s mind, along with strong characters dealing with realistic problems while trying to survive a killing spree.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
