Entertainment

4 TV Shows As Scary As 'AHS: Coven'

by Kaitlin Reilly

American Horror Story returns Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX with the premiere of its latest installment, American Horror Story: Coven. According to creator Ryan Murphy, we can look forward to a season of witches, historical serial killers, tragic love stories, and, of course, lots and lots of Ms. Jessica Lange. While the show has new storyline (the show features a completely different "horror story" each season) certain familiar faces will return, including Evan Peters (feel free to swoon now), Taissa Farmiga (who played Violet in AHS's first installment), and Sarah Paulson (the leading lady in last year's Asylum).

While I'm already counting down the hours to the premiere of Coven, the nine months in between seasons have allowed me to spend time getting my horror fix elsewhere. Thankfully, this year brought us a ton of new — and returning – horror on the small screen. What shows would make a perfect counterpart for American Horror Story: Coven? Here are five shows you should check out... with the lights on.

The Vampire Diaries

This teen favorite might get a lot of attention for its vampire love triangle, but Twilight it's not. This series keeps getting better with age, and brings in new, terrifying villains and twisty mysteries to keep the audience on its toes. After all, this is the show where no one is safe from being killed off (RIP Alaric and Jenna), and some midseason episodes have a higher body count than the entire Final Destination franchise. And after the bloodshed in the Season 5 premiere? Well, let's just say that this show isn't for the faint of heart... even if it is on The CW.

Bates Motel

While the show may be based on the infamous Hitchcock film Psycho, the TV version won't have you afraid to take a shower. This tense drama features Norman Bates and his mother Norma before the events of the film as they attempt to "start over" in White Pine Bay. White Pine Bay, unfortunately, is a town with a lot of dark secrets and a seedy underbelly that the Bates can't help but get wrapped up in. Tune in on A&E to see Norman's progression from a sweet boy to a killer.

Hannibal

Another TV show based on a film (and novel) as source material, Hannibal has already developed a devoted cult-following. Hugh Dancy plays Will Graham, the tortured FBI agent who is so good at his job because of his empathetic connection with the serial killers he attempts to hunt down. Hannibal Lector (Mads Mikkelsen) is a free man. The show is incredibly violent but so artistically shot that you might not even freak out when you see the totem pole of bodies that a serial killer left behind. But, yeah, you probably will.

Sleepy Hollow

Honestly, what even is this show. It's crazy. A far cry from the original short story which inspired it (maybe you read it in English in high school), this version of Sleepy Hollow has Ichabod Crane (Tom Milson) fighting off a variety of terrifying demons and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Oh, and he's kind of a time traveler, maybe. It's complicated, and it's already been renewed for a Season 2 on Fox — plenty of time to dig into its mythology.

Image: FX, the CW, NBC, FOX