Cosy horror for dark nights

Same nightmares. Different stories.

TV series · 2013

Hannibal

An FBI profiler and a psychiatrist build a bond that will turn into something far more dangerous.

Hannibal, an After Dark title card
Year
2013
Created by
Bryan Fuller
Starring
Hugh Dancy, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne, Hettienne Park, Gillian Anderson, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, Joe Anderson
Seasons
3
Episodes
39
Network
NBC
Country
United States
Original language
English
Kind of horror
Psychological

This one follows Will Graham, an FBI investigator with an uncanny gift for stepping into a killer's mind, and Dr Hannibal Lecter, the forensic psychiatrist brought in to help steady him. The two of them build something that looks, at first, like trust.

It's a slow, creeping sort of dread rather than jump scares, the kind where you find yourself questioning every calm smile and every dinner invitation. Bryan Fuller built this out of Thomas Harris's novels, but he takes his time here, letting the horror sit in glances and silences long before it ever shows its hand.

This is one for a night when you want to be unsettled rather than startled, the sort of watch that rewards a dark room and your full attention, because you'll miss things the moment you look at your phone. Save it for a quiet evening when nothing else is competing for your focus.

Just maybe don't plan anything too ambitious for dinner while you're watching.

If you like this, try

TV series · 2011

American Horror Story

An anthology series that starts its story fresh with a new setting and cast each season.

Book · 2009

Another

A new pupil meets a mysterious classmate, then finds his class caught up in a string of terrible deaths.

Film · 2010

Black Swan

A ballerina fights for the lead in Swan Lake and starts losing her grip on what is real.

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