4 Shows to Stream If You Love “Black Mirror”

Looking for something creepy to watch as you count down to Halloween and already plow through every season of Netflix’s science fiction/isn’t technology terrifying anthology series “Black Mirror”? There are plenty of shows out there that hit some of the same notes — although will anything make me feel as simultaneously sad and creeped out as season two’s “Be Right Back”? — here are four options to add to your streaming queue.

Jordan Peele’s reimagining of the classic sci-fi anthology series from the late 1950s and 60s, “The Twilight Zone” is much more horror-based than “Black Mirror”, but like that Netflix series, the show uses the genre to make insightful social commentary. Peele takes over narration duties from Rod Serling, and you’ll find many a famous face popping up in the bizarre, goosebump-inducing stories Peele has in store for you, including but definitely not limited to people like Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Sanaa Lathan, John Cho, Ginnifer Goodwin, Christopher Meloni, Greg Kinnear, and Seth Rogen. If you’re a completist, never fear: The original series can be found on Hulu.

Streaming on CBS All Access 

To call “Tales From the Loop” mysterious is an understatement. The series tells the story of the people in a small town in Ohio who live above a [checks notes] machine…that unlocks the mysteries of the universe. The machine is called the Loop, so you get it. Each episode is a stand-alone about a different person in the town (sometimes you’ll see a familiar face or two) and are about science fiction, technology, and humanity all at once. “Tales From the Loop” is more about the experience than getting any sort of resolution, even as characters deal with meeting their younger selves and alternate realities.

Streaming on Amazon Prime

Okay, so “The X-Files” isn’t an anthology like “Black Mirror”, but its occasional monster-of-the-week format should give you a similar feel. While our beloved duo of true believer Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and skeptic Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate new cases of the inexplicable for the FBI (lots of aliens, sci-fi shenanigans, and the government being shady AF) keep things feeling fresh, you’ll soon be hooked by the greater mythology the series builds throughout its eleven seasons (and multiple films!). Come for the promise of freaky alien stuff, stay for that undeniable Mulder-Scully chemistry. You will not be disappointed!

Streaming on Hulu

“Westworld” is highly serialized and highly confusing — seriously, do not skip an episode and also maybe watch each episode three times to fully understand what’s happened? — but like “Black Mirror”, this timeline jumping show that takes place at an “amusement” park full of Artificial Intelligence gone wrong (so, so wrong), takes a deep dive into the horrors that can come with the relentless pursuit of technological advances. So if that’s what you’re into — no judgement here — you should purchase a ticket to the A.I. park of your dreams/nightmares and prepare for some wild twists, great performances from people like Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, and Jeffrey Wright, and the compulsion to throw your computer into the sea before it turns on you. 

Streaming on HBO Max