The greatest pilot episodes for horror TV shows stand tall in comparison to their peers when they excel at driving the plot forward through genuine scares. Many TV shows start with an initial episode that must achieve the goal of getting the series picked up for a full-season order by a network or streaming service. The pilot also seeks to hook an audience on the series by concisely laying out the show’s premise and introducing its main characters while keeping any major reveals under wraps.
A horror series operates in the same fashion but has the added perk of introducing a deadly threat that increases the stakes. This ensures that both the characters and the audience are experiencing distress at the same time. From shows like Yellowjackets to The Walking Dead, the best horror pilot episodes consist of a strategic balance between interesting setups and terrifying scares.
10 Supernatural (2005-2020)
Supernatural ran for a total of 15 seasons, yet it’s easy to see how the pilot episode laid the foundation for the paranormal procedural’s success. The TV show follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who were terrorized by a demon as children. The series debut works so well because it introduces the audience to their mission to rid the world of monsters, while also showing the lengths that they will go to find their missing father.
One reason Supernatural‘s pilot episode was such a success was because it explained the show’s inciting incident effectively. After Dean pulls Sam back into the monster-hunting business, the tension between the brothers goes on full display. In addition to setting up the strained relationship between Sam and Dean, the pilot makes the promise that the framework of the show would eventually answer the question of what happened to their father.
9 Ash Vs Evil Dead (2015-2018)
Sam Raimi’s unique vision drove him to create the beloved cult classic Evil Dead franchise. In 2015, 34 years after the creation of the film, Raimi revived the original universe with Ash vs Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell’s hilarious comedic performance in his return as Ash is paired perfectly with the terrifying imagery of demons. The pilot episode delivers on giving fans of the original films a faithful re-introduction, while also welcoming new viewers with an excellent starting point.
The pilot episode of Ash vs Evil Dead provides the audience with a glimpse at how Ashss life hasn’t changed much since the supposed end of his story in Army of Darkness. He discovers that the Evil Dead have returned after he reads the Necronomicon during a night of partying. Shortly after, Ash gets back on the saddle and reignites his demon hunt. The pilot of Ash vs Evil Dead is surely one of the best openers to a series because it remains true to its source material with campy humor, Raimi’s signature camera work, and gory demon kills.
8 From (2022-Present)
Part of what makes an exciting horror series pilot is the ability to scare the viewer before they can fully understand the threat, which is the backbone of the first episode of From, a hair-raising triumph. The TV show premiered in 2022 and focuses on a small town where the roads that lead into it wrap around in a circle. All the town’s inhabitants are stranded and surrounded by a forest filled with monsters that only come out after dark.
The beginning sequence in From reveals the consequences of trusting a monster when a girl is tricked by one of them to let it inside her home. The result is a fatal encounter for the family that ends a streak of nearly a hundred days without incident. The residents are aware of the threat they face but have not adjusted well to their reality. This is explored through a family of new arrivals who become stuck in the town’s loop. The pilot ends with a hopelessly perfect shot that shows their overturned RV being surrounded by the monsters in the forest.
7 Lovecraft Country (2020)
The pilot episode for the 2020 miniseries Lovecraft Country is remarkable because it combines social commentary with Lovecraftian horror to create a debut that’s as irresistible as it is haunting. The series instantly hooks viewers with an opening dream sequence that seems like a classic black-and-white wartime film. However, the next shot opens itself to color as flying saucers and creatures invade the battlefield. The pilot also explains that fear isn’t reserved for otherworldly monsters, but could be found daily as a Black person in America during the 1950s.
Lovecraft Country‘s main character, Atticus, enlists help from his uncle George and his guidebook to search for his missing father. The guidebook acts as a road map that helps to navigate the intolerant area. The closing minutes of the pilot takes a frightening turn that confirms the existence of monsters and cements the entry as one of the most stunning pilots for a horror series.
6 The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
The Fall of the House of Usher is also a prime example of an outstanding pilot episode because it balances compelling characters with horror elements, resulting in a story that keeps its audience glued to the screen and delivers on the title’s promise. The miniseries created by horror icon Mike Flanagan debuted on Netflix in 2023 and centered on a wealthy and egotistical family led by their intimidating father, Roderick Usher.
The pilot episode of The Fall of the House of Usher expertly juggles shifting timelines, while providing insight into each member of the dysfunctional Usher dynasty. This episode shows that the Usher family is going through a federal lawsuit, but each of them is more focused on their own selfish goals. From Tamerlane’s desire to push her brand launch, to Victorine’s medical experiments using dangerous sedatives, every member of the Usher family has their flaws exposed. The pilot highlights their wickedness and invites the audience to judge them as they each reckon with the settlement of an old debt.
5 American Horror Story (2011-Present)
The first episode of the anthology series American Horror Story perfectly captures the dark tone of the show and gives the audience plenty of reasons to feel uneasy. Better known as the Murder House season, the series opener introduces the broken house and swiftly shows that the ghosts that reside within are both menacing and deadly.
The series debut of American Horror Story centers on the Harmon family looking for a fresh start after Vivien catches her husband, Ben, cheating. They then decide to move away with their daughter, Violet, to a new home. After they arrive, they learn about some of the house’s dark history, which becomes a selling point for Violet. The series premiere ensures that the Harmon family never feels a moment of comfort as the tension continues to build with character introductions that are shocking and disorienting.
4 The Walking Dead (2010-2022)
The smash-hit series The Walking Dead spans an impressive 11 seasons and sprouted a number of spin-offs centered on zombie killing and survival. The longevity of the series began with an outstanding pilot episode that adapted its story from the acclaimed comic book by Robert Kirkman. The series opener introduces the audience to its main character, Rick Grimes, after he wakes up from a coma to discover that society has completely collapsed.
The Walking Dead‘s pilot episode succeeds beyond expectations due to its unique approach of focusing on the massive loss of humanity. The show’s debut creates space for dread to seep in through silence, emphasizing the landscapes of eerily quiet streets and barricaded buildings in disrepair. The pilot episode works so well because it concentrates on Rick’s confusion after waking up, which allows the threat of zombies to take a secondary role to the isolation he experiences.
3 Yellowjackets (2021-Present)
The 2021 Emmy-nominated series Yellowjackets stands as one of the most intriguing and unnerving horror pilot episodes in recent history. The series follows a varsity girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes in the wilderness of Canada. At first, the plot makes it seem like it is essentially a story of survival, but the series strikes immediately with a cold opening of a frightened girl being chased through a snowy forest as strange calls and chirps echo around her.
The pilot of Yellowjackets shuffles between the events leading up to the 1996 accident and the present-day survivors, who have kept the true story of what occurred a closely guarded secret. The reason the series debut hits so hard is that it hides its plot in mystery. The episode hints that the group of teenage girls were terrorized and had to make difficult choices if they wanted to have a chance at survival, but dares the viewer to continue the series to further unravel the secret.
2 The Outsider (2020)
The HBO miniseries that aired in 2020 is based on the #1 New York Times Bestseller novel written by legendary horror author Stephen King. It comprises a total of ten episodes and features a robust cast including actors Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, and Jason Bateman. However, The Outsider‘s pilot episode is also one of the best introductions to a series that disguises itself as a gritty crime thriller but slowly evolves into a horror story rooted in the supernatural.
In the first episode of The Outsider, an upstanding citizen and family man named Terry Maitland is arrested for a horrific murder in his tight-knit hometown. Despite eyewitness accounts and his DNA being recovered at the crime scene, he has a solid alibi that places him out of town during the time of the murder. The pilot episode skillfully misleads its audience into expecting a suspenseful story about a killer but lays the groundwork for a paranormal presence that leaves heartbreak and ruin in its wake.
1 The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House — based on the classic novel of the same name written by Shirley Jackson — is a terrifying look into the shared trauma of a group of siblings, who were exposed to ghosts during their childhood. The pilot episode made its mark on audiences because it focuses on the familial aspect between the Crain siblings, while they struggle as adults to get past their unsettling experience at Hill House.
The episode opens with a monologue lifted nearly word for word from the first page of its namesake novel. While establishing shots of the dark Hill House display, eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the true horror is in recognizing that the ghosts are almost always present, and are often hiding in plain sight. The series premiere of The Haunting of Hill House creates the perfect blend of fright and empathy for the Crain family, while they try to cope with their loss.