Loved Ghoul? Now watch these five horror web series

Eva Green as the heroine Vanessa Ives is magnetic in Penny Dreadful.

The Exorcist: Based on the film that has come to represent and define the genre, this Fox’s TV series is actually really good. It acts as a sequel to the original story and comes under the umbrella of the franchise. The Exorcist redefined the then stale horror genre and spawned several sequels, each one falling way short of the original. This TV series undoes some of the damage. The atmosphere alone would make you fall in love with the franchise again. It streams on Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video.

American Horror Story: A Ryan Murphy creation, American Horror Story is incredibly scary, weird and freaky, but the more interesting thing is every season of the show tells a new story. So if you don’t like a particular season (unlikely), you can skip it and jump to the next season without worrying about any backstories. The show is getting a new season that will be a crossover, so you may want to catch up before it premieres. It is called Apocalypse, and some of the promotional material is already out. Stream American Horror Story on Hotstar.

The Returned: When a loved one dies, we mourn them. And we often say, “I wish he/she would come back!” or something to that effect, but we really don’t want that, do we? What is dead should ideally stay dead. Otherwise, there might arise a number of complications as shown in this American remake of the French original Les Revenants, called The Returned. Stream The Returned on Netflix.

Bates Motel: Bates Motel is the prequel to one of the greatest, genre-defining psychological horror movies. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho gets a sequel in Bates Motel. We know Norman Bates was a batshit crazy guy with a dual personality who kept the exhumed corpse of his mother in his living room. But how did he come to be that person (Or should I say, persons)? Bates Motel tells that story. It also offers a nuanced look at Dissociative Personality Disorder. And did I mention it is downright creepy? Bates Motel is proof that you don’t need ghosts and monsters to freak the hell out of people. Sometimes the inner demons are scary enough. Stream Bates Motel on Netflix and Prime Video.