Illustration by What’s on Netflix
Welcome to another genre preview of all the horror movies and series Netflix currently has in development set for release in 2023 or beyond.
It’s worth noting that horror is a genre that hasn’t been among Netflix’s strongest genres in recent years, with traditional distributors like Universal and Paramount having a much better track record in the genre. Of course, it’s a crowded space, with even niche streamers like Shudder taking up much of the bandwidth. That’s with one notable exception. Korean horror output. Netflix is excelling in this arena with the region producing some excellent horror and that shows no sign of slowing down.
2022 did see the release of several horror titles on Netflix, some of the most popular of the year being Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and Choose or Die.
Horror Movies Coming to Netflix in 2023 & Beyond
The Deliverance
Pictures: Getty Images
Lee Daniels is directing this new horror thriller that will star Glenn Close, Omar Epps, and Rob Morgan.
It’s about a family home in Indiana that seems to be haunted by some demonic creature, and after digging a little more, they find out their house is a portal to hell.
No release date has been set for The Deliverance and it wasn’t included in the 2023 release schedule, but we’ve got the sneaking suspicion that it might sneak in.
Bioshock
Read our preview for Netflix’s adaptation of Bioshock here.
Picture: 2K Games
Netflix has had a go at adapting some horror video games in the past, like Resident Evil (canceled after a single season) and Castlevania (more on this in a second), to mixed results. Still, one that’s high up on our radar is Bioshock, a movie that Francis Lawrence will direct (best known for The Hunger Games and I Am Legend).
The movie is expected to adapt the first game, which tells the story of Jack entering the underwater city of Rapture which has been ravaged.
Hermana Muerte / Sister Death
Picture: Netflix
A Spanish horror movie that serves as a prequel to Verónica directed by Paco Plaza (REC, Eye for an Eye) that began shooting back in March 2022.
Per Netflix, here’s the logline:
“In post-war Spain, Narcisa (Aria Bedmar), a young novice with supernatural powers, arrives at a former convent, now a school for girls, to become a teacher. As the days go by, the strange events and increasingly disturbing situations that torment her will eventually lead her to unravel the terrible skein of secrets that surround the convent and haunt its inhabitants.”
Killer Book Club
Picture: IMDb
A horror thriller from Spain that tells the story of a group of young people will be threatened by an anonymous writer who is looking to release a bloody horror novel based on their horrid exploits.
Carlos Alonso Ojea directs, with Veki Velilla, Priscilla Delgado, Daniel Grao, and Álvaro Mel leading the cast.
Locked In
Picture: Getty Images
This physiological thriller (just skirting the horror genre) is about a newlywed who is pitted against her mother-in-law as tensions arise. An affair sets Lina on a journey of secrecy, betrayal, and ultimately murder.
Filming is expected to have wrapped on the movie as of early 2023, and it will likely either release in late 2023 or 2024.
Picture: www.stefonbristol.com
Announced in February 2021, this movie comes from director Stefon Bristol (See You Yesterday) and tells the story of a roguish Black American teaming up with an elite warrior to rescue a kidnapped regent from an ancient evil.
Based on an original screenplay by Hank Woon with additional revisions by both Woon and Fredrica Bailey.
I Am Not Alone
Picture: Getty Images
Announced in early 2023, Netflix wants to adapt the short story I Am Not Alone by Chris Hicks, with Misha Green eyed to write and direct and Jessica Chastain to star.
The story reportedly “centers around a mother of a young daughter whose life unravels when she suffers unbearable migraines that cause her to hallucinate as she begins to see creatures. It is the template for a grounded sci-fi story about a mother forced to defend her family against a threat only she can see.”
Smile
William McGregor was announced direct the upcoming vampire movie Smile (not to be confused with Paramount’s 2022 movie). The film will be made in conjunction with Matt Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions, which worked with Netflix under an overall deal.
The logline for the movie is as follows:
“Millie’s life is turned upside-down when she’s bitten by a vampire. She soon learns that the process can be reversed if she kills the vampire who bit her before the next sunrise.”
This Beast (aka The Beast)
Picture: Getty Images
The creator behind Sons of Anarchy and Mayans MC has a couple of major projects in the works at Netflix, with The Abandons being the biggest, but announced in March 2021 is This Beast which Kurt Sutter and Blumhouse Television would produce.
Inspired by The Beast of Gevaudan, the movie is set to tell the story of an 18th-century English village besieged by a mysterious and elusive beast.
Fear Street 4
Read our preview on a potential fourth Fear Street movie here.
Picture: Netflix
Three Fear Street movies were released on Netflix throughout the course of 2021, and a fourth has been long-rumored to be in development with Chloe Okuno eyed to direct.
There’s still no official word on this fourth movie based on the R.L. Stine books from Netflix.
The Unsound
Picture: Boom Studios
Another Boom Studios adaptation that Netflix won the rights to back in November 2019.
David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Shazam!) was set to direct the movie with Skylar James (29 Mole Street) penning the adaptation.
Per Netflix, “The Unsound follows a psychiatrist who returns to the insane asylum where her mother once worked and is now a patient, hoping to quell a bloody wave of horror that’s been unleashed. As she descends down the rabbit hole and discovers hard truths about her own past, she comes to understand the hospital is hiding secrets of its own, and perhaps she and her mother have more in common than she realized.”
Other Projects Announced But MIA
Several horror projects deserve a mention but it’s unclear where they are in development since its been such a long time ago since they were announced or have been shelved.
- Bird Box Spin-off – Netflix’s biggest early hit in the horror space was Bird Box and it was announced to be getting a spinoff in 2021 (and an international spin0ff) but it’s unclear where either project is.
- Dark Days at the Magna Carta – First announced in 2020, this was a 21 Laps Entertainment project that Michael Paisley would write.
- My Wife and I Bought a Ranch… – 21 Laps Entertainment movie based on a screenplay by Harrison Query and Matt Query. Announced in 2020 but unclear where it is in production.
- Planet of the Dead – Omari Hardwick is due to return to a sequel to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.
- The Hills Have Eyes for You – Eli Craig was supposed to direct this horror movie first announced in June 2020 but the project has gone quiet since.
Horror Series Coming to Netflix in 2023 & Beyond
The Fall of the House of Usher
Coming to Netflix in 2023
Read our preview for The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix.
The last show from Mike Flanagan’s output at Netflix will be perhaps the creator’s most significant to date in the form of a mini-series based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
Among the cast for the series includes some returning Flanaverse favorites plus some new faces, including Mark Hamill, Willa Fitzgerald, and Mary McDonnell.
Death Note
Read our full preview on Netflix’s Death Note series here.
Picture: Getty Images
Having already tried adapting Death Note in the form of a movie, Netflix has another swing at it bringing the anime to life with the help of Stranger Things creators, The Duffer Brothers.
The series will follow a bright young man who discovers a mysterious black notebook that gives him supernatural power over life and death.
Gyeongseong Creature
Coming to Netflix in December 2023
Pictures: Netflix
Written by Kang Eun-kyung, this new Korean series (expected to have already been renewed for a second season) is set to debut in late 2023.
Here’s the official logline for the new historical horror series:
“In Spring 1945 in Gyeongseong, during Japanese rule over Korea, two young adults confront a strange creature born of greed, and battle against it for survival.”
The series is currently expected to release on Netflix globally on December 22nd, 2023.
Something is Killing the Children
Read our preview for Netflix’s Something is Killing the Children.
One of the numerous Boom Studios adaptations in the works at Netflix is Something is Killing the Children. Originally the show had Mike Flanagan attached, although showrunning duties have since been moved to Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese (the creators of Dark and 1899).
The series adaptation is of the Werther Dell’Edera comic that tells the story of a teen survivor living in a town plagued by monsters that eat children.
Castlevania: Nocturne
Picture: Netflix
Netflix had huge success with the Castlevania anime series running for four seasons and Netflix will be returning to the property with a new spinoff series, Castlevania: Nocturne that Clive Bradley’ll helm.
Emily Swallow, Sophie Skelton, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish and James Callis will be voicing in the new anime series.
Parasyte: The Grey
Read our preview for Parasyste: The Grey.
Picture: The Swoon
Based on the hit anime series, the creator of Netflix’s Hellbound and Train to Busan is due to tackle a live-action retelling of the horror story. The story focuses on a group of humans waging war against the rising evil of unidentified parasitic life-forms that live off of human hosts.
Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Lee Jung-hyun to star.
Other TV Horror Projects
Much like the movie list above, this list of TV projects have been announced but it’s unclear where they are in development so may no longer be attached to Netflix or moving forward.
- Cuckoo Song
- Shadecraft – Joe Henderson and Georgia Lee were announced in early 2021 to be adapting the comic book by Henderson into a TV pilot.
Renewed Horror Series Returning to Netflix
And finally, let’s look into a few of the horror series that will be returning for additional seasons:
- Stranger Things will return for a fifth and final season.
- Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher will return for a second season.
- Ryan Murphy’s Monster will return for two more seasons covering two new real-world figures.
- Wednesday, Netflix’s comedy horror from MGM Television will return for a season 2.
- The Korean series Sweet Home is returning for an additional two seasons.
- All of Us Are Dead; another hit Korean series will return for another season.
- Hellbound, a supernatural horror series, will also return for season 2.
There’s no word on whether Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities will return for a second season. Likewise, we don’t know if the horror anime series Exception or Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre will return.
What upcoming horror projects are you looking forward to watching? Let us know in the comments down below.