Horror fans hooked on Prime Video series with an impressive 93% Rotten Tomatoes score - hailing it the next American Horror Story

Daily Mail​

15-05-2025

Horror fans are hooked on a new Amazon Prime Video series with an impressive 93 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score - hailing it the next American Horror Story.
Three of four seasons of anthology programme Channel Zero, first released between 2016 and 2019, have recently been uploaded to the streamer.
Like beloved anthology show American Horror Story, which has run since 2011, each series has a self-contained chilling storyline.
The first season, for instance, named Candle Cove, follows a child psychologist (Paul Schneider) and his mother (Fiona Shaw) investigating his brother's disappearance - mysteriously linked to a creepy children's TV show they used to watch.
The programme has been popular with critics, with season one boasting a whopping 93 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes - and the second and third instalments rated a perfect 100 per cent.
And fans love it just as much too, taking to Rotten Tomatoes to leave their verdicts - with some even suggesting it rivals cult horror classic American Horror Story.
One said of the first series: 'Somewhere between American Horror Story and Stranger Things, Channel Zero: Candle Cove provides a meandering plot through the subtle horrors shared by children around the world.
'Relying on few jump scares or over-the-top special effects, Candle Cove still delivers spine-tingling terror. For who prefer chills to thrills, a must-watch.'
Another agreed: 'One of the most chillingly effective shows on television.
'A great cast (headed by the incredible Fiona Shaw) bring to life a ghost story/murder mystery set in a small town that, of course, harbours dark secrets; a la Stephen King at his very early best.
'With its ability to evoke the 1980s without a gigantic budget and its lowkey but effectively terrifying telling, the creators of the overblown Stranger Things or the horrid American Horror Story should take note. This is how to do it.'
The show was cancelled after four seasons in early 2019 by American TV channel Syfy - which some viewers could not believe.
One said, after watching the final season: 'A phenomenal final chapter in the series, if not my personal favourite chapter of the bunch.
'The only downside to it is the fact that it is the last chapter... ever.
Fans love the show just as much as the critics, taking to Rotten Tomatoes to leave their verdicts - with some even suggesting it rivals cult horror classic American Horror Story
The show was cancelled after four seasons in early 2019 by American TV channel Syfy - which some viewers could not believe
'It is inexplicable to me how lesser properties such as American Horror Story, Slasher or Walking Dead keep getting renewed while this truly frightening disturbing and well-written series was cancelled despite near unanimous critical acclaim.
'Well, at least it went out on a high note with its small but dedicated fan base. Here's hoping it will be revisited someday.'
A critic for Collider went as far as to say 'Channel Zero did what American Horror Story couldn't' in its later series.
They explained: 'This is the problem with modern American Horror Story. It's such an incredibly inventive world but no matter what it focusses on, it never seems to know what it wants to achieve.
'There's no doubt that [American Horror Story co-creator] Ryan Murphy is a master of bending genes but by blending so many themes, the overall show has lost sight of what it started out as.
'In comparison, Channel Zero never lost sight of being an amalgamation of themes but it did it all while remaining truly terrifying.'
Another review, for GameSpot, said it is 'one of the best horror TV shows ever': 'Channel Zero was criminally underrated in its day but has the makings of a modern cult classic.'
The show was created by Nick Antosca, also known for creating 2019 TV drama The Act, about the American woman Gypsy Rose Blanchard who murdered her mother, accused of making up that Gypsy was severely ill and disabled.
It takes its inspiration from an internet phenomenon known as a creepypasta - a play on the word 'copypasta', referring to a brief story or image that has become online horror legend by being widely shared by users.
Channel Zero's second series, called No-End House, has a young woman and her group of friends discover the truth about a house of horrors tourist attraction.
The third instalment, Butcher's Block, meanwhile, follows a young woman and her schizophrenic sister who move to a new city, haunted by a series of disappearances - which the women begin to investigate.
It comes after fans of rival streaming platform Netflix raved about an 'uncomfortable' supernatural horror movie that made their 'skin crawl'.
Blockbuster Truth Or Dare was first released back in 2018 but was heavily edited to cut out some of the gore and tone it down to make it suitable for a PG 13 rating in America.
It has since grown a huge fan base and is available to stream on Netflix for UK viewers, in an 'extended version'.
'Dark fears and sinister forces collide when friends play a twisted game of Truth Or Dare in this extended version of the Blumhouse thriller,' the synopsis reads.
Starring Pretty Little Liars Lucy Hale, Teen Wolf actor Tyler Posey and Violett Beane, amongst others, the supernatural horror film is listed on Netflix UK as Blumhouse's Truth or Dare: Extended Director's Cut.
Many fans have shared their verdicts on the original movie over the years and one posted on Google reviews: 'I really liked it. It made me crawl in my skin because it was so uncomfortable to see, and a good type of frightening for me.'