Fantasy shows can serve a number of purposes, from helping viewers escape into more interesting worlds to reflecting the harsh truths of our own realities back at us. And the series that do the latter can often secretly qualify as horror. After all, they force us to grapple with dark truths and common fears, and some can get pretty bleak in the process.
Of course, there are plenty of TV shows that intentionally blend fantasy with horror — just look at Supernatural or Stranger Things. These mesh the categories more overtly, proving that the extraordinary isn't always desirable. Their monster-heavy stories will rightfully be categorized under both genres. By contrast, these straightforward fantasy shows have more horror elements than they get credit for.
1. Once Upon a Time
Fairy tales are often used as inspiration for horror shows and movies, and the original versions of many of these stories fall squarely in the category. It's no surprise, then, that it's easy to imagine ABC's Once Upon a Time as a horror series. The characters are stuck in a town they can't leave, the majority don't remember who they truly are, and the series features threats like curses and monsters.
Even with all those things, Once Upon a Time doesn't seem like a horror story; it's a fantasy show first and foremost. But when you consider what the characters are going through on a psychological level, it's clear that Once Upon a Time can be classed as both genres. It's only the framing of Emma Swan's story that makes it seem more whimsical and adventurous.
Set up another way, so many of Once Upon a Time's core concepts would be considered horror. From's characters can't get out of the town they're trapped in, either. Numerous horror movies cause characters to forget themselves, Weapons being a recent example. And curses drive many horror plots. Once Upon a Time doesn't go as dark with these ideas, but they're very much present.
2. The Magicians
Looking at the premise of The Magicians, you'd think it's just another magic school story, but after watching it, it quickly becomes evident this isn't the case. The Syfy series, which is based on Lev Grossman's book trilogy, unpacks the dark side of this common fantasy backdrop. And perhaps its most terrifying takeaway is that being swept off to magic school wouldn't actually solve anyone's problems. The mental health issues, loneliness, and desire for "more" would remain, even with confirmation that the extraordinary exists.
Magic wouldn't solve the problems of elitism and exclusionary practices in academia, either. The Magicians drives that point home through Julia's story. It shows how far she's willing to go to break into the world she idolizes, and it does so in horrifying detail.
The Magicians does a great job of highlighting the darkest parts of humanity and the fact that magic wouldn't be a Band-Aid for them. It's not something we necessarily want to admit while we're exploring fantastical worlds. Yet it's what makes The Magicians a darker addition to the fantasy category, one that borders on being horror. (The Beast's disturbing entrance also makes a compelling case for this classification.)
3. The Witcher
The Witcher has quite a few overt horror elements, but it doesn't typically get categorized alongside the other monster shows in the joint fantasy/horror category. It secretly belongs there, though, as so much of its story is incredibly grim. The lore involved in making Witchers — notably, the painful and gruesome Trial of the Grasses — should land it there. Yennefer's transformation in The Witcher season 1 is also among the most difficult-to-watch fantasy scenes of recent years.
The Witcher doesn't shy away from dark subject matter, and it's not afraid to feature gore. Its monsters are also pretty terrifying, though the show tends to focus more on Geralt's badassery than the creatures themselves. If any modern fantasy show could be categorized as horror based on visuals alone, it's this one. Of course, the believable power struggles and politics also capture an existential horror that feels all too true to real life.
4. Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is as high fantasy as they come, but there are enough horror elements in the series for it to secretly straddle the line. For one thing, the show spends many seasons building to the looming threat of an undead army. And everything from the premiere's chilling introduction of the White Walkers to the characters' eventual stand against them is as intense and anxiety-inducing as any horror movie.
Game of Thrones also features as many gutting deaths as horror projects, the result of George R.R. Martin's willingness to embrace the ruthlessness of his world. That we don't expect such losses
— it's not actually a slasher, after all — makes them more shocking and devastating.
The HBO series also captures the horrors of human nature all too effectively. There's a clear logic in making Cersei and Daenerys the final villains, not the Night King. Ambition and human folly are presented as their own horrors in Game of Thrones. The price tends to be human lives, usually of commoners with little say in what's happening.