With It: Welcome to Derry, the universe created by Stephen King has expanded enormously. It featured a slow-burning mystery that kept every fan’s curiosity growing with each passing episode. So, now that the eight-episode HBO series ended a couple of days ago, it’s obvious that fans are looking forward to similar stories. Just keep scrolling this article until the very end and discover the 10 best TV shows like Welcome to Derry.
1. Midnight Mass
- Release Date: September 24, 2021
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Cast: Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Kristin Lehman, Samantha Sloyan, Igby Rigney, Rahul Kohli, Annarah Cymone, Annabeth Gish, Alex Essoe, Rahul Abburi, Matt Biedel, Michael Trucco, Crystal Balint, Louis Oliver, Henry Thomas, Hamish Linklater
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.7/ 87%
Midnight Mass takes place in the quiet town of Crockett Island. When Riley Flynn returns to his hometown after spending four years in prison for killing a woman while driving a car in a drunk state. He is astonished to see that after the arrival of a mysterious new priest, the people start feeling healthier and younger. However, at first it looked like a miracle, but as the story progresses, the priest’s true nature comes to light, and it is far darker than it seemed at first.
It: Welcome to Derry and Midnight Mass are both set in small towns that have long hidden several secrets underneath the surface. Despite sharing a similar vibe and a slow-building mystery, the two television shows are very different in their stories and in the monsters they feature.
2. Castle Rock
- Release Date: July 25, 2018 – December 11, 2019
- Director: Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason
- Cast: André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, Lizzy Caplan, Paul Sparks, Barkhad Abdi, Yusra Warsama, Elsie Fisher, Matthew Alan, Tim Robbins
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5/ 88%
Castle Rock is a psychological and supernatural horror television show that follows Henry Deaver, a lawyer who left his hometown years ago after he was accused of killing his adoptive father. However, he is forced to return when a boy is found in a cage beneath Shawshank Prison. As he rescues the boy, several supernatural events begin to occur in the town.
Now, what makes it similar to Welcome to Derry is that its titular town also experiences terrible things from generation to generation, like Derry. Castle Rock also comes with a similar spooky atmosphere, dark forces, and feels like a classic Stephen King product.
3. From
- Release Date: February 20 – April 10, 2022
- Director: John Griffin
- Cast: Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Eion Bailey, David Alpay, Elizabeth Saunders, Shaun Majumder, Scott McCord, Ricky He, Chloe Van Landschoot
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.8/ 96%
FROM is again an entry on this list that sees a town feeling like a cursed object. It revolves around the people of a town in the United States, where one can enter but not leave. The town that looks normal in the daytime transforms into a much scarier place where no one is safe if they haven’t locked themselves in their homes.
Like Welcome to Derry, From is a television show that reveals larger pieces of mystery with each passing episode. For instance, it gives the audience the urge to know how long the town has faced such things, what this evil force actually is, and what it wants.
4. Haven
- Release Date: July 9, 2010 – December 17, 2015
- Director: Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn
- Cast: Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, Nicholas Campbell, Eric Balfour
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5/ 63%
Haven revolves around an FBI Special Agent named Audrey Parker, who arrives at the small town of Haven to investigate a routine case. She discovers that the people of the town are suffering from a mysterious supernatural affliction called “The Troubles.” Audrey seeks help from a local police officer and a smuggler to learn everything about the plague and help people cope with it.
Haven and Welcome to Derry- both see a town engulfed with a supernatural curse, and then the main characters step forward to stop the evil from taking over the human world.
5. The Midnight Club
- Release Date: October 7, 2022
- Director: Mike Flanagan, Leah Fong
- Cast: Iman Benson, Igby Rigney, Ruth Codd, Annarah Cymone, Chris Sumpter, Adia, Aya Furukawa, Sauriyan Sapkota, Matt Biedel
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.5/ 63%
The Midnight Club follows a group of terminally ill people who gather at Brightcliffe Hospice to share scary stories with each other. They also do not miss a single chance to look for the supernatural signs, so altogether they vow that whoever among them who dies first will try to give them signals from the afterlife.
This television show combines an eerie tone with emotional storytelling, giving it a vibe similar to It: Welcome to Derry.
6. Stranger Things
- Release Date: July 15, 2016 – present
- Director: Karl Gajdusek (season 1), Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
- Cast: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery, Dacre Montgomery, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser, Maya Hawke, Priah Ferguson, Brett Gelman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Linda Hamilton
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 8.6/ 90%
Stranger Things is set in Hawkins, Indiana, where a boy named Will is kidnapped by an extraterrestrial creature while his mother and older brother are away. After the tragedy, a trail of gruesome events begins. Will’s friends- Mike, Dustin, and Lucas encounter a girl named Eleven on the streets. Well, she is not an ordinary girl; she has solid telekinetic powers. As Hawkins becomes a hub for supernatural entities to show up, with some really terrible things happening, the lead crew teams up to stop the evil from pushing Hawkins into darkness.
If you loved seeing the small kids going toe-to-toe with the supernatural creature, you’ll definitely enjoy watching Stranger Things, as it delivers kid-driven mystery with a small-town supernatural storyline.
7. The Outsider
- Release Date: January 12 – March 8, 2020
- Director: Richard Price
- Cast: Ben Mendelsohn, Bill Camp, Jeremy Bobb, Julianne Nicholson, Mare Winningham, Paddy Considine, Yul Vazquez, Jason Bateman, Marc Menchaca, Cynthia Erivo
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 7.6/ 91%
Based on a novel by Stephen King, The Outsider was released on HBO in January 2020. It begins with the murder of a boy, and a well-liked teacher named Terry Maitland getting framed for the gruesome deed. However, when Ralph Anderson starts investigating the case, he discovers that a shape-shifting entity is committing all the crimes by taking the form of innocent people.
Like It, The Outsider also features a shape-shifting and a similarly evil force that grows stronger by feeding on its victims’ fear and trauma.
8. The Stand
- Release Date: January 12 – March 8, 2020
- Director: Josh Boone, Benjamin Cavell
- Cast: James Marsden, Odessa Young, Owen Teague, Alexander Skarsgård, Whoopi Goldberg, Amber Heard, Jovan Adepo, Henry Zaga, Nat Wolff, Irene Bedard, Brad William Henke, Greg Kinnear
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 5.7/ 57%
Unlike the other entries on this list, The Stand features a completely different setting. Based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, this miniseries takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. A man-made virus eliminates the majority of the population, with only a few people remaining. However, some strange shared dreams pull these survivors towards two different leaders: Abigail and Randall Flagg. While the former is the epitome of light, the latter is nothing but darkness in a human form. So, basically, the surviving people get divided into two groups, making the world the battlefield of good and evil.
The Stand and It Welcome to Derry share Stephen King’s roots and see the darkness trying to cause havoc in the world of the living.
9. The Haunting of Hill House
- Release Date: October 12, 2018
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Cast: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 8.5/ 93%
The Haunting of Hill House is considered one of the best supernatural horror television shows on Netflix. It follows the Crain family, who shift to an old mansion to renovate it and eventually sell it. However, they start getting tormented by a supernatural force that ultimately breaks their family, giving them forever scars, not physically but emotionally. Years later, when the remaining members of the family reunite following a tragedy, they learn many things about their time in the Hill House. They also uncover some dark secrets of the mansion.
Like It: Welcome to Derry, this drama series also features a character-driven storyline filled with trauma, grief, and everything that has the ability to make one look weak.
10. Teacup
- Release Date: October 10 – October 31, 2024
- Director: Ian McCulloch
- Cast: Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman
- IMDb/Rotten Tomatoes: 6.3/ 77%
Teacup revolves around a family and their neighbours whose lives collide when their town becomes the target of deadly aliens. A masked figure suddenly shows up and prevents them from crossing a blue line. However, those who don’t take him seriously and end up doing what he has asked them not to do die. The series is all about people going beyond their limits to ensure their own and their loved ones’ safety.
Welcome to Derry and Teacup, both feature a storyline in which people struggle to fight an ancient devil that thrives on their fears.
So, these were some shows like It: Welcome to Derry, you can watch until the next Stephen King movie or TV show comes out.
