Hulu’s Forgotten 2-Part Horror Anthology Is the Best Series You’ve Never Seen

With the constant influx of recent programming on streamers, it can be effortless for a great show to get lost in the shuffle. For example, Hulu added over 100 recent shows and movies to their platform in April 2026 alone! For many horror fans, that means accidentally missing out on one of Hulu and Blumhouse TV’s greatest series: Into the Dark.

The novel program highlighted emerging horror filmmakers, like Maggie Levin (V/H/S/99), Carter Smith (The Ruins, Jamie Marks Is Dead), and Gigi Saul Guerrero (V/H/S/85, Satanic Hispanics), as well as an array of stimulating horror subgenres. For two seasons, running from 2018-2021, Into the Dark released one full-length movie each month loosely themed to a holiday celebrated within that month.

No Holiday Was Too Big, or Too Small

Tara Parker in a white dress and a veil in a still from Into the Dark: Pure.Image via Hulu and Blumhouse TV

Both seasons have episodes for the bigger and most widely-celebrated holidays, like Christmas (Pooka!, A Nasty Piece of Work), Thanksgiving (Flesh & Blood, Pilgrim), Halloween (The Body, Uncanny Annie), New Year’s Eve (New Year, New You, Midnight Kiss), and Valentine’s Day (Down, My Valentine). However, Into the Dark doesn’t only focus on the huge ones.

There’s one episode celebrating Pet Appreciation Week with a bloody thriller called Good Boy (No, not the one starring Indy the Dog) from Tragedy Girls director Tyler MacIntyre. Good Boy stars Judy Greer as a woman who decides to adopt an emotional support dog after realizing she is ailing of dating. Her four-legged friend is helping with her anxiety until Greer’s character realizes bad things begin to happen to anyone who stresses her out.

Daughter’s Day is celebrated in a particularly brutal episode from director Hannah Macpherson. Pure follows a group of newborn women who attend a “purity retreat” and get presented with what appear to be wedding rings from their fathers as they promise to remain pure until marriage. If that premise alone doesn’t make your skin crawl, the explosive ending should do the trick.

It Highlighted Indie Horror Directors

Judy Greer holding a dog and crying in a still from Into the Dark: Good Boy.Image via Hulu & Blumhouse TV

Into the Dark is a perfect example of the ethos of Blumhouse, which is to allow artistic freedom to directors (including indie and up-and-coming talent) by providing a tiny budget (around $5 million) with the opportunity for a huge release. “We give directors a lot more control and power, including final cut. That allows us to have more creative influence over our movies and TV shows,” founder and CEO Jason Blum told Newsweek about the model. He also explained that the artistic freedom makes directors more open to criticism, since they don’t have to worry about being forced to do anything, since they have the final say.

Blum went on to explain the inspiration for Into the Dark, saying his team “pretty much sees every scary script in Hollywood,” but they don’t have the mechanism to make all of them. The TV format allowed them to make 24 unique horror movies, giving a host of recent directors their shot at filming a Blumhouse picture.

Emma Tammi went on to direct the first and second installments of Blumhouse’s hit Five Nights at Freddy franchise after helming Into the Dark films Delivered and Blood Moon. Maggie Levin, who directed My Valentine, went on to direct the “Shredding” segment in V/H/S/99, and was the second unit director on The Black Phone and The Gorge, and was an executive producer on Black Phone 2.

There Was Something for Everyone

The character Pooka standing in a destroyed room in a still from Into the Dark: Pooka!Image via Hulu & Blumhouse TV

Each episode is a standalone, full-length horror movie — and there didn’t seem to be any constraints regarding the type or subgenre of horror. Body horror, psychological horror, social horror, and creature features are all represented in Into the Dark. Some of the films highlight political issues, while others aim more for laughs or over-the-top gore.

Pilgrim, which is the Thanksgiving-inspired episode from season 2, is so brutal it could give Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving a run for its money. For fans of folklore horror and/or urban legends, Into the Dark has Pooka!, Pooka Lives!, and They Come Knocking. My Valentine, from season 2, is a stylized look at the dynamics of an abusive relationship, that also happens to have a killer soundtrack by Dresage.

Into the Dark also features single-location thrillers and examples of the “trapped together” subgenre, like popular films Get Out, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and The Invitation. The season 2 Christmas episode A Nasty Piece of Work — which features English actor Julian Sands and Dustin Milligan from Schitt’s Creek — is a phenomenal look at this style, and one of the best entries in the entire series. The season 1 (New Year, New You) and season 2 (Midnight Kiss) New Year’s Eve-inspired installments are two more fun examples, and the latter also represents queer horror.

Release Date

October 5, 2018

Directors

Paul Davis, Adam Mason, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Hannah Macpherson, Sophia Takal, Nacho Vigalondo, Carter Smith

Writers

Jim Agnew, Nick Antosca, James Bachelor, Dirk Blackman, Simon Boyes, Pat Casey, Paul Davis, Marcus Dunstan, Todd Harthan, Sean Keller, Hannah Macpherson, Adam Mason, Josh Miller, Gigi Saul Guerrero