50-Episode Horror Series Praised By Stephen King Is Scary Without Jumpscares

Published Sep 24, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT

Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns.
Before Screen Rant, he was a Senior Writer for The Cinemaholic, covering everything from anime to television, from reality TV to movies.
After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

Most horror shows and movies rely heavily on cheap jumpscares to instill chills and thrills. From a storytelling standpoint, they remain quite straightforward and generic, rarely rising above the genre tropes and conventions. Fortunately, a highly acclaimed horror series that was even praised by Stephen King does not deliver one jumpscare after another and still manages to be incredibly chilling.

Titled Evil, the show in question premiered in 2019 on CBS. However, its streaming home later shifted to Paramount+. While even some of the best horror TV shows struggle to remain gripping after two or three seasons, Evil experiences no major dips in quality. It even boasts a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 96%.

The series works so incredibly well because of the performances of its cast, compelling procedural format, and surprisingly profound philosophical undertones. However, beyond these elements, its secret weapon proves to be its well-executed horror. Without forcing too many jumpscares into its story, the show creates a lingering sense of dread throughout its runtime.

Evil Is Terrifying & Eerie Without Too Many Big Jumpscares

Robert and Michelle King’s Evil almost creates its own brand of horror and dread instead of riffing on genre tropes. Some of its most terrifying aspects are carefully rooted in its brilliant ability to neatly land between the supernatural and the psychological. Like its characters, it forces viewers to constantly question what they are watching and wonder if the show's "scares" can be logically explained.

It achieves this intriguing balance between realism and supernatural terror through its main trio: forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (skeptic), priest-in-training David Acosta (believer), and technology expert Ben Shakir (pragmatist). The three characters ensure that every eerie event in the series always has two valid explanations.

In Evil, horror transcends mere supernatural scares and seeps humanity's day-to-day snags. The show cleverly uses digital bureaucracy as a narrative device to show how "evil" can even be found in some of the most mundane places, like algorithms, smart speakers, fertility clinics, and even courtrooms. This ensures that even in some of the most bizarre story beats of the show, one can find personal terrors.

Almost all episodes of Evil also find their way into the "uncanny valley," but not through its visuals. Instead, it presents such a strange and often confusing mix of dark humor and horror that it becomes hard not to question what you are watching. This, too, works in the show's favor as it allows it to embrace a bizarre but effective tonal imbalance.

Stephen King’s High Praise For Evil Proves It Didn’t Deserve To Be Canceled

The King of Horror, Stephen King, could also not help but contain his love for Evil. He called the show "funny," "witty," and "very, very sharp" and even campaigned for its return when it was abruptly canceled after four seasons (via Collider). Since Evil had many more stories to tell and had even setup more threads for season 5, many viewers were left frustrated after it was axed.

Unfortunately, it has been over two years since Evil season 4 ended. As of now, there are no official updates surrounding its revival, suggesting that it will likely not get a second chance. The Stephen King-approved horror show still deserves to return, but even if it does not, its existing four seasons do an incredible job of delivering memorable terrors and dark humor in equal measure.

Evil

8/10

Evil is a psychological mystery series that follows a skeptical forensic psychologist, Kristen Bouchard, who teams up with a Catholic priest-in-training and a tech expert to investigate purportedly supernatural incidents. The series delves into complex themes of religion, science, and the nature of evil through its deeply layered narrative and character development. The show stars Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, and Aasif Mandvi.