The Halloween season is upon us, which means it’s the time of year to fill your downtime with all the sci-fi you can find. From your favorite Doctor to the terrifying Demogorgon, we’ve got a list of must see shows to binge through the Halloween season.
Another Life (Netflix)
Have you ever wondered if there are other intelligent life forms out there in space? Well, humanity no longer needs to wonder when a 100-foot tall crystal shaped space ship lands on Earth with no warning. The people of Earth have no explanation for the extraterrestrial figure, but they do have a plan. A group of experts, ranging from agricultural experts, space explorers and even a humanity liaison, set out on a space adventure to find the source of the alien space ship to determine if the alien lifeforms who sent it to Earth are the friendly version. The ship — built with artificial intelligence — navigates its way through time and space searching for the source when something goes wrong, and the captain is woken from her induced hibernation. The crew must figure out what direction they need to head, how long they need to travel and how they will defeat the alien life-form, should they in fact be hostile. The team seems to work cohesively, until one pilot’s intentions tear the group apart, creating a split between captain and crew that may never be repaired.
Another Life keeps you guessing and wondering whether or not the real danger lies in the alien realm or on the human space ship. The one season series is made up of 10 episodes that will keep you on the edge of your couch cushion.
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Set in 1983, this Netflix Original Series follows best friends Will, Mike, Lucas and Dustin as they play Dungeons & Dragons — each playing their role and just being nerdy kids together. That is, until Mike befriends a lost girl with a shaved head wearing a hospital gown. This girl doesn’t speak and she’s clearly extremely traumatized. Mike makes her a fort in his parent’s basement, where he brings her Eggo Waffles to eat and allows her to sleep, while he tries to figure out where she came from. This girl’s name is Eleven and she is an experiment the US government has been testing on in a facility, where the Upside Down is trying to break into our universe. Eleven, although not necessarily human, befriends the boys and they begin an adventure to save the people they love, not to mention the whole world.
Stranger Things has three seasons available on Netflix with a fourth season already confirmed. It may not be a series you can binge in one weekend, but you will consider it time well spent, enjoying the sarcasm from Officer Hopper, the extreme nerd of Dustin and the power of friendship and superpowers.
Lost in Space (Netflix)
Another Netflix Original that fills your sci-fi needs, following a group of designated people who are sent into space searching for a new place to call home as planet Earth will soon not be able to support human life. The show follows the Robinson family as they are forced to leave the mother ship due to an alien robot intervention, crash landing on an unidentified, habitable planet. The planet they land on brings many challenges including family battles, including the fight to re-create the family they once had — where the father is present in his wife and children’s lives. A young boy befriends an alien robot, who was created to do the opposite of good, a mother becomes a leader and a young pilot finds love and a second chance.
You may think the storyline is too similar to the 1998 Lost in Space movie, staring the one and only Matthew LeBlanc, but hopefully you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by the plot twists and captivating story-line.
Doctor Who (Amazon Prime)
Doctor Who? That question that only has one answer, but very few actually know. The Doctor is the last remaining Time Lord, the last of their kind. Along with the police box camouflaged Tardis, also known as the Doctor’s time machine, the Doctor travels through time and space saving those in need. The Doctor frequently finds they are accompanied by a companion, someone who knows who The Doctor is and the secrets of the Tardis. Things are not always as they seem, for example the Tardis is much bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. Doctor Who, currently on its 13th doctor and the first doctor portrayed by a woman, gives you the perfect amount of supernatural mixed with science fiction.
You won’t be able to stop yourself from binging season to season, Doctor to Doctor. You can currently stream several seasons of Doctor Who on Amazon Prime. Who will your favorite Doctor be?
American Horror Story (Netflix)
If you’re looking for a show that plays out like your favorite horror movie, American Horror Story fits that bill. AHS currently has eight seasons streaming on Netflix, each season with its own storyline. The first season, entitled “Murder House”, follows a family who moves into a notorious home in California. The house, the scene of a brutal double murder, is purchased by a family of three who already have their own issues. From there you move on to storylines pertaining to an insane asylum, a freak show circus, witchcraft and the apocalypse. The characters may change season to season, but a lot of the actors who play them do not.
This is a great show to binge season by season because each season is a story of its own. If you’re not sold on the show yet, you should know that the creators of AHS also created Glee!
And there you have it! We’ve given you lots of options, now go, get your binge on! Sci-fi not your thing? Keep an eye for our other genres out soon!