Mike Flanagan’s Netflix Shows, Ranked: Which Series Is Head, Bent Neck and Shoulders Above the Rest?
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Choosing the best among Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series is nearly as impossible a task as figuring out whose hand Theo Crane was holding. But upon the release of his latest, The Fall of the House of Usher — and now that Flanagan and producing partner Trevor Macy have left the streaming service for spookier pastures at Amazon Studios — we figured it was time to take a look at the horror auteur’s limited-series offerings as a whole.
Between 2018 and 2023, Flanagan brought The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club and Usher onto our screens (and into our nightmares). Along the way, he showcased an ever-expanding troupe of actors who were as adept at scares and gore as they were at humor and heart. He also executed some really, really startling jump scares, as well.
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Now that you’ve had a few days to digest Usher, we thought we’d take a look at all of Flanagan’s Netflix shows with an eye to which was the best. Here are a few things to keep in mind while you consider the ranking. Straight-up scares usually gave one show an advantage over another. We only considered Flanagan’s TV series, so movies like Gerald’s Game (though excellent) weren’t eligible. And the fact that The Midnight Club was cancelled after just one season — when more were clearly in the plan — didn’t help its chances on our list. (Sorry, kids.)
But! Remember how Hill House’s Red Room meant very different things to different characters? Similarly, we know that not everyone who watches these series is in it for the scares alone. So we also ran down our FlanaPicks for the offerings that are the most moving, have the best monologues, sport the most gore and much more. A perfectly splendid time for all!
So scroll through the list below to see our choices, as well as to find out which of the shows came out head, bent neck and shoulders above the rest!
SCARIEST: The Haunting of Hill House
We’ve got to hand it to Flanagan: We thought we were past the point where a simple haunted-house tale could scare the stuffing out of us. And then we, and the Crane family, were slowly sucked into Hill House’s thrall.
BEST MONOLOGUES: Midnight Mass
We still find ourselves thinking about Riley and Erin’s conversations about what happens to you after you die. Great, deep, effective stuff.
MOST MOVING: The Haunting of Bly Manor
The very different, yet equally doomed, love stories of Dani/Jamie and Hannah/Owen made the second Haunting season the one that hurt the most… in the best way. Chin up, Poppins.
MOST EFFECTIVE JUMP SCARES: The Fall of the House of Usher
We admit: It’s tough to beat Hill House’s ghost that bursts, screaming, out of a car’s center console. But on the whole, Roderick Usher’s dead children appearing, unannounced — and in at least one case, dropping from the ceiling and interrupting dad’s confessional monologue — give the latest series the edge.
GORIEST: Midnight Mass
When you have a whole town turned overnight into a bloodsucking army of the damned (or blessed, depending on how you look at it!), it makes sense that you’ve got a lot of horrifying liquids flying around. That melee in the church alone!
FUNNIEST: The Midnight Club
Anya’s pitch-black, razor-sharp quips. Amesh’s ludicrous request that his body be fired out of a cannon into a shark tank. Ironically, the YA series about terminally-ill teens cracked the most funnies while simultaneously exploring the difficult concepts of death and grief.
BEST OMG! MOMENT: The Haunting of Hill House
(Screaming, crying, rocking back and forth in catatonic fashion) Nell is the Bent Neck Lady! Nell is the Bent Neck Lady! Nell is the Bent Neck Lady!
BEST ENSEMBLE: The Haunting of Bly Manor
We’ll forever love this one for bringing Rahul Kohli (iZombie) and T’Nia Miller (Sex Education) into the FlanaFold. Plus, Oliver Jackson-Cohen in a 180 from his Hill House character, Victoria Pedretti as the besieged newcomer to a family’s highly messed-up situation and Amelie Bea Smith and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as those preternaturally cute/creepy kids? Perfection.
MOST WORTHY OF A REWATCH: The Haunting of Hill House
OUR OVERALL RANKING
5. The Midnight Club
4. Midnight Mass
3. The Fall of the House of Usher
2. The Haunting of Bly Manor
1. The Haunting of Hill House
Flanagan and Macy’s first Netflix series comes in at Number 1 for the same reason it was a sleeper hit: It blended highly creepy source material (Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name), a phenomenal acting ensemble playing instantly compelling characters, and some of the scariest moments we’ve experienced on the small screen. On that note: We’re still not over Nell’s coffin collapsing during that tension-filled night in the funeral parlor. And who put the buttons on her eyes?!
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