Mike Flanagan's work has become a staple of the horror genre, with the new Netflix series The Midnight Club impressing fans with its story and characters. Before releasing The Haunting of Hill House on the streaming service in 2018, Flanagan was known for his brilliant horror movies: Oculus (2013), Hush (2016), Before I Wake (2016), and Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016). Fans look forward to his next project, The Fall of the House of Usher.
Flanagan has made four horror TV shows so far, including The Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass. Each one is special for its own reasons, but which one is the absolute scariest?
All of Mike Flanagan's four horror series have smart jump scares, fleshed out characters, and lots of scary moments. The characters live in a haunted old mansion, on an island that has seen better days, or in a hospice center where ghosts and secrets lurk in every corner. The Midnight Club has regular actors seen in previous projects and is definitely a contender for the most terrifying Flanagan series, as Illonka constantly sees a mysterious older woman with a creepy face, and Brightcliffe plays tricks on its residents when darkness falls.
Flanagan's 2018 series The Haunting of Hill House just might win for being the scariest series, although The Midnight Club definitely matches the emotional intensity and impact of this brilliant and creative work. The Bent-Neck Lady is a terrifying character as young Nell (Violet McGraw) continues to see this figure standing above her whenever she tries to sleep at her family home. When Nell (whose adult version is played by Victoria Pedretti) grows up and falls in love and tragically loses her husband, she realizes a harsh truth that stops her cold: she is the Bent-Neck Lady. Nell uses a noose on her neck on the spiral staircase of the mansion, the ghost of her mom pushes her forward, and she breaks her neck and dies. Then she goes back in time to make her childhood self's life horrifying.
The series also has one of the most alarming jump scares used in a TV episode. In episode 8 called "Witness Marks," Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) and Theo (Kate Siegal) are driving when Nell's ghost appears in the backseat, totally freaking them out. This show understands the art of a good jump scare and this has become one of the most memorable scenes from the miniseries.
Flanagan's 2020 series The Haunting of Bly Manor and 2021 masterpiece Midnight Mass both have undeniably creepy atmospheres. The mansion of the former is not a place that anyone would want to spend a few minutes, let alone live there, due to the sheer number of spirits hanging around. Crockett Island is also a terrible place to be and the fact that a priest is responsible for everyone turning into vampires and literally going up in flames in the sunlight is still a stunning feat. But neither has the jump scares or genuine terror of The Haunting of Hill House, which turns one family's pain into an incredible horror story that can never be replicated.
This isn't to say that there isn't so much to love about The Midnight Club. Flanagan's adaptation of the young adult series by Christopher Pike is just as emotionally heavy and yet hopeful as his previous shows. The Midnight Club's trailer promised scares and feelings and that's exactly what fans have gotten. Midnight Mass focused on the interior world of each character, especially Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), who moves back home after some trouble and realizes that he doesn't know who he is anymore or how he can move forward.
Flanagan's latest series The Midnight Club does feature scary moments, whether Anya (Ruth Codd) continues to see a giant shadow making its way toward her face or the others are realizing that there's something odd about this place. The stories that the group shares after the clock strikes 12 a.m. are also suitably freaky, but some pack a better punch than others, and since not all of them are terrifying, the show isn't the scariest one that Flanagan has made.
The emotion at the core of The Midnight Club can never be forgotten, though, and this is where the show shines. The Midnight Club features teenagers who are dying of terrible illnesses and succeeds in showing how they prefer to be together at Brightcliffe than out in the world, as people pity them and make them feel bad about their tough situations.
Fans of Mike Flanagan's work will always get impressively written characters, smart scripts, and some wise jump scares, and The Midnight Club delivers on the promise of his earlier projects. But when it comes to which show is the most horrifying, The Haunting of Hill House likely wins for many horror fans.