20 Anthology Shows Everyone (With a Short Attention Span) Should Check Out

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20 Anthology Shows Everyone (With a Short Attention Span) Should Check Out

Imagine, if you will, a civilization whose economic system just destroys the human mind and turns it into ADD-riddled cheese. And imagine as well, if you will, that in this civilization TV shows possess intertwined stories, absurdly complex lores, boring character development, and tons of character names and relations that viewers must learn in order to enjoy them. What is some poor TV fan (say, an Internet writer with the attention span of a scared kitten) to do in the face of such a cognitive challenge? We submit for your approval, then, an idea, a concept, a genre: the anthology TV series.

Indeed, we now venture into 20 anthology shows, particularly of the horror, sci-fi, suspense, and black comedy variety. Some of them are well-known classic and contemporary representatives of their subgenres, while others might be lesser-known or even obscure shows that might warrant your attention. Your momentary attention, that is. For some of us are never going to learn the names of houses or rings or thrones or ’80s fast food joints – but we can focus for 20 to 40 minutes on a self-contained morality tale involving the dark side of the mind and spooky twists. Take a walk with us, then, through The Strange Stories From the Vault of the Cracked Pictof – okay, we have to work on the name.

Love, Death + Robots

Anthology Shows 20019 - present LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS The brainchild of David Fincher and Deadpool's Tim Miller, this show features sci-fi and horror stories which are beautifully animated, but can also be anticlimactic bores. Some episodes, though, like Beyond the Aquila Rift, can be particularly creepy and brilliant. CRACKED.COM XBOT 4000

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Unsolved Mysteries

Anthology Shows 1987-1992 UNSOLVED MYSTERIES This was actually more of a crime docudrama than straight-up anthology fiction. Still, those out of the loop should look up the classic intro and be creeped the hell out (and the original run wasn't bad). CRACKED.COM

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Ray Bradbury Theater

Anthology Shows 1985 - 1992 THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER Sci-fi master Ray Bradbury wrote every episode of this show. In fact, most were based on his stories (which means we get all the hits, like A Sound of Thunder, The Veldt, and The Long Rain), but they were also expanded and elaborated upon. Truly he wet dream of any Bradbury fan (except for the fact he hated TV). CRACKED.COM

Wikipedia

Masters of Horror

Anthology Shows Stephen King scholar Mick Garris led this anthology horror series boasting some of the best names in the genre - people like Tobe Hooper, Don Coscarelli, Dario Argento, Joe Dante, Stuart Gordon, and Lucky McKee. John Carpenter's episode, Cigarette Burns, is an underrated masterpiece, and Takashi Miike's Imprint turned out to be too horrific even for such a visionary show. 2005 - 2007 MASTERS OF HORROR CRACKED.COM

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Freddy's Nightmares

Anthology Shows 1988 - 1990 FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES Clearly inspired by Tales from the Crypt, this show was hosted by Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. The scary stories were only sometimes related to Freddy, but most were suggested to have been influenced by his demonic presence. The pilot shows shows Freddy's trial for child murder - which makes it canon, we think? CRACKED.COM

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Inside No. 9

Anthology Shows 2014 - present INSIDE No. 9 This show by theater nerds Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton might be the only ongoing anthology show able to compete with early Black Mirror in terms of quality and creepiness. Many episodes are dark comedies, but they also do nightmare fuel. Just turn off the lights and watch The Devil of Christmas, or the 2018 Halloween special, Dead Line. CRACKED.COM

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Black Mirror

Anthology Shows 2011 - present BLACK MIRROR Had Black Mirror ended after, say, the 2014 Christmas special, it might have dethroned classic Twilight Zone in the anthology horror/sci-fi game. While not all bad, however, the Netflix output has struggled to achieve the heights of even the lesser BBC episodes. Yes, it's a great show- but its cautionary tales now seem quainat compared to real life. CRACKED.COM

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