This year's horror series take us on a harrowing journey through damned villages, cursed towns, and countries fallen into anarchy. From a religious frenzy in South Korea to a Georgia farm under attack, these shows offer a glimpse into the unsettling realms where the world seems to have lost control.

Brace Yourself for a Terrifying Descent into the Abyss

Hellbound: When the Supernatural Collides with Society

Based on an online cartoon, the Korean series "Hellbound" on Netflix presents a chilling premise: a trio of towering, golem-like figures materialize, heralded by cracks of thunder, and roast a human who has been identified as a sinner. These kinetically satisfying scenes, often featuring a tight-lipped lawyer who puts her police baton to good use, are just the beginning of a deeper exploration.Directed by Yeon Sang-ho, the acclaimed director of the "Train to Busan" zombie films, "Hellbound" delves into the societal reactions to this terrifying rip in reality. The screenwriter, Choi Gyu-seok, adapting Yeon's 2002 webtoon, focuses less on explaining the supernatural happenings and more on portraying the descent into coercive religious fanaticism, cathartic anarchy, and the few contrarians fighting for rationality and free will. The drama of ideas is talky and pitched between comic book and Philosophy 101, but the inventiveness and emotional resonance in the storytelling keep the audience engaged, as the show evokes a world quickly going mad.

The Midwich Cuckoos: Unraveling the Threads of Motherhood and Alien Invasion

When this mini-series premiered in Britain two years ago, it bore the same title as the John Wyndham novel on which it is loosely based, "The Midwich Cuckoos." For its American release, Acorn TV and Sundance Now (both will have the third of seven episodes on Thursday) tacked on the name of the cult-favorite 1960 film adaptation, "Village of the Damned."The story, if you're unfamiliar, begins with everyone in a British village blacking out; shortly after, every woman of childbearing age finds herself pregnant. The resulting children, as you might guess, are a scary bunch, with powers of mind control that represent an extinction-level threat. "The Midwich Cuckoos" handles the science-fiction aspects capably, and like the film, it has its share of quietly creepy moments.However, the series fills out the expanded running time with a heavy focus on agonizing about motherhood and parenting, which can feel a bit precious when the story is about aliens getting Earth women pregnant. While the series is a solid, watchable piece of work, it might have been better served by a tighter focus on the core science-fiction premise and the unsettling implications of the children's powers.

Cursed Lands and Haunted Shores: Exploring the Depths of Horror's Latest Offerings

Beyond the Korean and British productions, this year's horror series take viewers on a chilling tour of other damned locations. In "Georgia Farm," a family's idyllic rural existence is shattered by a mysterious and relentless attack, leaving them to confront the horrors that lurk in the shadows of their once-peaceful homestead.Across the sea, in a Japanese seaside town, "Spiral" delves into the haunting presence of spirals that seem to hold a sinister power over the residents, blurring the lines between the natural and the supernatural. Meanwhile, in the English countryside, "Midwich Cuckoos" explores the unsettling arrival of alien visitors to a seemingly bucolic village, where the veneer of tranquility hides a much darker truth.These diverse horror offerings, each set in a unique location, share a common thread: the unraveling of the familiar, the descent into the unknown, and the confrontation with forces that challenge our understanding of the world around us. As viewers, we are invited to confront our own fears and anxieties, to grapple with the unsettling realization that the boundaries between reality and the supernatural can be far more porous than we ever imagined.