Television series
Portals to Hell
- Supernatural mystery
- Portal fantasy
- Supernatural horror
- Dip in and out
Portals to Hell sends Jack Osbourne and paranormal investigator Katrina Weidman to genuinely creepy locations with dark histories, hunting for evidence of the supernatural. It's less about jump-scares and more about serious investigation—thermal imaging, EVP recordings, historical research. If you want haunted-house entertainment that takes itself seriously without being po-faced about it, this scratches that itch.
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The Haunting of Hill House2018
Atmospheric, genuinely unsettling exploration of a legendary haunted mansion with a real sense of dread. The scares feel earned rather than engineered, and the family drama grounds the supernatural elements.
But Slow-burn pacing means the first few episodes are more melancholy than spooky. Some viewers find the emotional beats overshadow the horror.
Paranormal Activity2007
The blueprint for found-footage supernatural investigation: minimal budget, maximum tension. Watching ordinary people document something they can't explain is genuinely unsettling in ways big effects aren't.
But The shaky-cam aesthetic hasn't aged brilliantly and some find the pacing repetitive. The scares rely heavily on silence and anticipation rather than spectacle.
A Dark Song2016
Two people in an isolated house attempting to contact the supernatural through occult ritual. Haunting, meditative, and deeply weird—it treats the paranormal as a serious spiritual pursuit rather than entertainment.
But This is slow, quiet, and deliberately strange. There's no conventional plot, just mounting unease and emotional intensity. It won't feel like entertainment in the traditional sense.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Portals to Hell
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Stone Tape1972
Both approach hauntings as genuine investigative puzzles rather than entertainment, using real methodology and treating the paranormal as something to solve rather than simply experience.
A BBC ghost story where a scientist investigates a haunting using 1970s technology, theorizing that ghosts are recordings in the stone itself. Cerebral, genuinely weird, and treats the paranormal as a scientific problem rather than a narrative.
But Slow, methodical, and rooted in 1970s television aesthetics. There's no conventional horror—just mounting unease and intellectual speculation. Assumes patience with period television.
More like this (8)
The Conjuring2013
James Wan's masterclass in supernatural investigation: paranormal researchers wade into a genuine nightmare. Brilliantly constructed scares, strong performances, and a real sense of genuine wrongness in the house itself.
But Mainstream horror that occasionally relies on jump-scares and scored moments. If you want subtlety over impact, this swings for the fences.
Insidious2011
A family's investigation into their son's mysterious coma bleeds into a genuinely nightmarish spirit realm. Unsettling and inventive, with a real sense of something fundamentally wrong rather than just spooky.
But Dips into body-horror and demonic imagery that some find overwrought. The mythology gets increasingly baroque as the sequels pile up.
The OA2016
A blind woman gains sight and possesses impossible knowledge after a mysterious near-death experience. Genuinely strange, ambitious, and willing to treat the paranormal as something beyond explanation rather than comfortable horror-movie logic.
But Deliberately obscure and fragmented, with a mythology that resists easy answers. The second season left things unresolved. Requires patience and tolerance for weirdness over clarity.
Poltergeist1982
Tobe Hooper's masterpiece treats a haunted house as a genuine investigative mystery grounded in a real family's terror. The special effects still hold—it's atmospheric rather than reliant on jump-scares.
But 1980s pacing and some dated effects work. The family dynamics can feel melodramatic by modern standards.
The Witch in the Window2018
A slow-burn folk horror film about a man restoring an old house and discovering something profoundly wrong living in its walls. Genuinely unsettling without relying on conventional scares.
But Minimal plot, minimal dialogue, minimal conventional payoff. This requires patience and comfort with ambiguity. Very little actually happens in the conventional sense.
Host2020
A Zoom séance during lockdown that goes catastrophically wrong. Inventive use of the format, genuine tension, and a real sense of something reaching through the digital barrier.
But The premise strains credibility even by found-footage standards. Some of the scares feel digitally artificial rather than viscerally frightening.
Possession1981
Both refuse to explain what's happening. Possession keeps its supernatural elements deliberately unclear, leaving investigation without answers—the real horror of not understanding what you're witnessing.
Andrzej Żuławski's hallucinatory divorce-turned-demonic-horror is genuinely disturbing and utterly singular. A marriage implodes while something genuinely wrong operates in the margins. Deeply unsettling in ways that linger.
But Deliberately obscure, violent, and emotionally brutal. The 'supernatural' elements are fragmented and ambiguous. Some will find it pretentious rather than frightening.
Lake Mungo2009
Like Portals to Hell, it's built on investigation and evidence—but the real discovery is about the investigators themselves, not the haunting. What you learn is never what you expected to find.
An Australian mockumentary about a family investigating their daughter's death and discovering something genuinely wrong beneath the surface of their grief. Unforgettable, devastating, and genuinely uncanny in ways that stick with you for weeks.
But Shot as a documentary with minimal music or conventional filmmaking. The horror is quiet, patient, and deeply tied to grief rather than spectacle. Some find it slow or frustrating on first watch.
