On the surface it seems unlikely that horror and reality television would mesh well at all. However, it turns out that it’s possible to create some pretty cool trash TV concepts for horror fans to indulge in, you just have to dig to find the real thrills and frights.
We’ve compiled a list of horror-based reality shows that you definitely forgot existed, despite how they turned a whole genre on its head.
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scream queens
Unlike the Emma Roberts led series of the mid 2010s, Scream Queens on VH1 followed a group of girls wanting to make it big in Hollywood. They’re all competing for a chance to appear in the Saw movies. Over the course of eight weeks the girls undergo several weekly challenges that take inspiration from horror tropes. In Season 1, Tanendra wins the title of Scream Queen, appearing in Saw VI. Season 2 contestants competed for a role in Saw 3D which Gabby West won. Scream Queens is available to stream on Tubi.
scare tactics
Hidden camera prank shows were pretty popular in the early 2000s thanks to the Ashton Kutcher-led PUNKd. Scare Tactics took the premise and applied a haunting twist. Producers lure people in by making them think they’ll be part of a new show, Fear Antics. They think they’ll do the pranking but really the joke is on them. The goal is for them to get scared out of their minds, and it usually works. However, the authenticity of the scares is widely debated by the internet. Scare Tactics is available to stream on Peacock, Tubi, and Fubo among others.
MTV’s Fear
Fear—not to be confused with Fear Factor—was an MTV hit that many people don’t talk about. Unfortunately, it’s considered lost media as it’s unavailable to stream on traditional services. However, if you’re tech savvy enough you might be able to uncover it. Fear was an early pioneer of the found footage horror genre that The Blair Witch Project broke open in 1999. Fear follows a group of six contestants locked away in a “haunted” location. Over the course of two nights they completed dares that included seances, spirit channeling, and more. If they managed to complete all the challenges there was a cash prize split between the survivors.
Hellevator
Produced by the Game Show Network by Jason Blum and Todd Lubin, Hellevator was a horror-based game show that aired from 2015 until 2016. The premise follows a “legend” each episode of some kind of horrific figure. The challenges in the episodes revolved around that figure. For example, there’s an Undertaker themed episode where one team enters a funeral home. But the Undertaker doesn’t take too kindly to visitors. They complete challenges like “Dead Ringer,” “The Labyrinth,” and “Show Your Guts,” which saw them enter the crematorium. In hindsight, it was kind of the predecessor to escape rooms.
Murder in Small Town X
This Nancy Drew whodunnit style murder-mystery show is one that should have been way bigger than it was. Lasting just a season on FOX, the series placed contestants in a fictional town and had them solve a murder case. Every week a contestant is “killed” off, leaving the final contestant to solve the murder and win a cash prize. It was canceled due to poor ratings, but with a few tweaks I think it could definitely have a place in the modern era given the success of YouTuber Joey Graceffa’s Escape The Night and the Knives Out franchise.
