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If You Miss Netflix's Dark, Watch This Terrifying Mystery Thriller With 93% RT Score

Published

2 days ago

6th July 2025

When Dark hit Netflix in 2017, fans and critics instantly recognized that it wasn’t just another mystery show – it was a mind-bending masterpiece. With its intricate timelines, intergenerational drama, and eerie sci-fi atmosphere, the German-language series gripped viewers worldwide and earned near-universal acclaim. Both a critical darling and a sleeper hit, Dark was praised for its bold storytelling and stunning execution. Years after its conclusion, many still count it among Netflix’s best originals, and few series have matched its emotional weight and conceptual ambition.

Part of what made Dark so unforgettable wasn’t just the twists, it was how deeply satisfying the mystery became as the pieces locked into place. If you’re still haunted by Dark’s revelations, there’s a series that might just scratch that same itch. The show boasts a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score, and its first season tells a complete mystery with a strikingly similar premise to Dark. This perfect follow-up to Dark is SyFy’s Channel Zero, and if you start with its opening chapter, Candle Cove, you’re in for one of TV’s most chilling hidden gems.

The Candle Cove Season Of Channel Zero Has A Similar Eerie Premise To Dark

Both Shows Begin With Small-Town Child Disappearances And Unravel Into Something Far More Bizarre

Two kids watching TV in Channel Zero Candle Cove

The first season of Channel Zero, titled Candle Cove, starts in a place Dark fans will find eerily familiar. Based on the popular Creepypasta story with the same name, a man named Mike Painter (Paul Schneider) returns to his quiet hometown after years away. In the same way Ulrich (Oliver Masucci) in Dark begins his journey investigating the disappearance of his son Mikkel, Mike’s investigation in Candle Cove kicks off with strange memories of a 1980s children’s TV show that may have been connected to several local child disappearances – including that of his twin brother.

That’s where the similarities between Candle Cove and Dark really start to deepen. Both are slow-burning thrillers centered around mysterious vanishings, generational trauma, and the realization that something truly otherworldly is at play. In Dark, time travel is the culprit behind the town’s twisted family tree. In Candle Cove, it’s a seemingly cursed kids’ puppet show that only children can see, and that may be broadcasting from a different dimension altogether.

Candle Cove is as much about the psychological unraveling of its characters as it is about the mystery at the center.

Just like Dark, Candle Cove is as much about the psychological unraveling of its characters as it is about the mystery at the center. Mike’s memories are unreliable, his grief is raw, and the past refuses to stay buried. The tone is chillingly surreal, with cryptic symbolism and Channel Zero’s unique unnerving imagery baked into nearly every frame, such as a creature made entirely of human teeth.

Channel Zero: 10 Unanswered Questions We Still Have About Candle Cove

Channel Zero: Candle Cover left viewers hanging with 10 unanswered questions.

Fans looking for a TV show like Netflix’s Dark will be right at home in Candle Cove’s spooky small town. It hits that same sweet spot between emotional storytelling and mind-warping mystery, all wrapped in a hauntingly strange atmosphere that dares you to keep watching.

Channel Zero Leans More Into Horror Than Dark

While Dark Builds Dread Through Mystery, Channel Zero Dives Straight Into Nightmare Fuel

One of the biggest differences between Dark and Channel Zero is the approach to tone. While Dark leans heavily into psychological thriller territory with some sci-fi horror undertones, Channel Zero fully embraces the horror genre, especially in terms of visuals. From twisted monster designs to haunting set pieces, Channel Zero isn’t afraid to be grotesque, surreal, or straight-up terrifying.

In Candle Cove, the creepy imagery of the tooth-child alone is enough to give seasoned horror fans chills. The show doesn’t just hint at evil, it shows it in all its uncanny glory. That’s not to say Dark doesn’t have moments of pure dread, but it often relies on atmosphere and emotional tension rather than jump scares or visual horror. Channel Zero, on the other hand, blends its central mystery with full-on nightmare fuel.

Like Netflix’s Dark but with even darker visual storytelling

Still, both shows thrive on the same core concept: ordinary people in small towns uncovering a massive, reality-defying secret. For Dark, that secret is a time loop spanning generations. For Candle Cove, it’s the suggestion that a sentient TV program might be reaching through dimensions to manipulate children. It’s a terrifying premise, made more effective by the show’s refusal to over-explain, opting instead to let the horror speak for itself.

If you’re after a TV show like Netflix’s Dark but with even darker visual storytelling, Channel Zero is a perfect pick. Its mix of folklore, trauma, and the uncanny taps into the same primal fears while taking the horror much further.

Each Season Of Channel Zero Offers A New Pulse-Pounding Mystery

Unlike Dark, Channel Zero Is An Anthology With A Fresh Mystery Every Season

One of the unique strengths of Channel Zero is that it reinvents itself with every season. While Dark spans three interconnected seasons, building a single massive story arc, Channel Zero functions as an anthology series. Each season stands alone with its own cast, setting, and central mystery. This makes it more digestible for viewers who want the same “must-know-what-happens” tension of Dark, but without the commitment of a 26-episode narrative puzzle.

After Candle Cove, Channel Zero continues with No-End House, where a group of friends visits a haunted house that shifts reality itself. Then comes Butcher’s Block, which features disturbing urban legends, creepy staircases to nowhere, and themes of inherited trauma. Finally, The Dream Door explores repressed memories and conjured monsters lurking in the deepest corners of the human mind.

The overall show has a lot to offer fans of Dark, as every season of Channel Zero has its own mystery to unpack.

Though each installment is different, the connective tissue is clear: every season explores surreal horror, twisted nostalgia, and psychological decay. Channel Zero uses its anthology format to explore bold, disturbing ideas in a compact six-episode format per season, making it perfect for binge-watching or slow-burning over time.

This is where the overall show has a lot to offer fans of Dark, as every season of Channel Zero has its own mystery to unpack. While nothing quite matches the intricacy of Dark’s timeline-hopping narrative, the questions at the heart of Channel Zero’s stories are just as gripping. If you’ve been searching for a TV show like Netflix’s Dark that also rewards attention to detail and builds its terror slowly but surely, Channel Zero more than deserves your time.