10 Best Death Scenes In Recent Horror TV Shows
Death is never fun, and these characters learned that the hard way!
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00:00 Character death in horror TV is about as common as taxes and, well, death is in real life.
00:05 And the last decade of horror TV in particular has been no stranger to allowing the Grim
00:10 Reaper to step in, and all of the following deaths are a pure indication of just how brilliant
00:15 the swing of their scythe can be, even if it breaks your heart in the process.
00:20 I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 Best Death Scenes in Recent Horror
00:24 TV Shows.
00:25 10.
00:26 The Walking Dead 1 More - Maze
00:29 After 11 seasons, The Walking Dead naturally lost a bit of its bite.
00:34 After countless death scenes and a bit of creative fatigue, it was rare for the show
00:37 in its final years to muster up a genuine gut punch.
00:41 Though one of its final shockers came in the even unlikelier run of the bonus self-contained
00:46 COVID-19 episodes that bridged the gap between season 10 and 11.
00:51 The episode "In Question, One More" features franchise staples Aaron and Gabriel out on
00:56 a supply run when they're ambushed in the night by a crazed lone gunman.
01:01 This guy, Maze, played by the freakin' excellent Robert Patrick, forces the pair to play a
01:06 twisted game of Russian Roulette.
01:08 He gives them a choice, keep taking turns until one of the pair blows their own brains
01:13 out or turn the weapon on their friend to save their own life.
01:17 It's all apparently to prove his own ideology, that humans, no matter how close they may
01:22 be, will always turn on each other when the going gets tough.
01:25 Now while a total nutter, Maze isn't entirely unsympathetic.
01:29 It's clear he's been through some serious trauma, explaining that his own brother tried
01:34 to kill him for his remaining scraps of food.
01:37 Likewise when he realises that Gabriel and Aaron really are prepared to take their own
01:41 lives to save the person in front of them, despite both having family and children back
01:46 home, Maze does come around.
01:49 He sets them free, breaking down and eventually having a change of heart.
01:54 And at this point it seems like we're in for a happy-ish ending, with Maze realising
01:58 that people can change and trusting the two men.
02:01 But just as he and the audience let their guard down, Gabriel brutally bashes his head
02:06 in with Aaron's mace arm.
02:09 It's a shocking and genuinely deflating moment, and a reminder that even the good
02:14 guys in the world of The Walking Dead aren't always as good as their word.
02:18 9.
02:19 Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities - The Autopsy - Dr. Carl Winters
02:24 Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities was the deliciously macabre treat that many
02:28 were hoping it would be.
02:30 And when it comes to picking a favourite episode, most people will likely differ, but one undisputed
02:35 highlight has to be the autopsy.
02:38 This episode saw Dr. Carl Winters perform an autopsy, big shock there, on a strange
02:43 body.
02:44 He pieced together the mystery of the corpse and learned that an alien parasite had actually
02:48 been using it as a physical host.
02:51 Towards the climax of the episode, Dr. Winters found himself on the cutting room floor with
02:55 the alien creature attempting to make his body its new host.
02:59 However, in a moment of pure ingenuity, he used his own knowledge of the creature, that
03:04 being that it can't see or hear without a host, in order to trap it.
03:08 As the alien infested his body, he stabbed out his eyes and ears, and then slit his own
03:14 throat, trapping the monster inside of him with no way to get out.
03:18 He also wrote a message in blood, encouraging the incoming sheriff to burn his body, taking
03:24 himself and the creature out together.
03:26 It was a sublime moment that allowed the character's final moments to be an act of pure heroism.
03:32 8.
03:33 The Sandman - Gregory Everyone knows that killing animals off in
03:37 TV shows is pure evil, and Netflix's The Sandman only went and did it twice.
03:42 However, it was the death of Gregory that really togued at the viewers' heartstrings.
03:47 After losing everything, Morpheus, otherwise known as Dream, was forced to go back to his
03:52 land and attempt to regain his strength.
03:54 There, he ran into Cain and Abel, alongside their adorable pet gargoyle Gregory.
04:00 This guy was the cute figure the show needed, but things were about to get painful.
04:05 In order to perform a ritual, Morpheus needed to "take Gregory back", essentially erasing
04:10 him from existence to give himself some power.
04:12 Now, this scene was as heartbreaking as it comes, as this innocent and kind creature
04:17 willingly gave itself over to the person who created him.
04:21 While most entries on this list consist of brutal executions or violent conflicts, this
04:26 is a simple and poignant scene that shows a brave character making one final sacrifice.
04:32 7.
04:33 Creepshow - Public Television of the Dead - Mrs. Brookberry
04:36 Shudder's Creepshow series has been an unpredictable, but often delightful slice of pure horror
04:42 fun.
04:43 You can never really tell what the series will give you next, but one shock nobody saw
04:47 coming was the segment Public Television of the Dead.
04:51 This short saw a Bob Ross-inspired painter battling against a deadite-possessed Ted Raimi.
04:57 Yes, really.
04:59 This tongue-in-cheek evil dead parody introduced us to a character called Mrs. Brookberry,
05:04 a violent, arrogant woman who wanted more screen time to herself and didn't care who
05:08 got canned for it.
05:10 So seeing her eventually possessed by a deadite certainly felt like karma on that one.
05:16 Eventually she found herself facing off against the protagonist Claudia, who took an axe to
05:20 her head after proclaiming the supremely cheesy one-liner "I'm cutting your budget".
05:26 Just mwah, magnificent.
05:28 Brilliant stuff.
05:30 Now decapitation themselves in horror like this are often a ton of fun, but what makes
05:35 this one even better was that the head slice was broadcast on public television.
05:39 You got to see the chop in person, and then the image of kids reacting to it on their
05:44 TV screens.
05:46 This added a hilariously mean-spirited flavour to the death, and it's all the better for
05:50 it.
05:51 6.
05:52 Alice in Borderland - Chota, Karabe and Sayori
05:55 For anyone unfamiliar with the death game mayhem of Netflix's Alice in Borderland,
05:59 you are missing a real treat.
06:02 This Japanese series is a fun yet terrifying delve into action, violence, mystery, intrigue,
06:08 and unfortunately, betrayal.
06:10 In this series, a young man named Arisu is transported to a strange world alongside his
06:15 two best friends, Chota and Karabe.
06:17 There, they meet with a woman named Sayori, and compete in a slew of terrifying games.
06:23 With the price of losing these games is an agonising death.
06:27 In episode 3, a devastating challenge sees Arisu play against Chota, Karabe and Sayori
06:32 in a game that will result in only one of them surviving.
06:35 They're all fitted with neck braces that have charged explosives in them, and forced
06:39 to play hide and seek, with the seeker being the only one who makes it out alive.
06:45 After an emotionally harrowing conflict and a physical struggle between the friends, they
06:49 all decide to hide and allow Arisu to take the win.
06:52 He tries desperately to find them and let one of his friends live, but in the end he's
06:56 forced to watch as Karabe's head explodes right in front of him, and this is only three
07:01 episodes into the whole show.
07:04 5.
07:05 All of Us Are Dead - Han Ji-Yong Tzu
07:07 As the title may suggest, plenty of people die in this horror show.
07:11 However, that shouldn't come as much of a surprise, seeing as the series focuses on
07:14 high school kids battling against waves of the undead, and if even Rick Grimes struggled,
07:20 then you know these kids will.
07:22 Taking just one death from the bunch is a tough ask, but one that really stood out mostly
07:26 for its unfairness was the tragic demise of Han Ji-Yong Tzu.
07:31 This character was the incredibly likeable and loyal friend of Chi-Yong San, however
07:35 thanks to his poor financial position, he was despised by the spoiled rich kid, Lee
07:40 Na-Yong, and this hatred became all too real after she falsely claimed he was infected,
07:46 causing him to be quarantined.
07:48 Rather than admitting her fault later on, Na-Yong decided to forcibly infect him with
07:53 zombie blood from her handkerchief, causing him to turn.
07:57 And it was devastating to watch as he was the last person who deserved such cruel treatment.
08:03 4.
08:04 Midnight Mass - Riley
08:05 Wow, a Mike Flanagan project on a horror TV list?
08:09 Who saw that one coming?
08:11 Midnight Mass is a compelling piece of TV full of tension, plot twists and a slow burn
08:16 horror that doesn't patronise you with frequent jump scares.
08:20 Initial main character Riley is a troubled man who returns to his hometown of Crockett
08:25 after getting released from prison.
08:27 He's haunted by the images of the girl he accidentally killed while driving under the
08:31 influence, not to mention the bizarre supernatural happenings following the arrival of Father
08:36 Paul Hill.
08:38 One saving grace for Riley is being reunited with Erin, a girl he's known since childhood.
08:43 Unfortunately, just as this relationship begins to blossom, he stumbles upon the town's
08:48 secret.
08:49 A vampiric angel that's lurking on the island.
08:52 As the beast notices Riley, it immediately pounces and takes a bite out of his neck.
08:58 That's not all though.
08:59 Waking up transformed, it seems as though Riley is destined to spend the rest of the
09:03 show as the first real townsperson to become an undead monster.
09:07 However, unable to live with himself, he takes a rowboat out with Erin, confesses his love
09:12 to her, and to prove to her that he's not crazy about what just happened to him, allows
09:17 himself to turn to ash in front of her as the sun rises.
09:22 It is a haunting scene and a huge surprise to see the main character bite it before the
09:26 climax of the show had even kicked into gear.
09:29 3.
09:30 Squid Game - Allie
09:32 Squid Game was a series that walked hand in hand with death.
09:35 The kill count on this Netflix original was so high that you were lucky to even make it
09:39 out with just one of your favourite characters still breathing.
09:43 Unfortunately, anyone who fell in love with the kind-hearted Allie, which was admittedly
09:47 most viewers, knew this all too well.
09:50 Throughout the show, characters would backstab, betray and attack anyone and everyone to keep
09:55 themselves afloat in the game, but Allie was not like that.
09:59 He was trusting and helpful and did his best to keep his friends alive.
10:03 Sadly, then the Marbles game came along and his naive nature was used against him.
10:09 During this game, the character was paired with Chang Sang-woo and taught to compete
10:12 for a collection of marbles in any way they chose.
10:15 However, Sang-woo ended up deceiving Allie by stealing his marbles and trading them with
10:20 a bag of small stones.
10:22 So when the timer went off, Allie looked inside the bag and saw that he'd been tricked and
10:27 knew that a gunshot would soon come to his head.
10:31 The moment was utterly heartbreaking but did stand as one of the crowning pieces of storytelling
10:35 in this stellar series.
10:37 2.
10:38 Stranger Things - Chrissy Yes, if you've been on any social media
10:42 site that allows sound in the past year or so, you'll no doubt be familiar with the
10:47 dramatic cries of Eddie Munson as his drug deal with the popular cheerleader Chrissy
10:51 turned into a painful mess.
10:54 The fourth season of Stranger Things was a dramatic return to form in general for the
10:58 Netflix horror show, and it brought in the terrifying Vekna as the new Big Bat, as well
11:03 as delivering some of the scariest moments to have ever taken place in Hawkins, Indiana.
11:08 But the demise of Chrissy takes the prize as the most visceral one yet.
11:13 This poor girl was tormented by strange visions and terrifying events, leading the audience
11:18 to believe that a terrible fate was coming her way.
11:21 And eventually this prophecy came true, as Vekna, from inside her own mind, contorted
11:26 her body and tore out her eyes.
11:29 The moment was shocking to be sure, but what made it all the more dramatic was the fact
11:33 that Eddie and Chrissy had such sublime chemistry.
11:37 Seeing this happen to such a kind and likable character stung hard.
11:40 1.
11:41 The Haunting of Hill House - Nell
11:43 Yep, it's Mike Flanagan back at it again with yet another genuinely genius character
11:49 demise.
11:50 However, while Riley's death in Midnight Mass was an emotionally charged exchange,
11:54 Nell's death was simply a mind-blowing revelation.
11:58 All the characters in The Haunting of Hill House went through hell, but poor Nelly had
12:02 it especially hard.
12:04 She was haunted from a young age by the terrifying appearances of the Bent Neck Lady, that being
12:09 a ghostly figure with a snapped neck.
12:12 This all came to a head when her therapist recommended that she return to the site of
12:16 her trauma, the titular Hill House.
12:19 However, whilst there she's greeted by visions of her life as a child, though those visions
12:24 eventually fade and she's met with the ghost of her mother, who puts a noose around her
12:28 neck and pushes her off a stairwell.
12:31 And as if the hanging wasn't bad enough, Nell then transports through time to all the
12:35 moments where the Bent Neck Lady appeared before her, realising that she had been this
12:40 ghostly figure all along.
12:42 It's the kind of reveal that simultaneously scares you and gives you the goosebumps, and
12:47 that's all you can ask for really when it comes to horror TV.
12:50 So that's our list, I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
12:53 Are there any other horror TV death scenes that you think deserve a spot on here?
12:57 And what did you think of this lot?
12:59 Let me know and while you're down there if you could please give us a like, share, subscribe
13:02 and head over to WhatCultureHorror for more lists and news like this on the regular.
13:06 Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you