Netflix’s 12-Part Horror Is the Scariest Zombie Thriller of the Past Decade

Published Oct 2, 2026, 5:24 PM EDT Amanda M. Castro is a Network TV writer at Collider and a New York–based journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, where she is an Associate Editor, and The U.S. Sun, where she previously served as a Senior Consumer Reporter. She specializes in network television coverage, delivering sharp, thoughtful analysis of long-running procedural hits and ambitious new dramas across broadcast TV. At Collider, Amanda explores character arcs, storytelling trends, and the cultural impact of network series that keep audiences tuning in week after week. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Amanda is bilingual and holds a degree in Communication, Film, and Media Studies from the University of New Haven. Released in January 2022, All of Us Are Dead felt more raw and gritty than the majority of the other shows within Netflix’s extensive catalog of genres, as opposed to simply being another installment within it. The premise of All of Us Are Dead made it that much more compelling, and the writers allowed viewers to connect with the characters on a human level through their fears, outrage, and ultimate optimism as they faced their high school nightmares, which evolved into a national tragedy. More than four years after its premiere, the show still demonstrates why it was one of Netflix's most-watched Korean series soon after its initial release. At Hyosan High, the show begins with an accident during a science experiment, an unusual way for a bullied student to act out. It ends up exploding into a high-speed, unnatural school day. From there, the show quickly becomes a story of survival as Hyosan is the center (Ground Zero) of a catastrophic, very violent Zombie Apocalypse that spreads rapidly; panic sets in, and children must make choices that would break many adults. As viewers continue to watch the show's cast expand to include government officials, military personnel, and distraught parents, the show never loses the perspective of the children at the center of it all. Netflix’s ‘All of Us Are Dead’ Mixes Brutal Horror With Real Emotion Zombies are a common theme in movies, but All of Us Are Dead does not take shortcuts with typical zombie clichés. While there are plenty of scenes with long-running chases, crumbling staircases, and rooftop climbing, they are set up with characters you actually care about. Your heart races during each success because of the investments of all the characters involved, your stomach drops during the death of any main character, and you never feel too comfortable during moments between battles. Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes What Is Your Biggest Horror Nightmare? Elm Street · Chucky · Scream · The Conjuring Four horror franchises. Four completely different ways of scaring you. One waits until you fall asleep. One makes sure nobody believes you. One is already in your group of friends. And one is in the house with your family. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually watch horror, and find out which nightmare was built for you. 😴Elm Street(Freddy Krueger) 🧸Chucky(Child's Play) 📞Scream(Ghostface) 🕯️The Conjuring(The Warren Files) FIND YOUR NIGHTMARE → 01 Which horror scene makes you cover your eyes? Four classic images. One of them is worse than the others for you. ASomebody falling asleep when they really should not. BA toy that has moved, and nobody touched it. CA phone ringing in an empty house. DA child talking to somebody who is not there. NEXT QUESTION → 02 You are home alone and you hear a noise. First thought? Everybody has one. It arrives before you have decided anything. AI am exhausted and my mind is playing tricks on me. BSomething in this room is not where I left it. CSomebody is in here with me. DThis house has never felt entirely right. NEXT QUESTION → 03 Which horror movie rule would you break first? Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does. ANever fall asleep. BNever leave it out of your sight. CNever answer the phone. DNever go down to the basement. NEXT QUESTION → 04 Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do? Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight. AConvince myself I imagined the whole thing. BTell someone, and brace for them not believing me. CWork out which person I know could be behind it. DGet everybody in the house into one room. NEXT QUESTION → 05 How do you actually watch a horror film? Be honest about this one. Nobody is checking. AFine during. Wide awake at two in the morning. BShouting at the screen that nobody is listening. CCalling the twist out loud before it lands. DThrough my fingers, holding on to something. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Somebody offers you serious money. Which do you still refuse? The amount does not matter. There is one on this list you are not doing. AFall asleep in a room I have never been in before. BKeep an old doll on the shelf facing my bed. CAnswer every unknown number that calls after midnight. DSpend one night alone in a house with a history. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Which feeling stays with you a week after the film? Good horror does not stop when the credits do. ANot wanting to turn the bedroom light off. BNot trusting one particular object in my house. CLooking twice at people I have known for years. DFeeling like something came home with me. NEXT QUESTION → 08 Something wakes you at 3am. What is the worst possibility? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides your nightmare. AThat I am still asleep, and it knows it. BThat the thing nobody believed me about is here. CThat somebody with a key is downstairs. DThat something is in the doorway, watching us sleep. REVEAL MY NIGHTMARE → The Lights Just Went Out Your Nightmare Is…Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what it would leave behind. Elm StreetYour nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever won that particular argument. Freddy is horror's cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever. You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your own head is where this does its damage. These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose because they are weak. They lose because they are tired. You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep. ChuckyYour nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it. Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you. You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You know that feeling from real life too. The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you have met those adults. By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own. ScreamYour nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them. Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be somebody who was at the party. You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the same way you watch films. The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention. Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home. The ConjuringYour nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving. The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary room that quietly stops feeling ordinary. Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than personal, which is rarer than it sounds. This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are the ones who are not alone and refuse to be. Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one standing in the hallway. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ The show does an excellent job of demonstrating that teenagers aren't just a number — they're human beings with real emotions. The show demonstrates fear, bravery, selfishness, and hopefulness while also acknowledging the teens' flaws. The writers have done a fantastic job of developing strong character arcs. The show tackles big topics (bullying/teen suicide, the inability of adults to step in when kids are in trouble, etc.) while not coming off as preachy. Even though the zombies are obviously the biggest threat to kids, the choices kids make in their attempt to escape them are sometimes more terrifying. Why ‘All of Us Are Dead’ Still Feels Worth Watching in 2026 Image via Netflix A lot of pandemic-era entertainment faded once real-world exhaustion set in. All of Us Are Dead didn’t. Instead, this series has taken on the value of being a show that consistently finds and brings back new audiences, who subsequently recommend it to others, as one must continue to experience it to find anything of real note in the world of entertainment. Multiple elements will account for this continuing to be rediscovered, including outstanding direction that has an intentional, cinematic aesthetic, a cast that conveys the level of intensity in their shared experience, and an overall pace to allow the viewer to fully experience binge-watching while finding it difficult to remember how many episodes of the series one has viewed. Another aspect that makes the series memorable is that it has never treated the act of surviving as a "win or lose" event. The sacrifices made by some of the characters may seem unjust, as their friendships fail in stressful times, and the parental and adult figures will remind viewers that they are still adolescents finding their identity while the planet crumbles around them. That honesty gives the blood and chaos weight. How ‘All of Us Are Dead’ Earned a Spot Among Netflix’s Best Zombie Shows Image via Netflix All of Us Are Dead is more than four years old now, and it has solidified its status on Netflix as one of their best international titles. This is not due to any hype but simply due to the number of people who continue to connect with the series. The series provides horror fans with the traditional thrills and chills they expect, but also offers a reflective space for those who have lost loved ones along the way and for those who just made it through. Several moments from the show remain in your thoughts even after more than four years, including random acts of kindness expressed to one another in situations that seem impossible, moments of quiet consideration just before the next wave of chaos erupts, and the uncomfortable thought that, while you are alive, the act of survival is not always a victory in the true spirit of the word. You may have missed the phenomenon of All of Us Are Dead when it first premiered, or you may only remember the initial buzz. Netflix confirmed in July 2025 that Season 2 had begun production and is gearing up for release. Now is a great time to return to Hyosan. The series still packs the same emotional punch it did when it first aired and remains as harsh and painful as ever. Release Date 2022 - 2022-00-00 Network Netflix Writers Chun Sung-il Cast Yoon Chan-young Lee Cheong-san A high school becomes ground zero for a zombie virus outbreak. Trapped students must fight their way out or turn into one of the rabid infected.