10 Best Horror Shows Like Yaga to Watch Next
If the appeal of Yaga is the uneasy meeting of a missing-person case and an old supernatural story, your next horror series should give you more than a dark forest and a suspicious stranger. The best follow-ups make the investigation matter: someone is missing or dead, the people searching for answers have their own blind spots, and the possibility of something unnatural changes how the evidence can be understood.
Yaga is a Canadian mystery thriller created for television by Kat Sandler from her stage play. Private investigator Rapp (Noah Reid) arrives in the coastal town of Whittock to investigate the disappearance of Henry Park (Hudson Williams), the young heir to a fishing fortune. Local detective Carson (Clark Backo) becomes involved, and the search brings them into contact with Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), a university professor whose relationship with Henry attracts attention. The story draws on the Slavic folklore figure Baba Yaga while keeping the question of what happened to Henry at its centre.
The series premiered in the United States and Canada on 23 October 2026. Sky lists its UK and Ireland launch for31 October 2026, so this guide is based on its confirmed premise and released material rather than a claim about how its full season ends. We are looking for shared ingredients: investigators encountering folklore, isolated communities with secrets, unsettling women or supernatural figures, and mysteries where ordinary explanations do not quite settle the case.
The ten recommendations are not identical to Yaga. Some are more overtly supernatural, some are crime dramas with horror elements, and one is a dark fairy tale set in a city rather than a small town. We have ranked them by how closely their stories match the qualities above, as well as their characters, atmosphere and rewatch value. The countdown begins at number 10 and ends with our strongest match at number 1.
UK availability was checked in October 2026 and can change. One of our closest matches, Black Spot, did not have a UK streaming option in the listing checked; we have marked that clearly so you can decide whether to add it to a future watchlist. The descriptions avoid major endings. Let’s get into it
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10. The Changeling (2023)
Image credit:Apple TV+
Apollo Kagwa (LaKeith Stanfield) is a New York bookseller who falls in love with librarian Emma Valentine (Clark Backo). They marry and welcome a child, but Emma begins to experience disturbing events that leave her frightened and increasingly isolated. After a devastating family crisis, she disappears, and Apollo searches for answers through a version of the city where old stories, hidden communities and unsettling figures may have more power than he imagined. His journey becomes a question of what happened to his family and whether the explanations available to him are enough.
Based on Victor LaValle's novel, The Changeling approaches parenthood and grief through the language of dark fairy tales. Like Yaga, it uses folklore to complicate a search for a missing person, and Backo appears in both series. The setting is very different: Apollo's investigation moves through New York rather than a coastal town, and the show is more concerned with family trauma than a conventional police case.
Stanfield gives Apollo a determined but imperfect perspective. He wants to find Emma, yet understanding her experience requires him to question assumptions about their relationship and the pressures around a new baby. The story's fragmented structure can be absorbing if you enjoy interpreting clues, though viewers seeking a tidy procedural may find it frustrating. Its first season leaves some threads unresolved.
Why it ranks here:The Changeling earns tenth for its folklore, disappearance and unsettling family mystery. Its urban setting and less conventional structure make it a looser match than the small-town investigations higher up.
Best for:Viewers who want an adult fairy tale about parenthood, grief and a search through a familiar place made strange.
Where to watch in the UK:Apple TV+; check The Changeling on JustWatch.
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9. Archive 81 (2022)
Image credit:Netflix
Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) restores damaged recordings for a living. When a mysterious client hires him to repair videotapes recovered from a fire, he is sent to an isolated facility and told to work through the footage. The tapes follow documentary maker Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi), who had been investigating an apartment building and its residents before the fire. As Dan watches her search, strange rituals and connections to his own past make the job feel less like a technical assignment and more like an investigation he cannot safely abandon.
The show creates suspense by putting an investigator at a distance from the person he wants to help. Dan has footage rather than a conventional witness, while Melody's story unfolds in another time. Their separate searches gradually begin to influence one another, and the building becomes a place where ordinary neighbours may be guarding something much older and more disturbing.
Yaga fans who like the question of whether an apparent crime has a supernatural explanation will find a similar pull here. Archive 81 is less interested in a local police partnership and more focused on recordings, cult activity and a lonely worker becoming emotionally invested in the past. Its sound design and damaged-video aesthetic make the evidence itself unsettling.
The show ran for one season and was not continued, leaving an unresolved ending. That is a real consideration before starting: the eight episodes provide an absorbing mystery, but viewers who need every thread tied off may prefer a completed limited series.
Why it ranks here:Archive 81 places ninth for its investigative structure and supernatural clues. It beats The Changeling for the momentum of its central mystery, but its unresolved continuation and urban setting make it less closely matched to Yaga than the entries above.
Best for:Fans of found-footage atmosphere, secretive groups and mysteries assembled from recordings.
Where to watch in the UK:Netflix; check Archive 81 availability.
8. Katla (2021)
Image credit:Netflix
A year after the Katla volcano begins erupting, the Icelandic town of Vík is covered in ash and many residents have left. Gríma (Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð) remains, searching for her missing sister Ása while helping in the community that still lives under the volcano's shadow. When a woman emerges from the landscape covered in ash, her appearance raises questions about identity, memory and people the town believed it had lost. Other residents face similarly unsettling returns, forcing them to consider whether the person before them is who they think she is.
Katla makes its setting part of the mystery. Ash limits ordinary life, the volcano remains a constant presence and the reduced population makes every unexpected arrival significant. Gríma's search is personal, but it is also tied to a community trying to decide what evidence to trust when familiar faces return under impossible circumstances.
Like Yaga, the series draws power from a small place where a missing person and local stories cannot be separated from the landscape. It is more restrained and melancholy than a fast-moving detective thriller, leaning into grief and uncertainty rather than frequent action. Its supernatural or science-fiction elements are best discovered gradually.
The slow pace will be a strength for viewers who want atmosphere and emotional ambiguity. Others may find that the show takes time to explain its rules. The reward lies in watching each family respond differently to the possibility of getting someone back.
Why it ranks here:Katla takes eighth for its isolated community, missing-person thread and haunting sense of place. It sits above Archive 81 because its local relationships are closer to Yaga's setup, while its slower pace and less procedural approach keep it below the next choices.
Best for:Viewers who prefer atmospheric mysteries about loss and identity.
Where to watch in the UK:Netflix; check Katla on JustWatch.
7. Fortitude (2015–2018)
Image source:TV Show Pilot· Image credit: Sky Atlantic
Fortitude is a remote Arctic settlement that prides itself on safety and close community. When a scientist is brutally murdered, local sheriff Dan Anderssen (Richard Dormer) faces a case that threatens the town's sense of itself. An outside investigator arrives, and the inquiry exposes tensions among residents, researchers and local leaders. As further disturbing events emerge, the people investigating must consider whether the violence can be understood as an ordinary crime or whether something in the environment has changed the rules.
The series uses isolation to increase the pressure on its characters. In a small settlement, a suspect, a neighbour and a person needed for the town's future may be the same individual. That makes the investigation politically and personally difficult, particularly for authorities trying to preserve Fortitude's image.
Yaga's premise also puts an outsider and a local investigator in a community with hidden relationships. Fortitude shares that tension, though its Arctic setting and eventual explanation take it in a different direction from Baba Yaga folklore. The violence is considerably more graphic than its picturesque snowy setting might suggest.
Dormer's sheriff gives the series a conflicted local centre, while the arrival of an outside investigator creates friction over evidence and authority. The first season is the clearest match for a viewer who wants a murder mystery gradually opening into horror. Later seasons change the cast and emphasis, so their appeal may vary.
Why it ranks here:Fortitude earns seventh for its outsider investigation, small-town secrets and escalating horror. It beats Katla for a more direct crime-story engine, but its graphic violence and changing later seasons keep it below the strongest folklore-led matches.
Best for:Viewers comfortable with gruesome horror who like an investigation in an isolated community.
Where to watch in the UK:Sky Go and digital purchase have been listed; check Fortitude on JustWatch.
6. Evil (2019–2024)
Image source:Espinof· Image credit: CBS / Paramount+
Forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) is recruited to assess cases for the Catholic Church alongside David Acosta (Mike Colter), a priest in training, and technical specialist Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi). Their assignments include alleged possessions, miracles and other events that may have natural explanations. Kristen brings scepticism, David approaches the cases through faith and Ben searches for practical evidence, but their different methods do not always produce an answer that satisfies everyone.
The series has a procedural shape: a new case can begin with an apparently supernatural event and become a test of how the team gathers evidence. At the same time, recurring threats and the characters' family lives give the stories consequences beyond one investigation. Kristen's work becomes more unsettling when her cases appear to reach into her home and challenge her confidence about what can be explained.
Yaga's investigators confront a story shaped by belief and folklore. Evil makes that tension its regular engine, asking whether a frightening event is a supernatural intervention, a human deception or something neither side can yet explain. Its three-person team also gives belief and doubt individual voices rather than treating scepticism as a single position.
Evil is more episodic and more willing to mix dark humour with horror than some entries here. It can be disturbing, odd and occasionally playful within the same case. Viewers looking for one continuous missing-person mystery may prefer the shows higher up, but the changing investigations provide plenty of opportunities for debate.
Why it ranks here:Evil places sixth because its investigative team and uncertainty around supernatural claims closely match one of Yaga's main attractions. It falls below the top five because its case-by-case structure is less focused on one small town and one disappearance.
Best for:Fans of investigative teams, competing explanations and unsettling cases with dark humour.
Where to watch in the UK:Sky Go, NOW and Paramount+ have listings, with season availability varying; check Evil on JustWatch.
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5. The Third Day (2020)
Image source:Bulles de Culture· Image credit: HBO / Sky
Sam (Jude Law) travels to Osea, an island off the British coast connected to the mainland by a causeway that disappears beneath the tide. He becomes involved with the island's residents, whose rituals and preparations for a festival seem increasingly difficult for an outsider to understand. In another part of the story, Helen (Naomie Harris) arrives with her children seeking a break and finds herself facing the same isolated community from a different position. Both visitors must decide whom to trust when the island's traditions begin to shape their choices.
The geography is a powerful part of the premise. The causeway is not simply an atmospheric route into the story; it limits when someone can leave. A place that appears welcoming can become difficult to escape, and every conversation with a resident carries the possibility that the visitor does not understand the rules governing the island.
For Yaga viewers, the appeal is the meeting of an outsider, a tight-knit community and beliefs that may conceal danger. The Third Day is less of a police investigation, but it shares the question of how much a visitor can learn when the locals have their own reasons for withholding information. Its folk-horror mood and emphasis on ritual are especially strong.
The series is deliberately disorienting and divides its narrative between different perspectives. That structure gives the island more than one way to be understood, though it can frustrate viewers who want a straightforward sequence of clues. Its unsettling atmosphere is the main draw rather than a neat procedural resolution.
Why it ranks here:The Third Day enters the top five for its isolated setting, folklore and outsider perspective. It outranks Evil for its concentrated community mystery, but its less detective-led structure keeps it below the closest matches.
Best for:Fans of folk horror, rituals and stories where the route home is not always available.
Where to watch in the UK:Sky Go has listed the series; verify The Third Day on JustWatch.
4. Midnight Mass (2021)
Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) returns to Crockett Island after serving time for a fatal accident. The community he left is small, economically strained and closely connected to its church. When a charismatic young priest, Father Paul (Hamish Linklater), arrives to take over services, residents begin to witness events they interpret as miracles. Riley and others, including Erin Greene (Kate Siegel) and Sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli), must decide what is happening as hope and fear spread through the island.
The story makes belief a community event. A strange occurrence does not remain a private puzzle when neighbours share the same church, ferry and limited resources. Some people see evidence of grace; others notice details that make the apparent miracle more frightening. The tension comes from watching those interpretations change relationships among people who cannot easily leave one another behind.
Like Yaga, Midnight Mass places a compelling figure at the centre of a community's uncertainty and asks what old beliefs might mean in the present. Father Paul's position is different from Katherine's, and the series draws on Christian rather than Baba Yaga traditions. The comparison is about atmosphere, persuasion and the danger of accepting an explanation too quickly, not a claim that the shows tell the same story.
Mike Flanagan's limited series takes time with conversations about guilt, grief and faith. Linklater's performance gives Father Paul warmth and urgency, while Gilford's Riley offers a sceptical perspective shaped by his own past. The slower, dialogue-heavy approach may not suit viewers seeking a quick detective plot, but it gives the eventual danger a strong emotional context.
Why it ranks here:Midnight Mass takes fourth for its isolated community, charismatic central figure and unsettling collision of belief and evidence. It sits above The Third Day for its more developed ensemble, though it is less directly built around a missing-person investigation than the top three.
Best for:Viewers who want slow-building supernatural horror and substantial character conversations.
Where to watch in the UK:Netflix; check Midnight Mass availability.
3. Marianne (2019)
Image source:British Vogue· Image credit: Netflix
Emma Larsimon (Victoire du Bois) is a successful horror writer whose books feature a frightening witch named Marianne. When a person from her past appears and suggests that the stories are connected to real events, Emma returns to the coastal town she left behind. There she encounters old friends, family tensions and a threatening presence that seems to know her work. Emma needs to determine whether Marianne is merely a figure she invented or something that has followed her from childhood into adult life.
The series turns authorship into a source of danger. Emma thought she could leave her hometown and control the stories she tells, but returning forces her to confront experiences she has avoided. Her friends and family are not simply witnesses to her investigation; they have their own memories of the town and their own reasons to fear what may be happening.
For Yaga fans, the strongest connection is a threatening witch figure whose story reaches into a contemporary community. Marianne is more openly frightening and uses shocks and disturbing imagery more aggressively than the limited Yaga material available so far suggests. The shared pleasure is watching a familiar supernatural idea collide with people who have practical, present-day problems.
Du Bois gives Emma a sharp, sometimes difficult personality. Her flaws make the return home more complicated than a simple heroic quest, and the town's relationships give the horror personal consequences. The first season tells a substantial story, although the series was not continued, so viewers should not expect a second season to answer every remaining question.
Why it ranks here:Marianne reaches third for its witch-centred horror, coastal setting and protagonist confronting an old mystery. It beats Midnight Mass as a closer supernatural match, while the top two integrate the investigative side even more directly.
Best for:Horror viewers who want a frightening witch story and are comfortable with intense imagery.
Where to watch in the UK:Netflix; check Marianne on JustWatch.
2. The Outsider (2020)
Image source:The Indian Express· Image credit: HBO
Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) investigates the murder of a young boy in a Georgia community. The evidence appears to point towards local teacher and coach Terry Maitland, but other information suggests that Terry was somewhere else when the crime occurred. As the contradiction becomes harder to dismiss, investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo) joins the search. Ralph wants an explanation grounded in evidence; Holly's enquiries raise the possibility that the case involves something far outside his usual experience.
The series, adapted from Stephen King's novel, begins with the familiar machinery of a crime investigation: witnesses, physical evidence and the pressure to identify a suspect. Its power comes from making those ordinary tools produce incompatible answers. Ralph cannot simply ignore the evidence that supports an arrest, but he also cannot explain away information that contradicts it.
Holly brings a different method to the case. She pays close attention to patterns and possibilities others might reject, creating a productive tension with Ralph's scepticism. Their relationship makes the supernatural question dramatic rather than abstract: each investigator must decide whether working with the other requires changing what they believe evidence can mean.
Yaga's premise similarly brings investigators into a disappearance surrounded by an old supernatural figure. The Outsider is more sombre and focuses on a murder rather than a missing heir, but it offers one of the closest matches for viewers who want a procedural gradually unsettled by folklore-like horror. Its subject matter is disturbing, and its deliberate pace asks for patience.
Why it ranks here:The Outsider takes second because its clash between detective work and an apparently impossible explanation closely matches Yaga's investigative appeal. It sits just below our top pick because the latter makes the local landscape and community's connection to the strange central to a longer-running mystery.
Best for:Viewers who want a serious detective story that slowly admits the possibility of the supernatural.
Where to watch in the UK:HBO Max and digital purchase have been listed; check The Outsider on JustWatch.
1. Black Spot / Zone Blanche (2017–2019)
Image credit:France 2
In Villefranche, a remote town surrounded by dense forest, police major Laurène Weiss (Suliane Brahim) investigates a series of violent crimes in a community with an unusually high murder rate. Prosecutor Franck Siriani (Laurent Capelluto) arrives to examine the situation and finds a place where unreliable communications, local rivalries and the surrounding woods make ordinary investigative work difficult. Laurène has a personal history with the forest, and each new case pushes her closer to questions that the town's residents may not be ready to answer.
Black Spot is our strongest match because its central mystery is rooted in a particular place. The woods are not a decorative route between crime scenes. They shape the town's isolation, the stories people tell and Laurène's own memories. The arrival of Siriani gives the audience an outsider's view, while Laurène understands relationships and dangers that cannot be explained by a map alone.
That pairing echoes the appeal of Yaga's Rapp and Carson: an investigator arriving from elsewhere must work alongside someone with local knowledge. The characters and cases are different, but both premises use the tension between an outsider's questions and a community's long history. A case can expose a crime while also reopening a story that residents have carried for years.
The show blends procedural investigations with an ongoing sense that the forest may hold something older and less easily classified. It does not require every strange detail to be accepted immediately as supernatural. The uncertainty keeps the audience and investigators weighing evidence, memory and local belief together.
There are practical caveats. Black Spot has two seasons, and viewers who want a completely closed account of every mystery may find its ongoing threads frustrating. Most importantly for UK readers, the JustWatch listing checked didnotidentify a current UK streaming option. It is a recommendation for a watchlist rather than a promise that you can start it tonight; rights can change, so recheck the listing.
Why it ranks first:Black Spot combines an outsider investigator, a local police lead, a dangerous small town and an old, unsettling relationship with the surrounding landscape more completely than the other choices. It edges out The Outsider because the community and forest shape the mystery as much as the central case does.
Best for:Viewers who want the closest blend of crime investigation, folklore atmosphere and a secretive community.
Where to watch in the UK:No UK streaming option was listed when checked. Monitor Black Spot on JustWatchfor changes.
Which Show Should You Watch First?
If you want a detective case that gradually becomes supernatural, start with The Outsider. If a threatening witch is the main attraction, choose Marianne. For island rituals and a community that may be hiding its own rules, try The Third Day; for a slower story about belief and grief, choose Midnight Mass.
Evil is the best choice when you want a team to investigate several different cases, while Archive 81 offers a mystery built from recordings. Keep Black Spot on your watchlist if UK rights return, and check the exact season on each service before subscribing or buying.
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Final Thoughts
The best shows like Yaga understand that a supernatural mystery becomes more compelling when the people investigating have something personal at stake. A detective may be protecting a town, a writer may be returning to a childhood fear, and an outsider may discover that a community's stories are harder to dismiss than expected.
Black Spot is our closest match for its local investigator, outsider and ominous forest, with The Outsider a strong choice you can check for current UK availability. If witch folklore is what you most want, Marianne offers a more overtly frightening route. Which would you add to your watchlist?
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yaga about?
Private investigator Rapp travels to the coastal town of Whittock to investigate the disappearance of Henry Park. He works alongside local detective Carson and encounters Katherine, a professor connected to the missing man, as the story draws on Baba Yaga folklore.
When does Yaga arrive in the UK?
Sky lists Yaga for 31 October 2026 on Sky Atlantic and NOW. Check the current schedule before watching.
Which show is most like Yaga?
Our closest match is Black Spot for its local police lead, outsider investigator, isolated community and unsettling forest. It did not have a UK streaming option in the listing checked.
Which similar show can I watch in the UK now?
The Outsider has been listed on HBO Max, while Marianne and Midnight Mass have been listed on Netflix. Check the current catalogue because rights can change.
Is Yaga based on folklore?
Yes. It reimagines the Slavic folklore figure Baba Yaga and is adapted by Kat Sandler from her stage play.
Which recommendation features a witch?
Marianne centres on a horror writer returning to a town where the witch from her stories may be more than fiction. It is more overtly frightening than many of the other picks.
Are any of these shows complete limited stories?
Midnight Mass and The Outsider each tell a contained story in one season. The Third Day is also a limited series with a divided narrative.
Does The Changeling share a cast member with Yaga?
Yes. Clark Backo plays Emma in The Changeling and Carson in Yaga. The two shows otherwise have different settings and stories.
Is Black Spot available in the UK?
No UK streaming option appeared in the JustWatch listing checked for this article. Check again because distribution rights can change.
Are these shows suitable for children?
Several contain graphic violence, disturbing imagery or adult themes. Check the age rating and content guidance for the specific show before watching with younger viewers.
Sources and Viewing
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