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| Loved The Boroughs? Here Are 19 Similar Series Packed With Monsters, Small-Town Secrets and Found-Family Madness. (Credits: Netflix) |
Netflix finally found a way to make retirement communities look terrifying. The Boroughs turns quiet desert cul-de-sacs, golf carts, suspicious neighbours, and elderly loneliness into one of the most unexpectedly addictive sci-fi mysteries of 2026. Backed by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, and the Duffer Brothers, the series throws viewers into a supernatural conspiracy where monsters are literally stealing time from residents living in a New Mexico retirement village. Somehow, it manages to feel emotional, funny, creepy, and strangely comforting all at once.
The biggest surprise, though, is how brilliantly the show balances its supernatural chaos with real themes about grief, aging, friendship, and people society usually overlooks. No wonder viewers immediately started hunting for similar series the second the credits rolled. Created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, with the Duffer Brothers hovering over the project like proud sci-fi uncles, The Boroughs quickly became one of Netflix’s most talked-about supernatural dramas of 2026.
Viewers are especially obsessed with the chemistry between Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Bill Pullman, and Clarke Peters, who somehow make golf carts look cooler than most action heroes in Hollywood right now. Social media reactions have been chaotic in the best way possible, with fans joking that they now want every monster series to feature pensioners instead of teenagers screaming in basements.
Shows Like The Boroughs
If you’ve already powered through all eight episodes and now feel emotionally abandoned by New Mexico’s weirdest retirement village, here are 19 shows that hit similar vibes through supernatural mystery, eerie conspiracies, emotional storytelling, sci-fi tension, or groups of unlikely people trying to survive things way above their pay grade.
1. Stranger Things
Obviously this had to be here. Stranger Things is basically the spiritual older sibling of The Boroughs, mainly because the Duffer Brothers helped shape both worlds. Instead of retirees on golf carts, you get kids on bikes uncovering government experiments, alternate dimensions, and horrifying monsters in Hawkins.
The emotional core feels incredibly similar though: outsiders forming a family while dealing with grief, fear, and impossible situations. Also, both series understand that small-town weirdness is elite television.
2. Dark
If you enjoyed the “time is literally being stolen” concept in The Boroughs, then Dark will absolutely melt your brain in the best possible way.
The German sci-fi thriller dives into missing people, time loops, generational trauma, and enough timelines to make viewers pause every ten minutes just to breathe. It’s darker, heavier, and less cosy than Netflix’s retirement-community mystery, but the atmosphere is equally addictive.
3. Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass trades retirement-community chaos for isolated island paranoia, but the emotional weight feels very close to The Boroughs. Elderly characters matter here.
Faith, grief, mortality, and fear of aging all sit at the centre of the story while something deeply disturbing unfolds in the background. It’s haunting, slow-burning, and weirdly emotional. Also, nobody does uncomfortable dinner conversations quite like this show.
4. From
If you like groups of trapped people uncovering terrifying mysteries while monsters lurk outside at night, From is basically mandatory viewing. The series follows residents stuck in a town they cannot escape, where deadly creatures emerge after sunset.
Similar to The Boroughs, the real hook is how ordinary people slowly become emotionally connected while trying not to completely lose their minds.
5. Twin Peaks
Without Twin Peaks, half of modern mystery television probably would not exist. Strange disappearances, surreal humour, unsettling townsfolk, and hidden darkness under suburban life all connect beautifully with the energy of The Boroughs.
The elderly characters here are also iconic in their own wonderfully chaotic way. David Lynch genuinely looked at television and decided normal storytelling was overrated.
6. The OA
Like The Boroughs, The OA thrives on emotional mystery and people society tends to overlook. The story follows a woman who mysteriously returns after disappearing for years, bringing impossible stories about alternate realities and strange experiments. It’s deeply weird, deeply emotional, and still has viewers begging for closure years later.
7. Castle Rock
This Stephen King-inspired series blends psychological horror, supernatural mystery, and small-town dread into one deeply unsettling package. Fans of The Boroughs will probably enjoy how the show slowly reveals hidden darkness beneath an ordinary-looking community.
Also, elderly characters again play surprisingly important roles here, proving older actors absolutely can carry genre television without any problem.
8. Wayward Pines
Imagine arriving in a peaceful-looking town where everything feels slightly wrong and nobody answers questions properly.
That’s basically Wayward Pines. Similar to The Boroughs, the show balances paranoia, conspiracy, mystery, and hidden monsters while constantly making viewers suspicious of literally everyone.
9. The Leftovers
Emotionally devastating? Yes. Weirdly beautiful? Also yes. The Leftovers explores grief, loss, and human connection after a mysterious global event changes society forever.
While it’s less monster-focused than The Boroughs, the emotional themes surrounding aging, loneliness, and finding purpose feel incredibly aligned.
ICYMI: The Boroughs Season 2 Update
10. Resident Alien
This one leans far more comedic, but the mix of quirky community members, hidden secrets, and sci-fi absurdity feels very compatible with The Boroughs.
Watching an alien attempt to blend into small-town life while humans spiral around him is ridiculously entertaining. The humour is sharper too, especially when characters completely ignore obvious danger because they’re busy arguing about something petty.
11. Evil
If you enjoyed the balance between creepy horror and sarcastic humour in The Boroughs, then Evil deserves a spot on your list immediately.
The series investigates supernatural events that may or may not have logical explanations, constantly blurring the line between science and the unknown. Also, the character banter is top-tier.
12. Yellowjackets
A group of traumatised survivors trying to deal with horrifying secrets years later? Very much the same emotional territory.
Yellowjackets focuses on survival, paranoia, trauma, and fractured friendships while slowly revealing terrifying truths. Like The Boroughs, it thrives on strong ensemble performances and emotional messiness.
13. Archive 81
This underrated Netflix horror series follows an archivist uncovering terrifying secrets hidden within old videotapes.
Fans of The Boroughs will appreciate the slow-build mystery, eerie supernatural atmosphere, and growing sense that reality itself is becoming unstable. Also, once you start watching, good luck sleeping normally.
14. Lost
People stranded together while strange supernatural events unfold around them? Sounds familiar. Lost helped define ensemble mystery television for an entire generation.
Like The Boroughs, it balances emotional character stories with bizarre mysteries that constantly force viewers to theorise online at 2am instead of making sensible life choices.
15. Locke & Key
This supernatural fantasy series centres around magical keys, family grief, hidden monsters, and ancient secrets. While younger in tone than The Boroughs, the emotional storytelling and supernatural mystery create a very similar binge-worthy feeling. It also understands that creepy houses automatically improve television.
16. Paper Girls
Time travel, emotional friendships, suburban weirdness, and dangerous sci-fi conspiracies make Paper Girls another strong follow-up for viewers missing The Boroughs already. It carries a nostalgic energy similar to Stranger Things, though it brings a more emotional and thoughtful approach to its time-travel storyline.
17. Severance
Different genre style, same unsettling mystery obsession. Severance focuses more on psychological sci-fi and corporate horror, but viewers who loved uncovering hidden truths in The Boroughs will probably become addicted very quickly. It’s one of those shows where every hallway somehow feels threatening.
18. Outer Range
Cowboys, supernatural voids, time distortions, and family drama should not work together this well, yet here we are.
Outer Range shares the strange desert atmosphere and mysterious cosmic energy that made The Boroughs so compelling. Also, the pacing slowly drags viewers deeper into complete madness without warning.
19. The X-Files
Classic for a reason. The X-Files remains one of the best supernatural mystery series ever made, following investigators dealing with monsters, conspiracies, paranormal cases, and deeply unsettling truths. Fans of The Boroughs will especially enjoy the “ordinary people versus impossible horrors” storytelling style that both series handle so well.
Fan reactions to these comparisons have honestly been all over the place already. Some viewers think The Boroughs feels like “retirement-home Stranger Things”, while others argue it’s closer to Cocoon mixed with modern Netflix sci-fi.
Meanwhile, another section of the internet has become emotionally attached to elderly monster hunters and now refuses to go back to watching teenagers save the world again. Fair enough. Watching pensioners roast monsters while discussing grief and arthritis somehow hits harder than expected.
What really separates The Boroughs from dozens of other supernatural shows is how seriously it treats aging without turning the story into misery television. The characters feel human, flawed, stubborn, funny, exhausted, and brave all at once. One minute someone’s discussing mortality, the next they’re racing through a retirement village trying not to get eaten by interdimensional creatures. Television honestly needed this kind of chaos.
ICYMI: Where was The Borough filmed?
Now the real question is whether The Boroughs becomes Netflix’s next long-running sci-fi obsession or joins the painful pile of brilliant shows viewers endlessly campaign to save online for the next five years.
Either way, audiences clearly want more weird mystery series with emotional depth and unconventional heroes. And honestly? Golf carts chasing monsters might be the most unexpectedly brilliant television image of 2026.
Which show on this list gave you the same vibe as The Boroughs? And more importantly, which series should have made the ranking but didn’t? The arguments are already happening online, so you may as well join them.