NoBadPicks

Shows Like Carnivàle

If you loved Carnivàle's Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Mystery storytelling, these series deliver a similar experience — chosen for tone, narrative quality, and viewer satisfaction. Each includes where to stream it now.

Top Picks

The Twilight Zone
7.2

The Twilight Zone

2002

A 2002 revival of Rod Serling's 1950/60s television series, The Twilight Zone, with actor Forest Whitaker assuming Serling's role as narrator and on-screen host.

Nancy Drew
7.8

Nancy Drew

2019

Nancy Drew makes plans to leave her hometown for college, but finds herself drawn into a supernatural murder mystery instead.

NOS4A2
7.3

NOS4A2

2019

A young Victoria "Vic" McQueen discovers she has the power to unlock portals that help her find lost objects. As she delves further into this hidden universe, she encounters many other "inscape travelers" - some benevolent, and some who have been corrupted by their power. When Vic encounters Charlie Manx, an immortal who stays that way by feeding off of the souls of children, she makes a sworn enemy of Manx.

Superstition
5.9

Superstition

2017

The Mosley family keeps the secrets and dark history of a town located on the outskirts of New Orleans that is also a landing patch for the world's darkest manifestations of fear, guided into the world by a mysterious malefactor named The Dredge.

Monsterland
6.5

Monsterland

2020

In this fantasy anthology series, encounters with mermaids, fallen angels and other strange beasts drive broken people to desperate acts in an attempt to repair their lives, ultimately showing there is a thin line between man and beast.

Locke & Key
7.7

Locke & Key

2020

After their dad's murder, three siblings move with their mom to his ancestral estate, where they discover magical keys that unlock powers — and secrets.

Midnight, Texas
7.4

Midnight, Texas

2017

Welcome to a place where being normal is really quite strange. In a remote Texas town no one is who they seem. From vampires and witches to psychics and hit men, Midnight is a mysterious safe haven for those who are different. As the town members fight off outside pressures from rowdy biker gangs, ever-suspicious cops and their own dangerous pasts, they band together and form a strong and unlikely family.

Ghost Whisperer
8.1

Ghost Whisperer

2005

Newlywed Melinda Gordon tries to help the dead communicate with loved ones, but sometimes the messages she receives are intense and confusing. Most of Melinda's efforts involve resolving conflicts that are preventing the spirits from passing over.

More Shows Like Carnivàle

Outcast
7.1

Outcast

2016

Kyle Barnes has been plagued by possession since he was a child. Now an adult, he embarks on a spiritual journey to find answers, but what he uncovers could mean the end of life on Earth as we know it.

Friday the 13th: The Series
7.3

Friday the 13th: The Series

1987

Micki and Ryan with the help of their friend Jack try to recover cursed antiques so they can store them in safety inside the antique store's vault.

The Twilight Zone
6.7

The Twilight Zone

2019

Tales of science fiction, fantasy and the occult, exploring humanity's hopes, despairs, prides and prejudices in metaphoric ways. Next stop ahead The Twilight Zone.

The Sandman
7.9

The Sandman

2022

After years of imprisonment, Morpheus — the King of Dreams — embarks on a journey across worlds to find what was stolen from him and restore his power.

Amazing Stories
7.5

Amazing Stories

1985

A truly amazing, fantastical, science fiction, funny and odd, and sometimes scary, sad and endearing anthology series presented by Steven Spielberg with guest appearances by many famous actors, actresses, and directors.

Penny Dreadful
7.8

Penny Dreadful

2014

Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.

Tales from the Loop
7.0

Tales from the Loop

2020

The story of the town and people who live above “The Loop,” a machine built to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe – making things possible that were previously relegated only to science fiction.

Vanished
6.4

Vanished

2026

When a romantic getaway to Paris takes a dark turn with the sudden disappearance of her boyfriend Tom aboard a train to the south of France, Alice is plunged into a web of intrigue and danger, uncovering shocking secrets about the man she thought she knew.

Lost Girl
7.7

Lost Girl

2010

The gorgeous and charismatic Bo is a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan and its rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching for the truth about her own mysterious origins.

Dark Shadows
7.2

Dark Shadows

1966

Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began. The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.

Freddy's Nightmares
7.2

Freddy's Nightmares

1988

The evil, sinister killer of the "Nightmare On Elm Street" movies, Freddy Krueger, hosts this show, where each week, he shows us a tale of evil and death about the lives of people who live in Springwood.

WandaVision
8.2

WandaVision

2021

Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

Why These Shows Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Carnivàle (2003): Sci-Fi & Fantasy and Mystery themes, similar pacing, and comparable production quality. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface series most likely to resonate with fans of Carnivàle.

See full details for Carnivàle (2003)

People Also Search For