10 Scariest Episodes of Supernatural, Ranked

For 15 excellent seasons, The CW Network’s Supernatural blended classic American road trip vibes with pure nightmare fuel, serving up episodes that still make fans shiver to this day. Creator Eric Kripke reportedly spent ten years developing the series before pitching it. The show underwent several alterations before being consolidated into the monster-of-the-week format that fans came to know and love. The early years of Supernatural were structured more like a horror anthology, each new episode featuring different monsters and spectres pulled from urban legends and folklore.

The show’s overarching storyline centered on Sam’s destiny as Lucifer’s vessel, and eventually shifted toward grand apocalyptic battles between angels, demons, and ultimately God Himself (sometimes to the disappointment of fans). However, it was often the stand-alone episodes featuring more elusive and sometimes downright disturbing urban legends that tended to linger in the imagination of fans. When it was at its scariest, Supernatural could rival any horror movie, and the following 10 episodes were the scariest of them all.

10) “The Kids Are Alright” (Season 3, Episode 2)

Children are supposed to be sweet and innocent, which is what makes this story about murderous changelings so deeply unsettling. “The Kids Are Alright,” is an episode that’s both funny and terrifying in equal measure. When Dean reunites with an old flame Lisa Braeden, (fresh from making a demon deal to save Sam and hyperaware of his own mortality), he suspects, or maybe just hopes, her son Ben might be his, leading to some hilarious scenes! The episode is beloved for introducing these fan favourite characters, who many fans began to think of as Dean’s chosen family and a representation of the life he could have had if he wasn’t on the road. Dean’s relationship with Ben is instantly heartwarming, and the glimpse of the fatherhood Dean would tragically never fully get to experience is heartbreaking.

But the episode soon turns to terror-territory, when the brothers investigate a string of mysterious deaths in Lisa’s neighbourhood, all tied to some undeniably creepy children that the brothers begin to suspect are really supernatural doppelgängers. From the sight of a dripping-wet, not-quite-human girl seemingly returning from the dead after her terrified mother tries to drown her in desperation, to the horrifying reveal of the changelings’ true demonic faces seen fleetingly in reflections, this episode taps into every parent’s worst nightmare!

9) “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)

Few shows can boast a pilot episode with an opening scene as haunting yet effective. Though it might not be the first episode that comes to mind, the Supernatural pilot introduced fans to their beloved Winchester brothers in true spine-tingling. Lulled into an almost false sense of security, the episode opens with a snapshot into the seemingly picture-perfect lives of John and Mary Winchester of Lawrence, Kansas, and their two young sons. The shock factor of Mary Winchester’s sudden fiery death at the hands of an (at the time) unknown entity created an atmosphere of tension and dread, and the sense that the boys were being watched or even stalked, which would define the show for years.

It’s not just the shocking death of the boy’s mother just a few minutes in that makes the episode worthy of our list. Years later, the now grown-up Sam and Dean investigate an equally terrifying “Woman in White,” a flickering spectre who lures men off the road before killing them. The introduction of this vengeance-seeking ghost was also suitably unsettling and certainly helped set the tone for the show. The episode is rounded off with the equally shocking death of Sam’s girlfriend Jessica on the anniversary of his mother’s death in an identical unnatural blaze. Even in its very first hour, Supernatural proved it could terrify.

8) “Family Remains” (Season 4, Episode 11)

For all its ghosts and ghouls, Supernatural was arguably at its most spine-tingling when it reminded us that sometimes the most terrifying monsters aren’t supernatural at all. For most of the Season 4 episode “Family Remains,” the Winchesters and the desperate family they come to the rescue of, think they’re facing a spirit haunting the old farmhouse the family has recently moved into. So far, so Supernatural. But the truth, when it’s finally revealed, is much darker: the ‘monster’ is not in fact a spirit, but regular flesh-and-blood children, products of incest and neglect, who have been living in the walls of the house and killing anyone who moves in.

Another episode of Supernatural “The Benders,” also deals with the idea of regular human beings being the scariest monsters of all, featuring a family who kidnap and deliberately ‘hunt’ people for their own sport (It’s Supernatural’s answer to Torchwood’s horrific “Countrycide” episode). However, “Family Remains” is arguably more terrifying because it shows the physical and psychological harm people are capable of inflicting, even on their own, as it turns out, a father abused and impregnated his own daughter. The chilling moment when the girl casually walks through a protective salt line — revealing she’s not in fact a ghost at all but a much more tangible, traumatised and human threat — is one of the series’ most shocking and sad twists. Actor Mandy Playdon’s expression is nothing short of unhinged and will haunt your nightmares if nothing else will!

7) “Asylum” (Season 1, Episode 10)

Set in a decaying, abandoned mental hospital, Season 1 episode “Asylum” takes full advantage of this classic nightmarish location. It’s a perfect spot for a good haunting, and you get the sense even the brave Winchester brothers are a little unsettled as the ghosts of tortured patients wander the halls! But it soon becomes apparent that the real threat is the spirit of Dr. Ellicott, the sadistic physician who experimented on these helpless victims in the belief that he could cure them by unleashing their darkest impulses, think the rage virus in 28 Days Later!

But the truly terrifying part comes when Dr. Ellicott’s ability to drive people into murderous rages leads to Sam nearly shooting Dean. Not only was seeing Sam so uninhibited and obviously not himself deeply unsettling (giving the talented Jared Padalecki a chance to stretch his acting chops) after becoming used to his calm and steady personality, but this was also the fans’ first real glimpse of the darker side to Sam, hidden beneath the bookish and kind exterior. With its claustrophobic setting creating tension you could cut with a knife, this remains one of Supernatural’s most intense ghost stories.

6) “Advanced Thanatology” (Season 13, Episode 5)

While earlier seasons of Supernatural are often considered the scariest, the show proved, even in later seasons, that it could still very much deliver a stand-out horror story when required. In the Season 13 episode “Advanced Thanatology, Sam and Dean investigate an abandoned house haunted by Dr. Meadows, a deranged doctor whose victims are trapped as restless spirits. The use of found-footage-style conventions — with the episodes opening showing terrified teens recording their exploration before being slaughtered — immediately sets the tone.

The ghost of Dr Meadows is perhaps one of the scariest and most effective one-off monsters of the week seen in later seasons of the show. Meadows’ knowledge of the house lets him stalk the brothers from the shadows, keeping viewers constantly on edge. The episode really feels like a throwback to earlier seasons, simple yet effective, and proves that Supernatural is usually at its best when it plays to its strengths and returns to its roots.

5) “Everybody Loves a Clown” (Season 2, Episode 2)

“Everybody Loves a Clown,” – If this statement was ever true, the aforenamed episode certainly did its level best to ensure it didn’t remain so! There’s something inherently creepy about Clowns, and the Supernatural writers took full advantage of this, with clowns appearing several times throughout the series, due to the hilarious running gag of Sam’s apparent phobia of them. But because of this, many of Supernatural’s clown appearances are dialled down a little and played for laughs, rather than truly attempting to scare fans. For that reason, “Everybody Loves a Clown” is, without a doubt, the scariest episode featuring a clown on the show, going full-on homicidal clown horror.

When investigating a series of fairground-related murders, Sam and Dean discover that the clown is actually a rakshasa – a creature from Hindu folklore that takes on human form and feeds off human flesh. While it’s not quite clear why the rakshasa decided to take the form of a clown, or why the children (from whom it gets its necessary permission to enter the home and subsequently murders their parents) aren’t more utterly terrified of it… There’s no doubt that the idea of waking up in the middle of the night to find your child holding hands with a murderous clown standing over your bed is utter nightmare fuel…

4) “Provenance” (Season 1, Episode 19)

The nineteenth episode of the first season of Supernatural felt like a moment where the show had begun to find its rhythm and truly come into its own. Beginning with a creepy family portrait that seems to change on its own, the episode sees the boys investigate strange deaths in New Paltz, New York, and it becomes apparent that anyone who owns the mysterious painting ends up brutally murdered. The episode, like many of Supernatural, boasts a brilliant mixture of ‘hide behind the sofa’ tension and moments of humour, in particular Sam’s shocked exclamation upon finding the painting miraculously restored after previously burning it. His awkward justification of his over-the-top reaction to a clueless Sarah (the daughter of the auction house owner who currently has the painting and Sam’s love interest of the episode) will never not be funny.

Sarah’s introduction was a huge bonus of the episode; the chemistry between actress Taylor Cole and Padalecki is magic, and the brief relationship was a great way of illustrating a more carefree, fun side of Sam that viewers hadn’t really seen before. The episode’s twist — that the ghostly killer is not in fact the father in the portrait as the brother initially suspects, but the adopted daughter, her spirit kept alive by her doll made from her own hair — takes the episode to another level of disturbing. From the moving eyes in the painting to the tragic backstory, “Provenance” feels like a true Gothic horror story brought to life.

3) “No Exit” (Season 2, Episode 6)

What’s scarier than a serial killer? A serial killer ghost! Based on the real-life murderer H. H. Holmes, the Season 2 Episode “No Exit” sees the Winchester’s friend and aspiring hunter Jo Harvelle trapped inside the walls of Holmes’ “Murder Castle,” after she volunteers herself as bait due to fitting the criteria of a potential victim for Holmes. Narrow crawl spaces, flickering lights, and the quite frankly nightmare-inducing image of grey hands reaching for Jo through an old-fashioned air vent, create a truly suffocating atmosphere. We’re willing to bet even the most stoic of viewers found themselves with an elevated heart rate as they watched Jo’s narrow escape.

The moment Dean discovers a piece of human scalp, complete with blonde hair, in the walls remains one of the most stomach-turning reveals of the series. This episode was also significant for showing us a more sinister side to the Winchesters’ lifestyle, as those who get too close to them tend to pay the price. Jo’s mother, Ellen, another hunter and former friend of the boy’s father, is livid at her daughter for allowing Sam and Dean to put her in harm’s way, and understandably so, as it turns out, John Winchester was partly responsible for the death of her husband on a hunt gone wrong.

2) “Hook Man” (Season 1, Episode 7)

Taken from the classic urban legend, “Hook Man” sees the Winchester brothers come face to face with a ghostly preacher turned killer. The spirit of 19th-century pastor Jacob Karns was known for murdering prostitutes, but has now latched on to the daughter of a pastor and, in death, stalks college students, dragging them away with his razor-sharp hook. With his dishevelled appearance, long black coat, and deadly silver hook, his haunting appearance certainly had viewers on the edge of their seats every time he appeared lurking in the background.

The imagery of the episode is pure slasher horror — blood-written warnings, mutilated victims strung up like meat, and the shadowy figure looming just out of sight. The fact that his spirit latches onto an innocent preacher’s daughter adds an extra layer of menace. The aforementioned daughter, Lori, was also notable for being one of the first potential love interests the show introduced for Sam, although he eventually rejected her advances, explaining to Dean that it was too soon for him after Jess’s death at the hands of the demon who killed their mother.

1) “Bloody Mary” (Season 1, Episode 5)

The urban legend of “Bloody Mary” has haunted slumber parties and been a classic ‘go on, I dare you’ for decades, (we’re willing to bet you’ve found yourself deliberating and eventually chickening out in front of a mirror at some point or other!) but Supernatural’s version certainly made fans afraid to look too long at their reflection for quite some time afterwards!

This Bloody Mary doesn’t just appear in bathroom mirrors — she can lurk in any and every reflective surface, stalking anyone with dark secrets to hide. The story goes that she is the ghost of a young girl, brutally murdered with her eyes gouged out and seeking revenge. Her victims also bleed from their eyes before dying horribly, and the episode’s practical effects still hold up as some of the show’s most disturbing visuals. With its perfect blend of folklore, gore, and atmosphere, “Bloody Mary” remains the scariest episode of Supernatural.

Agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments. Supernatural is available now on Amazon Prime.

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