Best TV Shows Like Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Guillermo del Toro’s anthology series serves as a grand museum of the macabre, presenting eight distinct tales of horror, psychological dread, and cosmic terror. Curated by the master of dark fantasy himself, each episode explores the frailties of human nature when confronted by the unknowable.In "LOT 36," a bitter, debt-ridden veteran named Nick buys abandoned storage lockers for quick cash. Driven by greed and bigotry, he forces open a locker belonging to a deceased occultist, uncovering ancient artifacts and a trapped demonic entity that ultimately devours him. Greed also fuels "Graveyard Rats," where a desperate cemetery caretaker robs newly buried corpses to pay off his debts, only to become trapped in a claustrophobic subterranean labyrinth ruled by monstrous rodents and a terrifying underground cult, forcing him to literally claw his way back to sanity and survival.Intellectual arrogance and obsession drive "The Autopsy," in which a cynical, dying medical examiner investigates mutilated bodies from a mysterious mining explosion. He discovers an alien parasite that assumes human hosts by consuming them from the inside. To prevent the entity from escaping, the doctor performs a gruesome self-autopsy, destroying his own vocal cords and slashing his throat to trap the creature in his dead body. Similarly, "The Outside" follows a deeply insecure bank teller who buys a trendy, caustic skin lotion despite suffering a horrific allergic reaction. Driven by desperate consumerism and the desire to fit in with her glamorous coworkers, she completely surrenders to the lotion’s hypnotic television infomercial, literally flaying and transforming her physical body until she is no longer human.Other episodes explore grief and artistic madness. In "Pickman’s Model," a traditional art student is driven to madness and suicide by the grotesque, impossibly lifelike paintings of a fellow student whose canvas depicts ancient cosmic horrors. In "Dreams in the Witch House," a grieving brother consumes experimental drugs to project his consciousness into the spirit realm, desperately hoping to rescue his deceased twin sister, only to unleash a predatory, child-stealing witch. "The Viewing" gathers eccentric intellectuals to a wealthy industrialist's mansion to examine a strange space rock, which unleashes a shapeshifting alien terror that violently massacres the guests. Finally, in "The Murmuring," two ornithologists studying shorebirds attempt to heal from the tragic loss of their child. Moving to a desolate coastal home, the wife uncovers the dark history of the house’s previous inhabitants, ultimately confronting trapped ghosts and achieving a painful, cathartic emotional release through the supernatural.