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- Initiators / Followers
- Capsule Pitch Description: Description
- Implementation: Implementation
- Friday the 13th: The Series (1987) / Freddy's Nightmares (1988)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Horror Anthology show vaguely related to a famous Slasher Movie series
- Implementation: Friday the 13th had no real connections to the films other than the name while Freddy's Nightmares actually had Robert Englund reprising his role as Freddy Krueger acting as a host and appearing in a few episodes.
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990) / Goosebumps (1995)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Horror anthologies aimed at children.
- Implementation: Goosebumps adapted most of its stories from the book series of the same name. Are You Afraid of the Dark had (mostly) original contentnote and also had a Framing Device of a circle of friends telling stories around a campfire.
- The X-Files (1993) / Baywatch Nights (its second season, 1996)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Detective investigates crimes caused by paranormal phenomena.
- Implementation: The X-Files is an original series. Baywatch Nights was a Baywatch Spin-Off that started as a beach-themed P.I. Show somewhat reminiscent of Miami Vice before producer/star David Hasselhoff ordered a massive paranormal Retool to cash on the popularity of The X-Files at the time. Yet still remained beach-themed.
- The Walking Dead (2010) / American Horror Story (2011)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Prime-time adult horror shows on basic cable.
- Implementation: Dead is about a Zombie Apocalypse and is jam-packed with blood and guts, while Horror Story features a more diverse set of horror scenarios (a Haunted House in the first season, a Bedlam House in the second) and focuses more on the screwing (both mental and physical).
- The Walking Dead (2010) / Z Nation (2014)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Shows about the Zombie Apocalypse.
- Implementation: The Walking Dead airs on AMC and is the Darker and Edgier of the two shows, and benefits from an established fanbase due to it being an adaptation of a comic by Robert Kirkman, while Z Nation airs on Syfy and is an original series made by The Asylum.
- American Horror Story: Coven (2013) / Witches of East End (2013)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Shows about covens of witches in the modern day.
- Implementation: Coven airs on FX and is the Darker and Edgier of the two shows, while East End airs on Lifetime and is based on a novel by Melissa de la Cruz.
- The Following (2013) / Hannibal (2013)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Dark, violent tales of imprisoned serial killers and the FBI agents forced to interact with them.
- Implementation: The former includes a pastiche of all sorts of well-known killers both real and fictional, including the main character of the latter.
- Hannibal (2013, NBC) / Clarice (2021, Lifetime)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Shows based on Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter series.
- Implementation: The titles are indicative; Clarice was to focus on the titular agent Starling soon after she graduates from the FBI academy, while Hannibal was made by Bryan Fuller and is about the cannibal Serial Killer and his relationship with FBI criminal profiler Will Graham.
- Hannibal (2013, NBC) / Bates Motel (2013, A&E)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Shows based on classic psychological horror films — coincidentally, both of whose iconic villain was played by an actor named Anthony.
- Implementation: Hannibal is a prequel, while Bates Motel is a re-magined Origin Story about Norman's formative years. Both are set in the present day.
- Interview with the Vampire (2022) (2022, AMC) / Let the Right One In (2022, Showtime)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Television adaptations of seminal modern vampire novels (Interview with the Vampire and Let the Right One In respectively).
- Implementation: Interview is a Period Piece set in New Orleans and focuses on a Destructive Romance between two male vampires, while Let is set in modern-day New York City and is about a young female vampire.
- The Following (2013) / Cult (2013)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Murderous cults being investigated and weeded out, the former by the FBI (led by Kevin Bacon), and the latter by a blogger whose brother may have been one of the cult's victims.
- Implementation: The Following was made by Kevin Williamson, who originally wrote it as a Scream sequel.
- Scream: The TV Series (2015) / Scream Queens (2015)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Teen-oriented horror-comedy slasher series that premiered in 2015.
- Implementation: Scream airs on MTV, is a TV adaptation of the film series of the same name, and is the Darker and Edgier of the two. Scream Queens airs on Fox, is created by Ryan Murphy (maker of Glee and American Horror Story), has Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, and Lea Michele in lead roles, and is very much Lighter and Softer/Bloody Hilarious.
- Scream: The TV Series (2015) / Dead of Summer (2016)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Teen-oriented horror series airing on basic cable networks (MTV and Freeform, respectively) during the summer.
- Implementation: Dead of Summer was created by Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis, and Ian Goldberg of Once Upon a Time and Lost fame, and while its setting (a summer camp in The '80s) would suggest a slasher homage, it is closer to supernatural horror than anything. Regardless, their timeslots and target audiences make the comparisons inevitable — both shows air on Tuesday nights, Dead of Summer at 9 and Scream, in its second season, right after it at 10 (switching its timeslot from Monday at 11 just in time for Dead of Summer's premiere, in fact).
- Preacher (2016) / Outcast (2016)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Cynical dramas about the decline of Christianity in contemporary rural America with heavy supernatural elements, primarily Demonic Possession.
- Implementation: Both shows are based on comic book series and seemingly inspired by the success of The Walking Dead. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (This Is the End) write and produce, while Sam Catlin (Breaking Bad) is showrunner and producer on Preacher. Robert Kirkman takes a similarly active role on Outcast as on his other project, The Walking Dead. The shows premiered a fortnight apart and both have a ten episode first season run.
- The Wilds (2020) / Yellowjackets (2021)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Adult-oriented survival stories about a group of teenage girls surviving a plane crash in a deserted wilderness, with something much more mysterious occurring behind the scenes, and both pitched as a female-driven modern take on Lord of the Flies. Also, both have split timelines, detailing the survivor's immediate experiences after the crash juxtaposed with their lives after being rescued.
- Implementation:: The Wilds premiered in late 2020 to minimal promotion, and focused on a modern story of the girls surviving on a deserted island, and had more of a Science Fiction bend. Yellojackets premiered in late 2021, and is partially a period piece, with distinct elements of Horror, showing the girls surviving seemingly-supernatural events in the Canadian wilderness in the late 1990s and juxtaposing it with the survivor's stories 20 years later. Yellowjackets was also a Sleeper Hit, which was under promoted but became critically acclaimed.
- The Last of Us (2023) / The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two shows about survival during a Zombie Apocalypse, including derelict urban environments.
- Implementation: The Last of Us adapts its namesake video game, with the "zombies" in it being more akin to fungi-infected humans than living dead. The Walking Dead: Dead City is the fourth Spin-Off of The Walking Dead and the fifth installment of The Walking Dead Television Universe, and zombies in it are more classic living dead.
- The Fall of the House of Usher / Goosebumps (2023)
- Capsule Pitch Description: Two horror drama series that serve as amalgamated adaptations of notable horror authors, released the same week and even sharing the same composers in the Newton Brothers.
- Implementation: Usher is also a gritty crime miniseries based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, while Goosebumps is a teen drama based on the namesake series by R. L. Stine.
