41 years ago, The Golden Girls taught us to pay attention to older people, who still have plenty to offer; that same year, Ron Howard's Cocoon taught us about the importance of leveraging alien eggs for eternal youth. That last one is probably slightly more relevant to sci-fi thriller The Boroughs, though it does feel like it's been a while since retirees have had the spotlight on television. The new Netflix show finds an invariably talented and thoroughly recognizable cast (Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Denis O'Hare, Clarke Peters, and Geena Davis, among others) confronting a series of freaky mysteries in their seemingly idyllic, but entirely remote, retirement community. We're due for a senior moment. It's rare enough lately that I wasn't able to come up with the full list of retiree-related horror/sci-fi/mystery shows that I wanted to (and would absolutely watch), but there are still some solid vibe matches that take us to a variety of creepy little towns to, hopefully, find some older people taking care of business.

Widow's Bay (2026 – )

Another recent addition to the atlas of regrettable vacation destinations is Widow's Bay, an isolated New England island trying to shrug off its townie reputation in favor of becoming a tourist destination à la Martha's Vineyard—but, alas, the timing isn't great. Cozy and idyllic on the surface, Widow's Bay appears to be "waking up," according to a few of the more tuned-in locals. Mayor Tom Loftus (Matthew Rhys), a relative newcomer, is having none of it—at least until a killer clown and waterlogged lady come for him, convincing him to join forces with local eccentric Wyck (Stephen Root) who is, it would seem, on to something. The show is frequently funny, but also legitimately scary. Stream Widow's Bay on Apple TV.

Stranger Things (2016 – 2025)

On the surface, Stranger Things and The Boroughs don't have a ton in common beyond the sci-fi/horror angle (and the presence of The Duffer Brothers, who created the one and executive produce the other), but the vibes here are strangely aligned. Both shows have a reverence for the genre movies of the 1980s, and each owes a debt to Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard—even though one is set in the past and one in the present, both feel like they could easily exist in the universe of E.T. or Cocoon. You're probably familiar with Stranger Things by now, but just in case: An ensemble cast of mostly kids uncover dark deeds in their small Indiana town after a mysterious girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) turns up displaying psychokinetic powers. Stream Stranger Things on Netflix.

The Midwich Cuckoos (2022)

You almost certainly know this story as Village of the Damned, the title under which it's been adapted twice previously. This isn't quite a perfect adaptation of John Wyndham's darkly satirical science fiction novel, but it's likely as close as we've come, capturing the novel's eeriness if not entirely its sense of humor. A blackout in the titular English village leaves everyone unconscious for 24 hours—and everyone that could possibly be pregnant, expecting. The emotionally distant children are decidedly creepy, even more so than normal for kids, and things only get more concerning when they develop telekinetic powers. As in The Boroughs, the youth are not to be trusted. Stream The Midwich Cuckoos on AMC+.

A Man on the Inside (2024 – )

No weird aliens nor horror here, but we do get some stars-from-those-things-you-liked, a retirement community setting, and some much-needed reminders that "old" doesn't mean "irrelevant." Ted Danson plays Charles Nieuwendyk, a hapless retired professor and recent widower who listens to his daughter's plea that he find something to keep him occupied. He answers an ad from a private investigator looking for someone to go undercover by moving into an elder-care facility in San Francisco in hopes of discovering who's been stealing the residents' jewelry. As he comes to care about the people he's investigating (and lying to), his job only gets harder. Sally Struthers, Margaret Avery, Susan Ruttan, Veronica Cartwright, and Clyde Kusatsu are among the very recognizable supporting cast, joined in season two by Mary Steenburgen. A third season is on the way. Stream A Man on the Inside on Netflix.

Them (2021 – 2024)

Less with the generational conflict of many of these other shows, but rather the story of horror in a seemingly idyllic, made-to-order locale. Starting off in the 1950s, Them takes a stab at The Second Great Migration, when millions of Black people left the South for northern cities and suburbs; seeking opportunity and escaping overt racism in favor of ... slightly more veiled racism. The Emory family (led by Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas) move from North Carolina to an all-white neighborhood in East Compton, each family member eventually haunted by a different ghost. The picket fences and smiling white faces concealing vicious intent are far more frightening than any of the specters. The second, and final, season moves forward to LA of 1991, by which time some things have changed while others remain hauntingly the same. Stream Them on Prime Video.

The Frog (2024)

Following his wife's death, Yeong-ha (Kim Yoon-seok) just wants a quiet life in the secluded town where he lives, renting out the house next door as a vacation rental—though he's not even all that enthusiastic about that. (The show gets bonus streamline points here for being headed by a grumpy loner guy who inexplicably puts himself into a situation where he's going to have to deal with people.) It's all going fine until a young woman shows up with her son, the same woman abruptly leaving behind blood stains and—even more disturbingly—the kid. Though it's a bit of a spoiler, this very-slow-burn and cinematic thriller takes place in multiple time periods—a clever storytelling technique given the show's unchanging locale. Stream The Frog on Netflix.

Castle Rock (2018 – 2019)

The short-lived series took us on a deep dive into Stephen King's favorite location (well, maybe tied with Derry), the seemingly idyllic Castle Rock, Maine. There are multiple overlapping stories here, but Sissy Spacek's Ruth Deaver is a major character across the first season, and takes over for the episode “The Queen,” told from the unstable perspective of Ruth, a character with worsening dementia. It was one of the best, and most existentially horrifying, things on television that year. The Boroughs plays with the idea that the young people don't take older people seriously, even when perfectly cognizant, while Ruth's character is one who has still has plenty of important things to say, even as her own grip on reality falters. The cast across the two seasons is stellar, and includes Bill Skarsgård, a creepy character not named Pennywise. Stream Castle Rock on Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix.

Gannibal (2022 – )

Another remote, charming town with some deep, dark secrets (the biggest of which is rather strongly hinted in the title), Gannibal stars Yuya Yagira as Daigo Agawa, a police officer from the big city who takes a job in the super cute (and, of course, remote) village of Kuge following some personal trouble. The perfectly charming Goto family runs the town, more or less, and welcome Daigo and his family. It's all looking pretty great—until a mysterious man gives Daigo's daughter a severed finger as a gift, and his wife Yuki finds the words "Run Away" scrawled over a door in their new home. Just a couple of reasons why I'm more of a city person. Stream Gannibal on Disney+ and Hulu.

Wayward Pines (2015 – 2016)

Based on a trilogy of Blake Crouch novels, this one stars, initially, Matt Dillon as a Secret Service agent investigating the disappearances of two fellow agents in the Idaho town of Wayward Pines. Things go awry pretty much immediately, and he wakes up from a car accident to find one of the agents (Carla Gugino), who's also his ex, having settled down in the seemingly idyllic community—and she's 12 years older than when he last saw her a few weeks ago. Even more dramatically, the local sheriff (Terrence Howard) enforces a strict "no one ever leaves" policy, on pain of having one's neck slit. The mysteries pile up from there. Stream Wayward Pines on Hulu and Disney+.

Tales From the Loop (2020)

A gorgeous-looking anthology, Tales From the Loop takes place in the small town of Mercer, Ohio—a town that happens to sit upon the titular Loop, a physics lab exploring mysteries for which science has no answers. Each episode offers the story of a person or family in the town impacted by the work of the Loop (founded by Russ, played by Jonathan Pryce), in slow-burning stories about the intersection of technology and human existence. It’s based on a conceptual art book by artist Simon Stålenhag, and successfully ports over the book’s striking look and feel. The show often feels very much like a meditation on some of its sci-fi themes—it's a bit gentler than something like Black Mirror, and not as frightening as The Boroughs, but still explores the threats that unchecked science can pose to our humanity. Stream Tales From the Loop on Prime Video.