Scream Queens

A giddy mix of mystery and dark comedy, Scream Queens follows a string of murders tied to a glamorous college campus and its notorious sorority sisters. The show centers on a fashion-obsessed sorority queen and a mixed group of students and faculty who react with equal parts panic, scheming, and sarcasm as someone starts hunting them. It balances whodunit suspense with outrageous jokes and heightened style, keeping the identity of the killer unclear while the characters trade insults, secrets, and strange alliances. Expect murder-mystery beats wrapped in satire and cartoonish excess, with no major twists spoiled here.

The series premiered on Fox in 2015, created by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, and Dante Di Loreto. It ran across two seasons and leaned into Murphy's signature glossy, theatrical production values, with a tightly cast ensemble including Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Keke Palmer, Taylor Lautner, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

While it wasn't a sweep at top industry award shows, the show drew attention in genre and fan-voted circles and picked up recognition for its design and performances in various television and popular-culture awards. Cast members and the show's makeup, hair, and styling work attracted praise and nominations from specialty groups and fans.

Scream Queens seeped into pop culture through its outrageous characters and quotable insults, especially the biting persona of Emma Roberts' Chanel Oberlin. The show's look and campy tone inspired memes, Halloween costumes, and discussion about mean-girl archetypes on social media, helping it stay culturally visible beyond its broadcast run.

Critics were mixed on plotting but often praised the ensemble and the show's willingness to lean into satire and shock humor; audience response was more favorable, reflected in a vote average of 7.854/10 from 1,777 votes. The series plays with themes of status, celebrity, and the slasher genre while keeping a comedic pace, so viewers who like stylish absurdity and murder-mystery puzzles will find plenty to react to.