Generally speaking, there are two types of people in this world: people who want to spend their time gasping at a television screen and those who don’t.

For the former, we bring good news. Netflix is about to add yet another thrilling and utterly terrifying horror series to its arsenal, this time in the form of Locke & Key, a new original dark fantasy 10-episode series.

So, what’s it about? 

The story starts with three siblings moving back to their murdered father’s ancestral home in Massachusetts, where they discover a series of magical, reality-bending keys hidden throughout the house and encounter an evil entity.

Locke & Key is the screen adaptation of the best-selling comic books of the same name by Gabriel Rodriguez and Joe Hill. 

If the name ‘Joe Hill’ sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the son of Stephen King and Tabitha King. He started writing under the pseudonym Joe Hill (his full name is Joseph Hillstrӧm King) until he had built a career on his own merits.

Ahead of the show’s debut, Netflix has released a fittingly spooky trailer:

Netflix is one of the main sources behind the current horror push, releasing a new scary title every month – so why are we addicted to the genre? Well, it seems there’s actually a scientific reason why.

According to website The Psychologist, it’s all about the way that horror movies use supernatural elements to tap into very real fears, such as death and losing a loved one.

“Successful horror films are those that do the best job of tapping into our evolved cognitive machinery – they exploit topics and images we already fear,” Professor Hank Davis noted.

Locke & Key debuts on Netflix on February 7, if you dare.

Image: Netflix