The lavish and atmospheric costume drama Penny Dreadful lasted for just three seasons on Showtime, but it’s memorable characters, gorgeous setting, and supernatural premise have left a lasting impression on fans ever since it ended. Obtaining its name from the lurid dime novels about vampires, ghosts, and witches consumed by the public during the 19th century, it proves that what audiences craved in the Victorian Era is no different than what they crave now.

The followed British explorer Sir Malcolm Murray as he, along with a cohort of uniquely skilled individuals, descended in London’s underworld to track down his missing daughter. The expedition soon fragmented into a series of different subplots, each involving famous characters from iconic pieces of horror literature. Below you’ll find the best episodes of the series according to IMDb, which you can currently stream on Netflix.

“GRAND GUIGNOL” (8.6)

In the Season 1 finale “Grand Guignol,” Vanessa Ives is recovering from her ordeal of being demonically possessed for four weeks. The only positive outcome from the experience (save that she survived) is her sudden prediction where Mina Harker will be found ⁠— the Grand Guignol Theater.

She mounts a rescue mission with Sir Malcolm Murray and Ethan Chandler. Sir Malcolm has a new secret weapon he’s itching to try, and Ethan Chandler needs something to distract him from the fact that his lover Brona Croft is dying of consumption. Victor Frankenstein offers to take care of her, to nefarious ends.

“GLORIOUS HORRORS” (8.6)

This beautiful episode in the middle of Season 2 is tainted with both tragedy and triumph. Sir Malcolm returns from spending the night with Madam Kali only to find out that his wife has taken her own life. His reaction is anything but mournful, causing others in his cadre to become concerned.

While Ethan Chandler continues to investigate the Mariner’s Inn massacre, Dorian Gray holds a ball, which he declines to attend with Vanessa Ives. She arrives alone, noting that Lily Frankenstein, Victor’s most recent abomination, is fooling everyone and crowned the belle of the ball (to Victor’s chagrin and Dorian’s amusement).

“PERPETUAL NIGHT” (8.6)

In the penultimate episode to the series finale, dark forces begin to take hold of London. The appearance of the infamous Dracula and his creatures has heralded a plague of pestilence in the streets. He has dispatched his servant Reinfield to spy on Vanessa Ives, hoping to corrupt her for his own end. Sir Malcolm bands together with Ethan and Kaetenay to put a stop to this.

Meanwhile, Lily desperately pleads with Victor Frankenstein not to alter her with a serum that would make her more docile, insisting that if he did so she will lose all her memories from before and after her rebirth (namely of her infant daughter).

“CLOSER THAN SISTERS” (8.7)

“Closer Than Sisters” was a brutal and necessary episode that established a backstory for the friendship between Vanessa Ives and Mina Harker, while also chronicling what lead up to the latter’s disappearance. It begins with Sir Malcolm Murray coming home from another expedition in Africa, the exciting stories from which he uses to regale the girls.

One night after dinner, Vanessa catches Sir Malcolm and her mother in an act of intimacy, which begins a snowfall of poor decisions. Vanessa seduces Mina’s husban- to-be, Captain Branson, which leads to her cancelled wedding, before Vanessa is sent to an insane asylum for increasingly disturbing behavior that culminates in her mother’s death.

“THE DAY TENNYSON DIED” (8.8)

In the premiere episode of Season 3, the once tightly-knit group of supernatural hunters is scattered to the wind. Ethan Chandler has been imprisoned by Inspector Rusk, headed back to America. Sir Malcolm has returned to Africa, where he meets a mysterious first American who may have ties to Ethan.

Victor Frankenstein has returned to his lab, where he gets a visit from an old acquaintance from medical school, Dr. Jekyll. The ordeal with Madam Kali and her master (Satan) has left Vanessa Ives completely drained, so she seeks a specialist to help her return to her normal habits.

“POSSESSION” (9.0)

One of the most exciting and disturbing examples of the perils of Vanessa Ives’ gift of clairvoyance, “Possession” followed her slow descent into paranoid schizophrenia, delusion, and ultimately demonic possession. Sir Malcolm Murray calls on Victor Frankenstein to help subdue her and keep her stable with his medical knowledge.

Victor, fearing for his safety, also asks American sharpshooter Ethan Chandler how to effectively use a gun. Meanwhile, Sir Malcolm’s true intentions begin to rise to the surface as Vanessa, taking on a number of different personalities (Mina Harker, his wife, the Devil, etc) exposes his past.

“AND HELL ITSELF MY ONLY FOE” (9.0)

In the penultimate episode of Season 2’s finale, Sir Malcolm Murray has been taken prisoner by the witch Madam Kali (who has been posing as the spiritualist Evelyn Poole), spurring Ethan Chandler and Vanessa Ives (who have been hiding out at the Cut-Wife’s cottage) to return to London and rescue him.

Sir Malcolm’s friends know they cannot best the witch at night when her powers are at their most potent, so they agree to set out in daylight. Vanessa Ives cannot wait until daybreak and goes alone to face Madam Kali herself. A full moon makes Ethan unable to control his curse.

“THE NIGHTCOMERS” (9.1)

In this nail-biting episode in Season 2, Vanessa Ives recounts an expedition she went on years prior to her reunion with Sir Malcolm Murray. To learn the secrets of her visions, she went in search of a witch, known as the Cut-Wife of Ballantree Moor, who is ostracized by the townsfolk until they have use of her skills.

Meanwhile Madam Kali, a centuries-old witch who has throughout the series posed as a benign spiritualist, wants Vanessa for herself. Her goal is to reunite her coven and rule the London underground from the shadows. The Cut-Wife refuses to give Madam Kali what she wants, and teaches Ms. Ives how to hone her powers of perception.

“AND THEY WERE ENEMIES” (9.1)

Everything comes to a head in the Season 2 finale, where several main characters undergo massive transformations to their narrative arcs. Sir Malcolm and Victor Frankenstein are beset by hallucinations of torment from the people they’ve wronged, and Ethan Chandler is still in the grips of his curse, leaving Vanessa Ives to dispatch Madam Kali.

Madam Kali attempts to derail Ms. Ives with visions of a perfect future with Ethan, including two adorable children, but Vanessa resists her spell. The Creature that Victor made in Season 1 is imprisoned in a wax museum, and Dorian Gray and Lily, the two best-dressed immortals in London, decide to form an empire, with aspirations of ruling not only the city but also the world.

“A BLADE OF GRASS” (9.2)

In one of the most visceral episodes in Season 3, Vanessa Ives agrees to undergo hypnosis from her new specialist, Dr. Seward, to relive the horrors of when she was committed to the Banning Clinic. She was subjected to not only terrifying medical procedures, but also tormented by a demonic force she couldn’t  understand.

Throughout the ordeal, Dr. Seward encourages Ms. Ives to remain true to herself, and understand that though she feels responsible for being a burden on her friends because of her gift, she matters. Though she is but a “blade of grass,” she has worth and purpose. Watch the episode for the dramatic and inspirational acting by Eva Green.