Nightmares of Nature

Did You Know?

• Netflix released an official trailer for Nightmares of Nature in September 2025.
• The release of the second season was scheduled to coincide with Halloween programming.
• Both seasons debuted in the same year.

Premise

In Nightmares of Nature, wildlife is shown from the viewpoint of prey animals. The show uses suspenseful storytelling to frame predation and environmental dangers, all while keeping an educational focus. Each season has three episodes in one habitat, tracking several animals as they face predators, hazards, and human activity. A disclaimer before each episode explains that some scenes are dramatized for safety and clarity, but the behaviors shown come from real natural activity.

Production

Blumhouse Television, known for horror movies, and Plimsoll Productions, a natural history company, teamed up to make this series. The idea was to use horror film techniques like suspenseful pacing, point-of-view shots, and eerie sound design on footage of animal behavior. Filmmakers used macro lenses, motion-controlled systems, and portable lighting to get close-up shots of small creatures in controlled environments. Nathan Small directed the first season, and Charlotte Lathane directed the second; all filming had professional wildlife supervision. Maya Hawke recorded the narration separately, which was added in post-production.

Seasons

The first season, subtitled Cabin in the Woods, premiered on September 30, 2025. Set in a rural woodland environment, it follows a pregnant mouse, a young raccoon, and a bullfroglet that seek shelter in a dilapidated cabin. The location is portrayed as a deceptive refuge filled with predators and human-related dangers. The second season, Lost in the Jungle, was released on October 28, 2025. Set in a Costa Rican jungle, the season follows a young opossum, a newly hatched iguana, and a jumping spider navigating an abandoned research facility.

Reception

The first season of this series was noted by critics for blending natural-history footage with the pacing and framing of a horror film. Bloody Disgusting called it an unconventional but effective mix of education and entertainment, praising the cinematography and how wildlife encounters are structured like set-pieces while still aiming to inform. The review also pointed out that the production clearly states some sequences are dramatized, though the animal behavior shown is real. Writing for Ready Steady Cut, Jonathon Wilson found the overlap between nature-documentary storytelling and horror conventions surprisingly natural, but felt the season sometimes seemed uncertain about how heavily to lean into either horror presentation or factual explanation, with narration used to connect the two. Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard of Heaven of Horror was more enthusiastic, describing the season as a dark-fairytale survival story anchored by Maya Hawke's narration and centered on three "hero" animals facing escalating threats.

The second season was widely seen as an improvement. Bloody Disgusting called it more exciting and varied than the forest-based first season, arguing that the South American jungle setting and an abandoned lab location raise the stakes and allow for more diverse hazards. The review also noted that Hawke's narration feels more confident and better supports the visuals. Wilson similarly judged the second season as better, mainly because the tropical biome offers a wider range of threats while keeping the same basic structure of three focal animals whose paths cross. He argued the concept works more effectively when the environment itself provides stronger natural tension.

The series sparked debate among wildlife researchers and science commentators about the ethics of filming animals in constructed environments. Some biologists argued such settings could cause stress or alter behavior for narrative purposes. Producers responded that filming was done under professional supervision and stressed that no animals were harmed.