New 'Black Mirror' Season Showcases Tech Horror

After its debut on Netflix last year, the sci-fi thriller series Black Mirror became, arguably, the buzziest horror series on TV. That was 2015, though, and since then, we've been introduced to Stranger Things, also on Netflix, and a hot new season of American Horror Story on FX. Given all the competition, when a new season of Black Mirror debuts this week, will it still be able to draw the attention of horror fans the way it did last year?

The previous season of Black Mirror on Netflix consisted of six episodes that were originally produced for British television. This week's new episodes are the first installments of the series produced exclusively for Netflix. The streaming service commissioned 12 new episodes which will be parcelled out over two seasons, six episodes this month and six more sometime next year.

These new episodes play on the same themes that fans loved so much in previous seasons: the intersection of technology, contemporary culture, and horror. Different episodes of the anthology series will explore the impact of war, social media, internet celebrity culture, and technological dependence.

The new episodes also feature some relatively big names in their casts, including Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World) and Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire).

The new season of Black Mirror will be available for streaming in its entirety on Netflix beginning on October 21.