New Netflix horror series has more jump scares in the first episode than any in TV history

A new horror series has just dropped on Netflix and it's already the proud holder of a Guinness World Record.

The Midnight Club, created by Mike Flanagan - who we can thank for the likes of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor - has broken the record for the most jump scares in a single episode.

So if you were thinking of giving it a go, maybe keep that achievement in mind.

Based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Christopher Pike, those who have already braved the book are have warned that this one definitely isn't for the faint of heart.

The limited series tells the story of a gang of eight terminally ill teenagers living in a Brightcliffe Hospice, who meet every night in the library to tell each other sinister stories and look for signs of life after death.

One night, the group decide to make a pact that the first one of them to die must promise to communicate with the others from beyond the grave - and when the inevitable happens, it doesn't take long for the unusual occurrences to begin.

Ahead of the series premiere on Netflix, Flanagan explained the thought process that landed him with a Guinness World Record for the most jump scares (21, to be precise) - which is definitely not the first award you expect to win after producing a TV series.

Netflix

"I thought, ‘We’re going to do all of them at once, and then if we do it right, a jump scare will be rendered meaningless for the rest of the series.’ It’ll just destroy it", he told Deadline.

"Kill it finally until it’s dead. But that didn’t happen. They were like, ‘Great! More [scares]!'"

The irony of it all is that Flanagan, who was presented with his coveted Guinness World Record certificate earlier this week at the Netflix headquarters in New York, actually despises jump scares.

His thought process was that if he added so many jump scares in a row that it became meaningless, he could kill off the horror trope once and for all - and boy, did that backfire!

Thankfully, in the end, the American filmmaker has been able to find an up-side to the whole debacle.

Netflix

He continued: "My whole career, I completely s**t on jump scares as a concept, and I wanted to make sure it was pinned to me, too, as much as it is to the show, to Netflix, and all of us who have inflicted this on everyone.

"Now, I have my name in the Guinness Book of World Records for jump scares, which means next time I get the note, I can say, 'You know, as the current world record holder for jump scares, I don’t think we need one here.'"

The Midnight Club is available to stream now on Netflix.