How to access Netflix's secret genre categories
Netflix has a hidden world of subgenres that can help you zero in more quickly on what to watch next.
There is still plenty to watch on Netflix while you await season 2 of Stranger Things. If you need help zeroing in on a show or movie, there are hundreds of hidden categories that let you search not just for Dramas, for example, but Crime Dramas or Tearjerkers or Dramas based on real life.
The thing is, Netflix keeps these subgenres hidden. Netflix displays about two dozen categories when you mouse over the Browse menu option at the top of its main page, but there are hundreds upon hundreds of subgenre categories you can access manually or via a Chrome extension to narrow your search.
Search codes manually
Thanks to an industrious individual over at What's On Netflix, you can check out these subgenres and their corresponding codes. To browse by one of these secret genre categories, use this URL:
http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/INSERTNUMBER
and replace INSERTNUMBER with the code of the genre you want to browse.
These codes are useful if you are in the mood for Slasher and Serial Killer Movies (8646) or Screwball Comedies (9702) or something in between. They can also be useful if you are a fan of foreign cinema and want to browse by country; there are many country listings for Foreign Movies.
Search by Chrome extension
With the Netflix Categories extension for Chrome, you can browse many but not all of Netflix's hidden categories. The extension adds a button to the right of Chrome's URL bar. Click on the button to access menu of dozens of the hidden categories. You can mark categories as favorites, which places them up front, above an All Categories button, behind which the other categories are listed. The developer says more categories will be added soon.
The Netflix Categories extension is a good middle ground between using Netflix's limited selection of categories and searching for the codes manually using the What's on Netflix site.