When it comes to most holidays, special shows and movies aren’t required. But Halloween isn’t most holidays. Halloween needs spooky shows and movies like Michael Myers needs a giant knife. And this year, our favorite streaming services have really stepped up to the plate.
We could have highlighted all of the unsettling content coming out this month, from Netflix’s ghost-hunting reality show 28 Days Haunted to the Solar Opposites Halloween special. We could have also included new horror hits that are still in the land of VOD, like Bodies Bodies Bodies, or up-and-coming classics that technically premiered in September, like Hocus Pocus 2. Instead, we kept our list focused. Consider this your guide to some of the the very best Halloween shows and movies coming to streaming this October. And remember: no one will judge you for sleeping with the lights on.
1
Premiere Date: Currently streaming; New episodes debut on Wednesdays
Streaming Service: Shudder
Way back in 2004, a compilation clip show called The 100 Scariest Movie Moments debuted on Bravo. Yes, that Bravo (this was in the pre-Housewives era). The show was styled similarly to the popular I Love The… series, and became a fall staple for many moons to follow. Flash forward to today, a time when channel-surfing is all but dead, as is the funny/smart compilation clip show format that was a staple of early Aughts basic cable programming — that is, with the exception of Shudder’s The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time, which premiered in late September of 2022 and is debuting new episodes throughout the month of October. Turns out the format still has legs, especially when you get talking heads like Edgar Wright, Tony Todd, and Joe Dante (to name but three) to weigh in, and because the show isn’t being broadcast on basic cable, all the blood and guts and viscera is there on the screen in all its bloody glory. — Mark Graham
2
'The Walking Dead'
Premiere Date: October 2
Streaming Service: AMC
The Walking Dead returns for its final run of episodes in October. And while the zombie powerhouse might not be as big as it once was, and the final episodes may seem muted in light of three or more spin-offs coming from AMC, there’s every chance the series will deliver the gross-out moments, and more importantly emotional beats that fans crave. Even 11 seasons in, don’t underestimate the spectacle that is the biggest zombie show on TV — ever. — Alex Zalben
Where to stream The Walking Dead
3
'Interview with the Vampire'
Premiere Date: October 2
Streaming Service: AMC and AMC+
AMC kicks off spooky season in sensual style with their new adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Rollin Jones’s version of the epic tale of lust, love, blood, and heartache is now set in the early 1910s. Louis du Ponte de Lac is now a Creole brothel owner and Lestat de Lioncourt is both his maker and lover. Interview with the Vampire balances gothic melodrama with campy horror. You’ll swoon, you’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, and you’ll shudder at all the blood. — Meghan O’Keefe
Where to stream Interview with a Vampire
4
'Mr. Harrigan's Phone'
Premiere Date: October 5
Streaming Service: Netflix
What if you were given a phone by your elderly friend who used said phone to haunt you from beyond the grave? That’s the nightmare taking place in this movie from John Lee Hancock and adapted from the short story of the same name by Stephen King. Starring Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste, we’re excited for this one to give us new reasons to fear our cell phones. — Kayla Cobb
Watch Mr. Harrigan's Phone on Netflix
5
'The Midnight Club'
Premiere Date: October 7
Streaming Service: Netflix
Mike Flanagan, Netflix’s favorite spooky creator, is back. And this time around he and co-creator Leah Fong are trying the YA genre on for size. The Midnight Club follows a group of terminally ill teenagers who all reside in Rotterdam Home hospice. To pass the time, they do two things: tell each other creepy stories, and vow to contact their friends once they cross over to the other side. It’s that latter hobby that may not be the best idea. — Kayla Cobb
Watch The Midnight Club on Netflix
6
'Werewolf By Night'
Premiere Date: October 7
Streaming Service: Disney+
Marvel isn’t exactly the first, second, or thirtieth movie studio that you think of when you think of Halloween, but Disney+’s Werewolf By Night just might change that. This special is a straight-up 1930s-style black and white horror throwback about a bunch of monster hunters trapped in a castle… and one of them is also the monster. Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly star in this mad Marvel experiment, and we can’t wait to see them sink their teeth into Marvel’s first legit creature feature. — Brett White
Watch Werewolf by Night on Disney+
7
'Hellraiser'
Premiere Date: October 7
Streaming Service: Hulu
This fall, we’re returning to the pain and pleasure-filled world of Clive Barker. A young woman in the throes of addiction comes to possess a mysterious puzzle box. Little does she know that box will summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension. Starring Odessa A’zion as our new leading lady and Jamie Clayton as our new Pinhead, here’s hoping this remake lives up to the hype of the original. — Kayla Cobb
Watch Hellraiser on Hulu
8
Premiere Date: October 13
Streaming Service: Shudder
What would spooky szn be without the work of Dario Argento, the Italian master of giallo? The director of legendarily frightening films like Suspiria and Deep Red is now 82 years young, and Dark Glasses is his first feature film in a decade. If you don’t happen to live in New York or Los Angeles, the two cities where the film will be playing theatrically, you’re in luck: Shudder will be the exclusive streaming home of this highly-anticipated slasher spectacle. — Mark Graham
9
'The Watcher'
Premiere Date: October 13
Streaming Service: Netflix
Based on a disturbingly true story, this is every home owner’s worst nightmare come to life. All that Nora (Naomi Watts) and Dean Brannock (Bobby Cannavale) wanted was a nice home for their family. But when they find themselves on the receiving end of threatening letter after letter, their new home quickly becomes hell. From Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan and starring Mia Farrow, Richard Kind, Jennifer Coolidge, and Margo Martindale, this miniseries promises to be as slick and gorgeous as it is terrifying. Think American Horror Story: Murder House but with terrible neighbors instead of ghosts. — Kayla Cobb
Watch The Watcher on Netflix
10
'Halloween Ends'
Premiere Date: October 14
Streaming Service: Peacock
The saga of Michael Myers is finally set to come to an end. Starring the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis, the 13th installment in this franchise takes place four years after the events of Halloween Kills and Michael’s apparent death. But when a young man is accused of murdering a boy he was babysitting, Laurie Strode knows that she has to confront the evil she’s been running from once and for all. — Kayla Cobb
Where to stream Halloween Ends
11
'American Horror Story: NYC'
Premiere Date: October 19
Streaming Service: FX; next day on Hulu
It’s about time that American Horror Story made its way to the city. This new installment will star Billie Lourd, Isaac Cole Powell, Zachary Quinto, Sandra Bernhard, Patti LuPone, Denis O’Hare, and Leslie Grossman. As is always the case, we don’t know much about the actual plot. But here’s what we do know: the promo photos feature a lot of bondage, Billie Lourd is back, and no show can match AHS‘ signature blend of stylish gore. We’re in. — Kayla Cobb
Where to stream American Horror Story
12
'Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities'
Premiere Date: October 25
Streaming Service: Netflix
This October, Netflix is cursing us all with a formatting throwback. Hosted by Guillermo del Toro, this horror anthology series brings viewers eight different horror stories from either del Toro or other writers and directors. Each one is designed to challenge the classical horror genre. If a prestige Twilight Zone with a pure horror twist sounds appealing to you, grab your popcorn and prepare for October 25. — Kayla Cobb
Watch Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix
13
'Wendell & Wild'
Premiere Date: October 28
Streaming Service: Netflix
You can’t celebrate Halloween without The Nightmare Before Christmas. That’s why it’s so exciting that we’re getting a new stop-motion movie from Henry Selick, the director behind that classic. Even better? The movie is co-written by our modern master of horror, Jordan Peele. Two scheming brothers, Wendell and Wild (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele), recruit 13-year-old Kat (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living. And what may be best for Wendell and Wild may not be best for everyone else. — Kayla Cobb
Watch Wendell & Wild on Netflix