Halloween is finally here, meaning there is no better time to sit down on the couch and watch a scary movie. There are so many out there, so it might be hard to decide which one is worth watching the night of October 31. To help ease the decision fatigue, we’ve put together a list of some of the best, most popular, scariest movies you can stream right now.
We’ll keep the list limited to one film per franchise, where applicable, and try to avoid sequels. And since it’s Halloween, we’ll be leaving out horror movies that play best during other times of the year – sorry to Jaws and Midsommar. Even something as iconic as Friday the 13th takes place at a summer camp, so it just didn’t feel right putting it on a Halloween-themed list. As for Halloween itself, the 1978 classic isn’t streaming on any mainstream services, which played into other omissions, as well.
So whether you’re looking for a horror starter pack or just want to know where you can find some of the classics, here is a list of 10 great horror movies to stream this Halloween:
Alien (1979)
Dir. Ridley Scott
Where to Stream: Hulu
When you think of slasher movies, you probably think of Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A man with a sharp weapon hunting down teenagers over the course of one night – a pretty standard format. And yet, maybe the best slasher of all time ditches the masked serial killer and suburban setting entirely, replacing them with an alien and a space ship. Even the teens are swapped out for futuristic truckers in Alien, the sci-fi horror masterpiece from Ridley Scott.
Alien also features a top-tier final girl performance from Sigourney Weaver, not to mention H.R. Giger’s iconic creature design for the Xenomorph. It’s violent, vibey and critical to the history of horror and science fiction alike.
The Shining (1980)
Dir. Stanley Kubrik
Where to Stream: HBO Max
As far as haunted house movies go, The Shining is about as good as it gets. It’s slow, cold and isolating right up until all hell breaks loose and the story really goes off the rails. The living and dead patrons at the Overlook Hotel have terrified generations of viewers, and it all holds up to this day. Put peak Jack Nicholson in any horror movie and you automatically have an all-time classic.
Whether you’ve read Stephen King’s novel or have only absorbed the imagery through decades of pop culture references, watching The Shining for the first time should be a blast. Even if you’ve seen it before, the score, set design and iconic moments are worth revisiting every spooky season.
The Thing (1982)
Dir. John Carpenter
Where to Stream: Peacock
The Thing is a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World, which was itself based on a 1938 novella titled Who Goes There? The story feels fresh and singular, though, thanks to Carpenter’s touch and some of the best practical effects of the 1980s. Beyond the body horror, the story has aged remarkably well too. You can map the themes onto various real-world crises, or you can enjoy it for the sci-fi thriller that it is on the surface.
A research facility in Antarctica doesn’t scream Halloween, but the hidden identities, betrayal and gore all do. Bonus points for Kurt Russell and Keith David operating at the height of their powers.
Scream (1996)
Dir. Wes Craven
Where to Stream: Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+
The slasher sub-genre is one of the most tried and true in all of horror. Audiences were starting to tire of the formula by the 90s, however, and horror as a whole was in a bit of a lull. That’s when Wes Craven – who had already revitalized the genre with The Hills Have Eyes in the 70s and A Nightmare on Elm Street in the 80s – came through with yet another era-defining blockbuster.
Scream is a slasher movie about slasher movies, building people’s familiarity with the structure and cliches into the scares. The end result is one of the funnier horror movies that doesn’t rely on camp, all wrapped up in a great whodunnit. The sequels are just as metatextual and self-referential, but the original is still the best.
Black Swan (2010)
Dir. Darren Aronofsky
Where to Stream: Hulu
If you consider a psychological thriller to be a horror movie, then Black Swan is the pick for you. As the New York City Ballet prepares to put on Swan Lake, one dancer tasked with playing both the White Swan and Black Swan descends into madness.
Black Swan predated the modern “elevated horror” movement, but it is about as disturbing with its imagery as anything else that has come out in the 15 years since. Natalie Portman also took home the Oscar for Best Actress thanks to her performance in this film, and it doesn’t get much more elevated than that.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Dir. Drew Goddard
Where to Stream: Hulu, Peacock
Much like Scream, The Cabin in the Woods is a very meta movie. The very concept of horror tropes is baked into the plot and themes, making it a must-watch for the genre’s biggest fans. From slashers to zombies to, well, cabins in the woods, it reads as a love letter to every last corner of the horror genre. It isn’t all fun and games, though, as goofy as some of the quips and supporting performances can be.
All the monsters and scares are played straight, with plenty of freaky imagery throughout. And when the existential threat at the center of the film starts to come into focus, a whole other kind of horror emerges. It’s a fun watch, on top of being a rewarding one.
It (2017)
Dir. Andy Muschietti
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Scary clowns are synonymous with Halloween at this point, and the quintessential scary clown is Pennywise. Tim Curry did the Stephen King character justice in the 1990s TV miniseries, but Bill Skarsgård made him a modern horror icon. Nearly every scene he is in is a blast in the most agonizing way possible, with the scares coming almost non-stop.
While the trend of 80s nostalgia may feel a bit overplayed at this point, that feels right at home in It. If you have time for a double feature, there is a Chapter Two you can fire up right after, but the first film stands on its own fine. There’s also a prequel series that just started on HBO, so maybe you want a refresher as you dive into that show.
Hereditary (2018)
Dir. Ari Aster
Where to Stream: HBO Max
Speaking of elevated horror, Hereditary is a poster child for that campaign. Chock full of generational trauma, paganism and people dying in nightmarish fashion, it really checks all the boxes and sets the bar high for it countless imitators.
From the very first frame, Heredity is unsettling to sit through. There are some traditional jump scares, but also some terrifying moments built up through sound design and things hiding in the background. Toni Collette also anchors the film with one of the best performances of the decade, horror or otherwise.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Dir. Robert Eggers
Where to Stream: HBO Max
The Lighthouse is not for everyone. It is, for better or worse, a very weird movie to watch. Robert Eggers brings the same dedication to setting and historical accuracy that he did with The Witch, The Northman and Nosferatu, diving head-first into 19th century New England. The film is entirely black and white and gets very avant garde with its imagery, some of which is hard to follow.
Hardly anyone gets screen time besides Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, both of whom are going all out with their bizarre performances. Their characters are unlikeable but iconic, leading to one wild ride that raises more questions than it answers – in the best possible way, of course.
Barbarian (2022)
Dir. Zach Cregger
Where to Stream: Hulu
Zach Cregger directed one of the biggest horror blockbusters of 2025, Weapons, which grossed over $267 million at the worldwide box office this summer. His breakout hit, though, came out three years earlier with far less hype for its release.
It’s best to go into Barbarian as blind as possible, since that is how the initial trailers presented the movie. A woman shows up to a rental house, only to find out that another man is staying there. The paranoia from the initial premise adds to the mystery around the hidden rooms in the seemingly simple house, which get progressively more disturbing. And if you were a fan of Weapons’ structure and bizarre tonal shifts, Barbarian should be right up your alley too.
