These might not be the scariest movies on the screen, but they are all great options to watch this spooky season. I’ve tried to include something for everyone here. There are aliens and robots, ghosts and demons, vampires and clowns, cults and good old-fashioned human horror. I even threw in an apocalypse for good measure. I hope you find something new to watch on this list, and stick around till the end to see my three special mentions.
Up to five platform links are provided for each movie, though they are by no means the only host sites. All links provided to streaming platforms are current as of the publishing of this article. If any of them are broken by the time you read this, you might need to go looking yourself for new official hosting sites, or use a VPN to access content that is only available in specific countries. Legally, we cannot condone watching these movies through unofficial means, especially since every single movie on this list can easily be accessed through pirating websites or illegal reuploads on YouTube. That said, look after your wallets, make sure to choose the viewing option that is the best fit for your budget.
Lily C.A.T. (1987)
Let’s start off with my most obscure pick on this list! For the horror fans in the audience, you’ll recognize this first movie’s setting and plot from Alien (1979), and its monster and ending from The Thing (1982). It’s a solid film and a fun romp for fans of either of those franchises in both its subtitled and dubbed versions. It has some gore and disturbing imagery, but is relatively tame considering. Its definitely one of the tamer ones on this list. It’s an easy movie to binge, and a very hard movie to hate. If you’re looking for something comfortably within the Among Us-esque horror sphere, but want to watch something new to you, then this movie is perfect!
IMDb: 6.2/10
Where to Watch: Crunchyroll, Prime Video, The Roku Channel
Carnaval of Souls (1962)
Next is an old indie cult-classic, back from the grave and ready for a new audience! This second movie on my list, Carnival of Souls, follows a young woman named Mary, who, after an unexplainable escape from certain death following a tragic accident, is haunted by the ghouls of a ghostly carnival, which she feels inexplicably drawn towards. It is wonderfully creepy and unsettling, and you spend the whole movie waiting for the other shoe to drop. I really love the ending to this one. It’s a must-watch for fans of 20th-century psychological horror. Unlike Lily C.A.T., this one gets all its points from the building suspense, so if you’re not a fan of monsters or gore, then you might like this one!
IMDb: 7/10
Where to Watch: AMC+, Fawesome, Plex, Prime Video, Tubi
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
This list’s lucky number three is Disney’s stop-motion animated movie about how a talking skeleton, ruler of Halloween Town, who, sick of Halloween, attempts to commandeer Christmas, with a little bit of romance on the side.
This somehow ends with Jack (the skeleton) having to rescue Santa Claus from a sentient bag of bugs. In addition to being quintessentially creepy, this movie is the best representation I’ve ever seen of cultural appropriation. My family’s been watching this every Halloween and Christmas for as long as I can remember, and if you never had a chance to watch it as a kid, I would highly recommend it. This one is great fun for the whole family!
IMDb: 7.9/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Disney+, Google Play, Prime Video, YouTube
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Fourth on our list is Jennifer’s Body! It’s a comedic horror with deliciously queer themes, about an unsuspecting teen named Needy (short for Anita) and her best friend Jennifer, who is used as a human sacrifice by a small-time ban in hopes of gaining a demonic talent for music. Fortunately for Jennifer, it doesn’t work, at least not completely. Jennifer does die, but she doesn’t stay dead. Unfortunately for everyone else, Jennifer comes back, and she comes back hungry. Much cannibalism ensues.
IMDb: 5.6/10
Where to Watch: Disney+, Prime Video, Hollywood Suite, STARZ, YouTube
9 (2009)
Fifth on the list is a movie I hold especially dear to my heart. This was my favourite movie from ages seven to nine, though it is by no means for the faint of heart. It’s held up splendidly over the years, and has never disappointed me on rewatch. 9 takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has been destroyed, and all that remains are the creations of one brilliant inventor. This band of misfit creations must work together to survive in the face of their inventor’s oldest creation, the Robot that ended humanity. But their ultimate triumph against the AI comes at a steep cost.
IMDb: 7/10
Where to watch: Apple TV, Fandango, Google Play, Netflix, Prime Video
Midsommar (2019)
This movie is the epitome of psychological horror and dread. Sixth on our list, Midsommar is about a young woman named Dani going on an out-of-country getaway following a horrific family tragedy, and finding a new love for life! No, really. Now, this wouldn’t be particularly bad if this new outlook on life weren’t the result of being brainwashed to join the cult that just murdered the rest of her travel companions. Though the movie’s real claim to fame is how it uses actual cult tactics to prime both Dani and us, the viewer. This movie takes the tried and true trope of the Final Girl in an inventively cruel new direction, and is definitely worth a try.
IMDb: 7.1/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video, Tubi, YouTube
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
This seventh title is without a doubt one of my favourite vampire movies of all time! Alternatively titled دختری در شب تنها به خانه میرود, this black and white Western-produced Persian language film stars a young man named Arash, his life and daily dealings, and his encounters and developing connection with a mysterious woman with a very bloodthirsty secret. I personally really enjoyed how the two secondary male characters in this movie receive a violent comeuppance for their actions towards women, and the wonderfully ambiguous note that the film ends on.
IMDb: 6.9/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Barnes & Noble, Fandango, Kanopy, Kino Film Collection
Perfect Blue (1997)
Among fans of anime horror, this eighth film about J-Pop idol Mima and her transition into the film industry is often considered the best the genre has to offer. But it’s definitely a movie for adults only. It deals with obsession, sex, the dark side of the film-making industry, stalking, murder, and unreality. The ending is a great twist that you don’t see coming, but makes complete sense in hindsight. And it’s worse than anything you will expect.
IMDb: 8/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Fandango
IT 1 (2017) & 2 (2019)
It’s practically impossible to be a fan of creepy movies and never have heard of the IT duology adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. This ninth item, a pair of movies, are what I consider to be the peak of traditional horror. I hate suspense and jump scares, and both of these movies do them so well that I’ve never been able to watch either of them in one sitting!
IT is about a clown who eats children. Specifically for their fear. Except the clown, Pennywise, is actually an alien, and it’s been holding this one tiny town in the middle of nowhere hostage so it can come out to feed every 27 years. But the last time Pennywise came out to feed, a small group of children stopped it before it could eat its full. This is what the first movie is about.
IMDb: 7.3/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, HBO Max, Hulu, Philo, YouTube
This second movie, by contrast, takes place 27 years later. That band of children, of friends from decades past, who’ve drifted apart over the years, have reunited once more to go toe-to-toe with Pennywise, and hopefully kill him for good. They won’t allow any children to die this time, or ever again, at that sick monster’s hand.
IMDb: 6.5/10
Where to Watch: Apple TV, HBO Max, Hulu, Spectrum, YouTube
Hit the theatres for Frankenstein (2025)
Finally, the tenth film! This one is different from the other nine in that, at the time of this article’s writing, it hasn’t actually come out yet. It’s due to hit theatres starting October 17th, 2025. Nevertheless, I’ve put it on the list because its from a director who knows how to put on a good fantasy film: Guillermo Del Toro.
The other reason it made its way onto my list is that, based on this trailer,
its looking like it’ll be the most faithful adaptation of the book to date. In Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, the monster is incredibly intelligent and well-spoken. His character was meant to elicit complicated sympathies, both for his plight, and in how he eventually feels driven to commit violence after continuous rejection from all those around him, including his creator.
I’ve read the book many times and taken a whole course in university on Frankenstein in Theatre and Film, so I’d like to think I’m something of a connoisseur of Frankenstein media at this point. Now, only time will tell if I’m right, but I can’t help but include a piece of media that, in addition to having a lot of promise as a film, is shaping up to set the record straight!
IMDb: 7.3/10 (Pre-release)
Where to Watch: Apple TV, Netflix
Now for the special mentions!
Slay the Princess (2023 visual novel)
If I had to pick a singular title, rather than a franchise, as my favourite media piece of all time, it would be the visual novel Slay the Princess (—The Pristine Cut). I’ve never found another piece of media that integrates the restrictions and rules of its format so intrinsically into the world-building of its plot and storyline.
Here’s a trailer if you want a snapshot of the artstyle and visuals used.
Now for a synopsis! Slay the Princess has a very simple premise. At least according to the voice in your head, calling itself The Narrator. You are a hero. Your job is to go to the prison where The Princess is being held captive, and kill her. Because if you don’t, she will supposedly end the world. This is an incredibly meta story with many layers, featuring a time-loop, the distortion of the very idea of reality, and one of the strangest love stories you’ll ever have the pleasure of experiencing.
IMDb: 8.2/10
Where to Play: Epic Games, Nintendo, Steam, Xbox
There is also the option of checking out playthroughs on YouTube, but because of the huge variety of routes this game offers, whatever route you take first will heavily impact your impression of The Princess and the game in general. As such, for the best experience possible, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you go into this title blind.
Little Nightmares (2017 video game)
Little Nightmares is my favourite video game franchise of all time. I’ve never played another game that has such a distorted, creepy, and bleak aesthetic. And I’ve always been a sucker for puzzle-horror games. The visual and sound design are top-tier, and the intentional ambiguity and anonymity surrounding the player character and what will become of them is utterly delicious.
Below is a full playthrough of the franchise’s first release by the same name. It stars Six, a little girl in a yellow coat who isn’t quite human, navigating a world straight out of our worst nightmares. Six is trapped on a cruise full of things that may have once been human, and children like herself who are little more than nourishment for the ship. But Six is done running and done being hunted. By the end of the game, Six, hardened by her experiences and inhuman urges, begins a hunt of her own. Here’s a link to my preferred walkthrough, which I watch whenever I can’t be bothered to play the game, but want to bask in its atmosphere.
IMDb: 8.2/10
Where to Watch: YouTube
Where to Play: Nintendo, PlayStation, Steam, Xbox
The Magnus Archives (2017–2021 podcast)
I couldn’t make a list of creepy media to binge without including my favourite horror fiction podcast of all time. As a person who prefers audio-based or interactive horror over movies, I’ve got to say that I enjoyed this podcast more than most horror movies I’ve subjected myself to, or seen and enjoyed.
Magnus Archives is the VCR self-recording of the work of character, one, Jon Sims in his efforts to document and organize the Magnus Institute’s archives of all things supernatural, while adamantly insisting there is no such thing. Unfortunately, the supernatural doesn’t stay in the recordings, bursting through into Jon’s life. And what’s worse, Jon and his archival assistants can’t leave now. The Magnus Institute is so much more than a dusty academic institute, and if you’ll hold out for the end of the first season, you’ll see how true that really is.
IMDb: 9.3/10
Where to Listen: Apple Podcasts, Audible, Rusty Quill, Spotify, YouTube
Final thoughts
Note that while some of the titles are safe for children of all ages to experience, a majority of the movies contain adult themes, nudity, references to sex and substances, and extreme gore that would not be appropriate for children. Some are too extreme, even for younger teens. If you are interested in watching any of these movies with younger family members, please do some independent research to make sure the movie is safe for them to watch. Or, watch if first yourself. If you are under the age of sixteen and looking to watch something creepy or edgy, bear in mind your own limits for this kind of content, and take care of yourself.
Here’s to wishing all of you a Happy Halloween!
