The Best Halloween Movies to Watch in 2024

Happy Halloween! There's no better way to celebrate the end of spooky season than turning off every single light in your house and settling in to watch something scary. Sure, you can watch a horror movie 365 days a year, but everyone knows today is the best day to do it.

Luckily we've put together a list of the best horror movies to watch. Whether it's on Prime Video, Max, Peacock, Netflix, or somewhere else, here's where to stream classics like Scream and Beetlejuice, future classics like Barbarian, and indie gems like The Witch.

More recommendations:

• New Halloween movies streaming in 2024
• The complete guide to fall TV
• The most anticipated shows of fall 2024

Terrifier and Terrifier 2

Halloween 2024 belongs to Art the Clown. The villain at the center of Damien Leone's Terrifier franchise went mainstream with the mid-October release of Terrifier 3, which surprisingly topped the box-office in its first week of release, leading many to ask "WTF is a Terrifier?" The answer to that question is a gruesome throwback to plotless slasher movies filtered through the Troma library built on the foundation of coulrophobia. The violence is EXTREME and loaded with practical effects, like someone who is a whiz with prosthetics and fake blood made a 90-minute portfolio reel, yet for fans of '80s horror movies who like gratuitous gore over honest scares, it's a hoot. There are no heroes, only decapitations, dismemberment, and disembowlings for all, all delightfully delivered by a devilish mime. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Halloween (1978)

It's all right there in the title: Halloween movies don't get any more iconic than the original Halloween. Jamie Lee Curtis, following in her mother Janet Leigh's scream queen footsteps, makes her film debut as Laurie Strode, a high school student whose babysitting gig goes to hell when she's stalked by an escaped killer who murdered his sister 15 years earlier. From director John Carpenter's chillingly minimalist score to Michael Myers' haunting, expressionless mask, Halloween takes a straightforward slasher premise and makes it art. The franchise was rebooted in 2018, with a new trilogy that picks up 40 years after Laurie's first encounter with Michael Myers and can be streamed on Peacock. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer] [How to watch all the Halloween movies in order]    

 

Beetlejuice

Much like many Halloween movies, Beetlejuice is most notable for its villain. This one is played by Michael Keaton, having an absolute blast as the titular Beetlejuice, a mischievous and malevolent spirit who agrees to help a deceased couple haunt the family trying to buy their home, quickly escalating the situation to scary and ridiculous heights in the process. If you want to pregame the film's 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with the demonic classic that started it all, there's no time like the present. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] 

Hocus Pocus

Yes, there's a plot here — a group of kids have to stop a trio of evil, kooky witches from becoming immortal — but it's barely worth mentioning, since the witches themselves (played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) are the best part of the whole movie. We aren't still talking about Hocus Pocus decades after its release because of its riveting story; we're still talking about it because of the "I Put a Spell on You" scene! A sequel 29 years in the making also hit Disney+ in 2022. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] 

Barbarian

Barbarian did something clever by releasing something of a bait and switch trailer, which makes the movie out to be a standard story about a woman (Georgina Campbell) spending the night in the same house as a crazy man (Bill Skarsgård, unparalleled at playing crazy men) who lures her down into a creepy basement after they get double-booked at the same Airbnb. And that is what it's about at first, sort of, before quickly revealing that it's about something else entirely, which I won't spoil here. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

The Black Phone

This adaptation of Joe Hill's short story has all the hallmarks of his dad Stephen King's books: a clear setting and place (Denver suburbs in the late 1970s), young kids coming of age who also have weird powers, and genuinely creepy vibes. In The Black Phone, a teen boy (Mason Thames) is abducted by a creep (Ethan Hawke) but is able to communicate with previous victims through a mysterious phone. Unlike the recent horror shlock that's been massively popular, The Black Phone doesn't rely on jump scares and gore to rile up its audience. Some good direction from Scott Derrickson and likable performances have made it one of the better-reviewed horror films in recent years. -Tim Surette [Trailer]     

 

Trick 'r Treat

The 2007 film Trick 'r Treat, which has become a modern Halloween cult classic, is actually four short movies in one, all tied together by a creepy (and somewhat adorable) trick-or-treater who shambles through each of the tales of terror in a small town on Halloween night. It has the feel of a horror classic of the 1980s, mixing campy comedy, genuine scares, gore, and a tiny bit of gratuitous skin, making it a perfect Halloween pre-party date night flick before you generate your own mayhem on the streets. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Scream

The slasher movie to end all slasher movies, Wes Craven's self-aware '90s classic centers on a California high school being targeted by a masked killer. There are so many reasons this horror comedy remains iconic — that terrifying opening phone call scene, to name just one — and if you enjoy it, there are three more movies in Craven's original series, as well as two reboots of the franchise, the first of which was released in 2022 and the second in 2023. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]      

The Witch

If your idea of getting into the Halloween mood is watching a movie so scary that you need to wear four pairs of underwear, you can't do much better than The Witch (or The VVitch, if you're cool). Robert Eggers' 2016 film is arguably the best horror film of that decade, and tops the list of A24's incredibly strong scary lineup that includes Midsommar, The Lighthouse, and Hereditary. Set in 1630, the movie stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit) as a teenager whose family relocates to a remote countryside where a strange presence lives in the nearby forest (can you guess what it is?) and threatens to turn the family against itself. The unnerving film is a masterclass in mood, rattling viewers to their core through Eggers' impeccable direction. I LOVE this movie. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Get Out

Jordan Peele's horror film has become a modern classic, telling the story of a young Black photographer whose white girlfriend brings him home for a weekend to meet her family, only for him to quickly discover that there's something much more sinister going on underneath the wealthy, Obama-voting surface. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]        

Ghostbusters

A trio of disgraced scientists decide to try their hand at taking out the paranormal entities terrorizing New York City — get it? They're busting the ghosts! — which makes them the city's only line of defense when they happen upon a doorway to an evil dimension that could destroy everything. I can't imagine there are very many people out there who haven't at least heard the Ghostbusters theme, a song absolutely impossible to escape during the month of October, but I'm sure they exist! -Allison Picurro [Trailer]    

The Shining

This adaptation of Stephen King's novel is a psychological trip, starring Jack Nicholson as a writer who accepts a job as a winter caretaker at a remote hotel, bringing along his wife and young son. As time passes, he slowly begins to unravel as the supernatural forces that exist on the property begin to make themselves known. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

It (2017)

A group of young kids from a small town in Maine are terrorized by a demonic entity who takes on the form of Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård), the creepiest clown you've ever seen, which is saying something. Nothing says Halloween like a good old-fashioned Stephen King adaptation. The film spawned a 2019 sequel, It: Chapter Two, set 27 years after the original, starring Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]      

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The best way to watch this cult classic musical about a young couple who get stranded at a mysterious mansion full of deranged characters during a storm is in a theater packed with other super fans, but you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of watching it at home too. You just can't go wrong with these campy performances and that killer soundtrack. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

The Fear Street movies

R.L. Stine, the guy who wrote the Goosebumps books, set his sights on a slightly older crowd with his Fear Street novel series, which became the foundation for one of Netflix's biggest film experiments yet. The three teen-slasher horror films, which all tell the origin story of a cursed town, were each released over three consecutive Fridays in July 2021. Each film is set in a different year (1994, 1978, and 1666), culminating in a flashback to witch trials in the 1600s, and they feature carryover cast members and plenty of gory deaths. Let's just say that after watching this you'll be extra careful around a bread slicer. -Tim Surette [Trailer]      

Hereditary

After the death of their secretive grandmother, a family begins to notice a series of disturbing incidents that leave them trying to escape the fate they've inherited. This Ari Aster-directed film is an excellent, truly horrifying journey, but the main reason to put it on is Toni Collette, who delivers a powerhouse performance as the mother of the family. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]       

Suspiria (2018)

Luca Guadagnino directs this remake of the 1977 Dario Argento horror classic. Dakota Johnson stars as Susie, a seemingly fresh-faced dancer who travels from Ohio to Berlin to study at an elite dance academy and is quickly named head dancer. As Suspiria unfolds, and as more students and teachers are found dead or go missing, it becomes increasingly clear that something very sinister and supernatural is going on underneath the surface. Also, Tilda Swinton plays three roles, and for one of them she gets to dress up as an old man. It's kooky, it's campy, and it's also very, very scary. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]       

Jennifer's Body

Despite being utterly panned when it was first released, time has been kind to Jennifer's Body. Karyn Kusama's 2009 teen horror film earned cult classic status a few years ago, largely thanks to its voracious internet fandom, who rightfully pointed out all the ways this movie was not only very good but also very ahead of its time. Megan Fox stars as Jennifer, a high school girl who gets (spoiler) possessed and has to feed on boys in order to stay alive, with her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) the only one able to stop her. It's infinitely quotable, incredibly funny, and so, so smart. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]  

 
   

Midsommar

Even if you haven't seen Midsommar, you've probably seen the memes or heard someone quote its most iconic line: "Do you feel held by him?" This is the break-up movie to end all break-up movies, starring Florence Pugh as a girl who, while emotionally recovering from a devastating family tragedy, tags along on a trip to Sweden with her terrible boyfriend (The Perfect Couple's Jack Reynor) and his terrible friends to attend a festival that only occurs once every 90 years. And because this was directed by Ari Aster, who also brought us Hereditary, it naturally devolves into a story about a neopagan cult, flower crowns, and unspeakable horrors occurring in broad daylight. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

It Comes at Night

While an unidentified illness ravages the world's population, a man holes up inside his secluded home in the woods with his wife and son. Their tenuous peace is disturbed by the arrival of another family, also looking for a place to stay safe from the disease. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]    

Child's Play

A kid discovers his new doll has been possessed by the spirit of a serial killer named Chucky in this shlocky but beloved film. While I've always found this to be one of the dumber horror franchises, it sure has endured through the years, hasn't it? -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

The Craft

The new girl at a Catholic high school befriends three outcasts who regularly practice witchcraft. When their spells appear to be working, the four begin to go mad with power. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

The Conjuring

Two paranormal investigators (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are called on to investigate a haunted house, quickly discovering the malevolent presence lurking around them. The weirdest part of this whole movie is that it claims to be based on a true story. This movie spawned an entire cinematic universe, which includes two Conjuring sequels, the Annabelle movies, and The Nun films. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

Friday the 13th

The character of Jason Voorhees has been through many, many iterations throughout the decades, but this film, about a summer camp being targeted by a killer disguised behind a hockey mask, gives us his origin story. -Allison Picurro [Trailer] [How to watch all the Friday the 13th movies]    

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Much like Halloween's Michael Myers and Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) is at this point such a legendary horror film character that it's almost difficult to imagine a time when he wasn't around. This film, though, takes us back to the beginning, revolving around four teenagers who are attacked and killed by Kreuger in their dreams and in real life. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]     

What We Do in the Shadows

In this horror comedy, three vampire roommates are the subjects of a mockumentary about the hardships and daily pitfalls of modern-day life as a member of the undead community. You should also go check out the excellent FX comedy series based on the film, which is just as much fun (if not more) as the source material. -Allison Picurro[Trailer]       

His House

A refugee couple from South Sudan find their new housing in England is not what it seems in this chilling and stylish horror movie from writer-director Remi Weekes. If you love ghosts and grief but are ready for a little more intensity, His House is a must-watch; it's a haunted house story that blends serious scares with thoughtful commentary on immigration and trauma. Plus, it's anchored by unmissable performances from stars Wunmi Mosaku and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer]      

Talk to Me

The Australian A24 film Talk to Me was all the buzz when it came out in 2022, the perfect party film for young horror fans to dare each other to see because it's basically about young partygoers who dare each other to tempt spirits. When a group of friends attend a house party in which an embalmed hand is passed around that can channel the dead and possess the living, Mia (Sophie Wilde) uses it as an opportunity to talk to her dead mother. With truly terrifying possession sequences, Talk to Me has become a cult favorite. -Tim Surette [Trailer]