It’s October and you can explore new horror offerings right now – no need to wait for Halloween. Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video and other streaming services are bringing fear to the forefront by delivering new TV and movie originals that will make your skin crawl and your heart race.
In addition to these exclusives, streamers are keeping the fear alive with notable films that have recently scared audiences in theaters. The result is a frightening array of serial killers, rituals, ghosts, zombies, monsters, killer clowns and much more. If that sounds like a spooky party you’d want to attend, here are the horrors brewing on streaming services.
The Substance (October 10, HBO Max)
Demi Moore stars in this wild body horror film as Elisabeth Sparkle, who gets fired from her job on a fitness TV show and turns to a product called The Substance to create a different version of herself. The Substance earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture (it won for Makeup and Hairstyling), and now HBO Max subscribers will be able to watch it.
Vicious (October 10, Paramount Plus)
Paramount Plus will bring this Dakota Fanning-led film to the United States following its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. In Vicious, Fanning’s character experiences a horrific and unforgiving night after a stranger shows up with a mysterious box and tells her that three things are inside: something she needs, something she hates, and something she loves.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (October 16, Netflix)
After covering up their role in a fatal car accident, a group of friends begin to be stalked by a vengeful killer in this new installment of the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprise their roles from the first two films. Note that only subscribers to Netflix’s ad-free plan in the US (not ad-supported plan customers) will be able to stream the slasher film due to licensing restrictions.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (October 16, Peacock)
Based on a 2021 Peacock docuseries of the same name, this eight-episode scripted miniseries stars Michael Chernus as notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The series will not show the Gacy murders on screen and will present the victims’ stories through flashbacks, according to NBC.
Lazarus by Harlan Coben (October 22, Prime Video)
Mystery and a spooky atmosphere are elements of this new six-part Harlan Coben thriller series, starring Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (October 22, Hulu)
Hulu has a remake of the 1992 psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle on the spooky schedule. Eerie vibes abound in the new version, which stars horror regulars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe as a suburban mother and a new nanny.
The Elixir (October 23, Netflix)
This upcoming Indonesian Netflix film unleashes zombie horrors after the owner of an herbal medicine company concocts an ill-fated new recipe.
Host (October 23, Prime Video)
Disturbing incidents occur at an all-girls reform school on a remote island in this new supernatural Thai horror film.
It: Welcome to Derry (October 26, HBO Max)
If you’ve seen 2017’s It and 2019’s It: Chapter Two, Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise needs no introduction. This new prequel series from HBO will transport viewers to Derry, Maine, in 1962. Skarsgård and Andy Muschietti, the director of the aforementioned It films, are both involved in the spooky series based on the Stephen King novel.
Bring Her Back (available now on HBO Max)
Bring Her Back is dark and disturbing, with creepy rituals and adoptive mothers, and it has a spooky good score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. The A24 film has the same directors as 2022’s Talk to Me.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (available now on Netflix)
The third season of Netflix’s dark anthology series Monster is about the infamous Wisconsin serial killer and grave robber Ed Gein. Whether you watch the eight episodes based on his life or read the true story of the murderer, prepare to be disturbed.
Things go from bad to worse for Kiara and Miles, who face the end of their marriage and must try to survive supernatural forces in this Hulu original film.
