27 Spooky, Witchy, and Terrifying Shows and Movies You Need To Watch In Time For Halloween

May (2002)

Here’s a movie for those who appreciate slow-burning horror, where much of the film’s best stuff happen during the last 15 minutes or so. So as not to spoil anything, May is a story about an eccentric woman who works at a veterinary clinic and has a very deep fixation on hands and other body parts she considers perfect, and almost god-like. Her only friend is a doll enclosed in a glass box who embodies all the qualities—physical and otherwise—she admires in a person and on the eve of Halloween, when our strange protagonist decides to do a little bit of adult trick or treating, things get bloody.

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The ABCs of Death Pt. 1

Each letter stands for a different way to die. This anthology was made for the viewer with a twisted sense of humor and a stomach of steel (you can already imagine the no holds barred imagery of each unique cause of death) as it includes practically every sub-genre of horror from the paranormal and body horror, to slasher and suspense mockumentary, each segment possessing different degrees of “What the heck did I just watch?”

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What Lies Beneath

Those with a soft spot for horror-meets-crime drama will automatically give their stamp of approval for this classic. Beautifully paced, well-acted (none of Paris Hilton’s fake screaming in House of Wax, please and thank you), and with a (sort of) open-ended ending that’ll make you want to leave your night lamp on at night, What Lies Beneath is a gem in the genre, as it foregoes jump scares (but possesses an ample amount of them nonetheless) for a better plot and more engaging dialogue. Horror movies today simply aren’t made the same way, and this flick is definitely a testament to that time gone by.

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

This show has divided audiences: Shocking those who had been expecting a reboot of the beloved '90s comfort sitcom, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (it’s actually based on the comics), and invigorating those who went in with no expectations whatsoever as it leaned very heavily into its extravagance, campiness, and absolute twistedness. Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina even opened its first episode on Halloween and it’s been a wild and crazy ride ever since. Don’t take it seriously (the show itself never does) and just let yourself be enveloped in all its bloody and satanic histrionics.

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The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House is perfect for those who love family dramas—i.e., Parenthood and This Is Us—and want to get spooked but still be able to sleep soundly at night with the lights off. Adapted from Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name, Haunting tells the story of the Crain family and all their tender and tragic parts. It’s easy to binge-watch alone, but probably better to do so with another person or a bunch of friends, just so that you have someone to sob with whenever the needs calls for it.

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Practical Magic

Despite having bombed at the box office in 1998 and among critics (it had been dismissed as a ‘tonally confused rom-com’), Practical Magic has garnered a cult following in young women who are either interested in witchcraft or just enjoy the vibe that the two aunts, played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, exude. Practical Magic shows three generations of remarkably strong and resilient women, and it’s for this reason that it’s resonated with a female audience, past and present.

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Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

If Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is just *too* much for you, you can always go back to nineties nostalgia: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch follows the shenanigans of a teen who finds out she’s a witch, Sabrina, along with her aunts, Zelda and Hilda, and their precocious tuna-loving cat, Salem (played half of the time by a real black cat and the other half by a weird-looking animatronic cat). Sabrina is a great show to put on in the background while you’re entertaining guests at your Halloween party—it’s fun to marvel at the sometimes on-point, sometimes hideous fashion of the time.

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The Halloween episodes of Brooklyn Nine Nine

No one on television does Halloween like Brooklyn Nine Nine. What started as a one-off episode in season one, Brooklyn Nine Nine’s first Halloween heist was between Peralta and Holt (Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher, respectively) and since then the title “Amazing Detective-slash-Genius” has been highly-coveted. The episodes encompass what Halloween is now for a lot of millennials: clean, wholesome fun and dressing up in fantastic costumes.

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“You Don’t Know How It Feels,” Cougar Town

In this episode of Cougar Town, aptly monickered “Hallowine,” the cul-de-sac crew gather together at Grayson’s bar for the holiday, and a touching and lovely moment between Jules (Courteney Cox) and her dad ensue. Laurie (Busy Philipps) and Ellie (Christa Miller) go as over-the-top versions of each other and it’s wonderful.

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“Orange Alert,” Parenthood

Moving onto actual family drama Parenthood, the sixth episode of season two, “Orange Alert,” promises two things: a fun time as you get to see the entire Braverman clan in costume and some frustration, as the third gen kids try to assert their independence, forcing their parents to give up control for one night. Particularly lovely is the scene with Max, the Braverman grandkid that’s been diagnosed with Asperger’s, as he tries to navigate the neighborhood (supervised by his entire family, of course) filled with candles and screaming children.

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The Others

Another Nicole Kidman horror vehicle, The Others is quietly spine-tingling. Set in 1945, strange servants come in to help at Grace Stewart’s household, and her children begin suffering from a disease that causes light exposure to be life-threatening. The family lives in constant darkness and shadows, and as one watches, there’s an enduring feeling of being unable to breathe, and the fog rolling in at the right time helps this.

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Bates Motel

Incredibly acted though sometimes sloppily written, Bates Motel serves as the prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, showing us the beginnings of Norman Bates and his descent to insanity. It is some of Freddie Highmore’s best work, and it’s a shame he was never nominated for major awards. Vera Farmiga’s Norma Bates is a delight to watch in all her tragic, comedic, and despondent glory. Bates Motel, especially its earlier seasons (we’ll say until Season 2), is a great show to binge if you want to feel the creeps.

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“Halloween,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer

If the Buffy series has taught us anything it’s that, contrary to popular belief, vampires and monsters actually take the day off during Halloween. That’s why this time, Buffy decided to let her guard down and join in on the costumed fun. However, because Sunnydale is Sunnydale, a spell cast by a new baddie causes everyone to turn into real versions of their Halloween costumes which causes Buffy to lose her slaying ability. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer should definitely be on your watchlist all year round but this particular episode just screams Halloween.

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“The One With the Halloween Party,” Friends

If you think that Friends is one of those shows you can binge-watch during the fall, you’re not wrong. Yes, it has a lot (and we mean a lot) of Thanksgiving-themed episodes but The One With the Halloween Party is also an oldie but goldie. Who can forget Chandler’s pink bunny rabbit costume (but the backstory is the true winner because Monica initially wanted him to dress up as the Velveteen Rabbit—because it’s his favorite childhood book—but the pink rabbit costume is all she could find), Ross comes as “Spud-nik”—his clever play on combining the words Sputnik and potato—which earned him the worst costume of the night. And did we mention the moment that Rachel ran out of candies to give to trick-or-treaters so she handed them money and eventually ran out of it too? Iconic. This is the good stuff.

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American Horror Story: Asylum

A woman claiming to be Anne Frank? A physician with a gruesome backstore? Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters singing “The Name Game”? Asylum is one of AHS’s best and most disturbing seasons, and perfect if you’re looking for early Peak Television nostalgia and something terrifying and binge-worthy.

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“Spooky Sunday Funday,” You’re The Worst

As Brooklyn Nine Nine made Halloween theirs, You’re The Worst was more ambitious and took a whole day for themselves. As the gang celebrates Sunday Funday, in which they go drinkin’ and brunchin’, so do they with Halloween in this sophomore season gem. Gretchen, Jimmy, Lindsay, and Edgar go in their chosen costume and take on a murder tour in Los Angeles as well as enter an extremely terrifying—and may we add traumatizing—horror house, all undertaken because Gretchen had been down with a bout of depression. So of course in comes Jimmy to save the day with all the weird, twisted, and awful things that he knows Gretchen will like—nay, love.

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“Mr. Peanutbutter’s Boos,” BoJack Horseman

BoJack Horseman’s Halloween episode zeroes in on everyone’s favorite Labrador retriever, Mr. Peanutbutter. The episode takes us through four different years of Halloween (1993, 2004, 2009. and 2018) where we see Mr. Peanutbutter taking a different girlfriend to Bojack’s halloween party for each of those years. Of course, something always goes wrong which ends in a big fight between Mr. Peanutbutter and said girlfriend. After all, it wouldn’t be BoJack Horseman without any commentary on human relationships.

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The Cabin in the Woods

This is writer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard deconstructing the horror genre to our utter delight. You get the chills and suspense bits, but there’s also a very smart and playful veneer to all that’s happening. Dark and unique.

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28 Days Later

Director Danny Boyle basically set the standard with this one. It’s the apocalypse depicted in a very tense, claustrophobic manner, with gritty, helter-skelter camerawork. Starring Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris, we’re constantly kept off-balance watching this one. Masterful.

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Shaun of the Dead

If you can get your suspense and shocks while also laughing your head off, why not, right? This is Director Edgar Wright with writer/actor Simon Pegg giving us a ‘slacker meets zombie’ premise that’s truly outrageous. A cult classic that has to be watched if you haven’t yet.

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Don’t Look Now

Haunting, atmospheric, disturbing, and surreal to the point of being hallucinatory, this Nicolas Roeg film from 1973 still manages to crawl under your skin. It’s been copied and referenced; but for my money, works as a film experience better than The Shining, but that’s just me.

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The Silence of the Lambs

Intense, gripping, and disturbing in an intelligent manner, directed by the late Jonathan Demme; if you can believe it, this opened on Valentine’s Day 1991. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter set the standard with this one, and Jodie Foster was brilliant as Clarice, the FBI agent-in-training.

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Alien

This 1979 classic spawned a film franchise and a host of sequels, reboots, and what have you’s; so it’s easy to forget just how great and effective this very first one truly was. It’s Ridley Scott knowing exactly when to push the terror buttons.

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A Quiet Place

And if you’re looking for a new film that knew how to play Old School and give us Horror and Suspense by first making us feel for the protagonists, it’s this one written and directed by John Krasinski, who stars with real-life wife, Emily Blunt. Old, even tired, premise but recast in a wonderful, effective manner.

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Thir13en Ghosts

When you’re one of those people who loves classic horror films, then Thir13en Ghosts is for you. It’s one of those movies you’ll watch with your friends on a Friday night nearing the Halloween season if you want to scream and laugh at each other’s shocked faces. The story revolves around a mansion made of glass that houses twelve ghosts in its basement. It is more thrilling than scary since the plot revolves around the characters being trapped inside the house, together with the twelve ghosts that will be set free due to an accident.

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Hereditary

Hereditary is the perfect mixture of thriller and mystery. If you’re into watching cult-y movies, you will surely enjoy watching this because it revolves around a twisted and psychotic family drama that unravels some taboo secrets of their late grandmother. This movie is truly one of the most intense horror movies to date and will give you the chills whenever you hear the iconic ‘tongue click’ sound.

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The Witch

Nail marks have been carved onto movie theater arm rests because of this heavily atmospheric masterpiece by Robert Eggers famous for its ‘hold your breath’ pacing and immersive cinematography. Playing on a premise that movie fans are more than familiar with (one family is ostracized by their deeply religious community for suspected witchcraft), the true beauty of this film is in its command of suspense and let us tell you—this movie assures that you won’t know the true meaning of suspense and anticipation until you’ve seen it until the very end.

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