Netflix And Chills: 15 Films And TV Shows You Can Stream Now To Get In The Halloween Spirit

With spooky season officially here, it’s time to decide what you’ll be watching this Halloween.

And whether you want to mark the occasion with a horror film to keep you lying awake all night, a spooky classic from your childhood to serve up some nostalgia or even a family-friendly offering, you need look no further than your Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Apple TV+ accounts. 

There’s a plethora of titles to make you jump or just tickle your funny bone, depending on your preference. Here are 15 of our top picks...

1. Cabinet Of Curiosities

This 2022 anthology series tells eight different horror stories, making it perfect for binge-watching over the weekend leading up to Halloween.

Cabinet Of Curiosities was created by Guillermo Del Toro, who previously helmed films like Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Shape Of Water and Nightmare Alley, with the Spanish director introducing each episode in a presumed nod to The Twilight Zone.

Described by Netflix as eight “bizarre nightmares”, expect each of the completely separate episodes to deliver on chills and thrills.

Streaming on: Netflix

2. Fear Street Trilogy

First released in 2021, this fun and action-packed trilogy served as Netflix’s gift to horror devotees, with each of the three films paying homage to classic films of the genre.

The first instalment, set in 1994, references teen slashers from the late 20th century (most obviously the original Scream trilogy, which it tips its hat to on more than one occasion), while part two takes us back to a US summer camp in 1978.

Part three is the biggest throwback of the lot, though, taking place way back in 1666, the era of the Salem witch trials.

Streaming on: Netflix

3. Scream 4

Of course, if we’re talking about 90s slasher films, no one can does it better than the Scream franchise.

Released a decade after the original trilogy came to an end, Scream 4 moves the original gang (including director Wes Craven) into the digital age, while introducing a new host of teen characters with their own oh-so 2011 issues. While Courteney Cox’s iconic fringe has sadly been ditched, there’s plenty else to enjoy, not least Emma Roberts of Scream Queens and American Horror Story’s turn as Sidney Prescott’s bratty teenage cousin.

Streaming on: Paramount+

4. The Haunting Of Hill House

This seriously underrated show first came out in 2018, and we’re still having nightmares about the Bent-Neck Lady all these years later.

If you’re a fan of a spooky ghost story, The Haunting Of Hill House is definitely one for you. Across the Netflix original’s 10 episodes, the show serves up modern-day family drama interspersed with gothic horror as five adult siblings grapple with horrors that befell them in their old family home.

And if you finish, there’s also a follow-up series The Haunting Of Bly Manor, telling a completely new story with the same cast and crew.

Streaming on: Netflix

5. Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina

Don’t let those nostalgic memories of the classic Nickelodeon sitcom fool you, the good people at Netflix were not joking around when they called Sabrina Spellman’s new adventures “chilling”.

Demonic hauntings, satanic rituals and grisly nightmare sequences are all par for the course in this reimagining of Sabrina – but don’t worry, there’s also enough regular high school drama to satisfy fans of shows like Riverdale or The O.C. Just with a bit more devil-worshipping thrown in for good measure.

Streaming on: Netflix

6. Scary Movie

Looking for more of a laugh then a jumpscare this Halloween? Well, you’re in luck, as the first Scary Movie is streaming now.

Parodying the likes of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, with references to The Shining, The Sixth Sense, Halloween and Friday 13th littered throughout, there’s a lot to keep horror fans busy. And while the crude humour might not be for everyone, it did spawn four sequels, so it’s obviously to some people’s tastes.

Streaming on: Netflix

7. Midsommar

Anyone who’s seen (and, indeed, been traumatised by) Ari Aster’s first film Hereditary will know he’s a director who’s not afraid to take things to the darkest places imaginable.

In follow-up Midsommar, he takes that and runs with it, using relationship drama and grief as the backdrop to explore some truly disturbing imagery, set against a misleadingly bright and colourful backdrop.

Midsommar is essentially what would happen if you tasked William Castle with directing a Disney fairytale, with an undeniably epic performance from Oscar nominee Florence Pugh as a young woman grappling not just with the death of her family, but an ailing relationship. Even as things become unspeakably twisted, we defy you not to root for her.

Streaming on: Channel 4

8. Death Becomes Her

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a bit of camp this Halloween season, then Death Becomes Her cannot be beaten. While the comedy was originally slated upon its release, it’s become a cult classic in the decades since, with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn’s performance providing the inspiration for Halloween drag numbers the world over.

In the black comedy, Meryl and Goldie play two youth-obsessed frenemies who come to blows when they both drink a potion giving them eternal life, not considering the downsides of the bargain. It’s an absolute must-watch.

Streaming on: Apple TV+

9. Stranger Things

No, you’re not going to get any spooky ghost attacks or zombie resurrections, but there’s an eeriness that hangs over this hugely popular Netflix original series that makes it perfect for Halloween.

Its four seasons centre around dark parallel universes, scary monsters and some weird goings on in an 80s science lab, plus a mystery that only a group of teens seem to be able to get to the bottom of.

Seriously – if you still haven’t watched Stranger Things yet, this is the perfect time of year to finally get into it. Come for the 80s nostalgia, stay for the ever-so-slightly-terrifying Mindflayer. Just get ready to have Kate Bush stuck in your head until at least December…

Streaming on: Netflix

10. Labyrinth

Again, Labyrinth isn’t your traditional Halloween film, but this collaboration between David Bowie and Jim Henson (of The Muppets fame) from the mid-80s is so deliciously weird it’s actually perfect for the time of year.

The movie is a coming-of-age story with amazing songs, slightly sinister undertones and a cast of weird and wonderful characters, led by Bowie himself, who nails it as the very serious Goblin King.

Streaming on: Netflix

11. Hocus Pocus 2

The campest Halloween film of all time finally got part two in 2022. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy are all back for the second part of the Hocus Pocus story, reprising their original roles as the Sanderson sisters almost 30 years after the first film hit cinemas, this time with additional music numbers. Bring it on.

When the first Hocus Pocus film was released, it received a middling response, only growing a cult following as the years went on, so time will tell whether its successor will hold its own.

For those less convinced, though, the original Hocus Pocus is also available to stream.

Streaming on: Disney+ 

12. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

Released on Netflix earlier this moth, The Fall Of The House of Usher is the newest spooky obsession for viewers around the globe.

Created by Mike Flanagan – the mind behind the terrifying Haunting Of Hill House – the gothic tale follows a pharmaceutical dynasty that will let nothing stand in their way of success.

Nothing, that is, except death.

The miniseries – inspired by famed gothic author Edgar Allan Poe’s 1839 gothic short story by the same name – stars a cast of heavy-hitters like Star Wars legend Mark Hamill and The Haunting Of Hill House’s Carla Gugin.

Streaming on: Netflix 

13. Friends (The One With The Halloween Party)

Or, for those who fancy getting in the Halloween spirit without scaring yourself half to death, the cast of Friends is here to help.

Despite loads of memorable Thanksgiving and Christmas specials, Friends actually only devoted one episode entirely to Halloween, but it’s truly got it all: pregnant Rachel refusing to dress up (“I am a woman who spent a lot of money on a dress because pretty soon, she won’t be able to fit into it”), a pink bunny/giant potato stand-off between Ross and Chandler and a stellar A-list cameo from none other than Sean Penn.

Streaming on: Netflix

14. The Addams Family

Similarly, if you need something Halloween-inspired that the whole family can enjoy without giving younger viewers nightmares, we can suggest this CGI reboot of The Addams Family.

No, it never quite reaches the heights of other big-screen adaptations of the classic spooky family (Addams Family Values is a high bar to meet, in fairness) but there are still some camp performances, particularly from Charlize Theron as Morticia.

Streaming on: Prime Video

15. The Nightmare Before The Christmas 

It’s around this time of year that the debate usually starts over whether Tim Burton’s stop-motion classic constitutes a Halloween or a Christmas film.

For those who fall into the former camp, The Nightmare Before Christmas is now streaming on Disney+. And for those in the latter... hang on a couple of weeks, and it’ll still be there.

Disney+ is actually home to a lot of Tim Burton’s Halloween-friendly offerings too, including Edward Scissorhands, his reimagining of Alice In Wonderland and Frankenweenie.

Streaming on: Disney+