Your Ultimate Halloween 2024 Watchlist: 12 New Movies and Series to Stream or See in Theaters

Spooky season has officially arrived, and while the perennial favorites like Hocus Pocus, Scream, and Practical Magic will always have a place in the rotation, this October delivers a genuinely stacked lineup of fresh horrors, thrills, and family-friendly frights. From high-profile reimaginings of Stephen King and slasher icons to original supernatural mysteries and bite-sized anthology scares, there is something calibrated for every tolerance level.

Whether you are planning a month-long marathon or just need one solid pick for Halloween weekend, here are 12 new titles worth adding to your watchlist, organized by where you can watch them.

Streaming on Disney+: Family-Friendly Magic at Coven Academy

For viewers who prefer their Halloween with more wonder than gore, Coven Academy enrolls you in a New Orleans magic school populated by young witches and warlocks. The series leans into teen drama and supernatural hijinks rather than nightmare fuel, making it a safe bet for family viewing. It arrives on Disney+ as part of the platform’s expanding “Halloweenween” programming block.

Free on Tubi: Quick Scares and Cult Cameos

Bite Size Terror — Anthology for the Attention-Span Challenged

Tubi’s original anthology Bite Size Terror serves up 10 short episodes, each a self-contained story spanning monsters, the occult, body horror, and dark comedy. The format is ideal for sampling—watch one during a lunch break or binge the lot in a single sitting. No subscription required; just tolerate the ad breaks.

R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 — Goosebumps Meets Harvest Horror

Horror royalty Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) joins this sequel to R.L. Stine’s family-horror entry. A forbidden spellbook awakens pumpkin-headed children at a harvest festival, and Peterson’s mysterious witch may hold the key to stopping them. It lands free on Tubi just in time for the holiday.

Prime Video: Mike Flanagan Reimagines Carrie

Few showrunners inspire as much genre trust as Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass). His limited-series adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie casts Summer H. Howell as the telekinetic outcast, a role immortalized by Sissy Spacek in 1976. Flanagan has signaled a slower, character-first burn that expands the novel’s scope beyond the prom-night climax. All episodes drop on Prime Video this month.

Netflix: Deep-Sea Dread and Filipino Folk Horror

Below — Josh Hartnett and Mackenzie Davis Face a Sea Monster

A remote fishing community becomes the hunting ground for an unseen aquatic threat in the miniseries Below. Josh Hartnett and Mackenzie Davis lead a cast that includes Stranger Things alum Charlie Heaton. The six-episode arc promises creature-feature tension with prestige-drama production values. Streaming now on Netflix.

Balaraw: Blood Island — Philippine Mythology Meets Survival Horror

Arriving late October, Balaraw: Blood Island follows a woman searching for her long-missing mother on a remote Philippine island. The series draws on local folklore—think aswang and sigbin—transforming a personal quest into a desperate fight to escape. It marks Netflix’s continued investment in Southeast Asian genre storytelling.

In Theaters: Psychological Thrills and Supernatural Shockers

Verity — Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson in a Colleen Hoover Adaptation

Less jump-scare horror than psychological slow-burn, Verity adapts Colleen Hoover’s bestselling thriller. Dakota Johnson plays a ghostwriter hired to complete a bestselling author’s series, only to uncover a disturbing manuscript in the home of the author (Anne Hathaway). Directed by Michael Showalter, it opens wide this Friday.

Other Mommy — Jessica Chastain Pulls Double Duty

Jessica Chastain stars as both a mother and the malevolent entity haunting her daughter in Other Mommy. The supernatural horror leans hard into jump scares and uncanny-valley imagery, with Chastain’s dual performance as the primary draw. Also opening Friday in wide release.

Crawlers — Arachnophobes, Stay Away

If eight legs are your hard limit, skip this one. Crawlers traps apartment residents in a quarantine zone with a rapidly multiplying spider infestation. Practical effects and tight quarters amplify the claustrophobia. In theaters now.

Clayface — Batman’s Shape-Shifter Gets the Body-Horror Treatment

DC’s malleable villain headlines his own feature, starring Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines) as an actor disfigured by a crime boss. An experimental treatment triggers grotesque, Fly-like transformations. The film leans into practical prosthetics over CGI, a refreshing choice for genre purists. In theaters now.

Peacock: The Friday the 13th Origin Story in Crystal Lake

The Friday the 13th franchise returns to its roots with Crystal Lake, a prequel series centered on Pamela Voorhees—the original film’s killer mother—played by Linda Cardellini. Set in the titular town before Jason ever donned a hockey mask, the show explores the trauma and fanaticism that birthed a legend. Streaming on Peacock later this month.

AMC+: Slavic Folklore in YAGA

YAGA transplants the legend of Baba Yaga into a modern supernatural mystery. Carrie-Anne Moss stars as an enigmatic professor suspected in the disappearance of a young man (Hudson Williams). The series blends academic intrigue with deep-woods dread, filmed on location in Eastern European forests for authentic atmosphere. Streaming on AMC+.

How to Choose: A Quick Decision Guide

Pro tip: Several streaming platforms rotate horror catalogs monthly. If a title isn’t available in your region, check JustWatch or Reelgood for real-time availability before settling in.

The Bigger Picture: Horror’s Streaming Arms Race

This October’s glut reflects a broader strategy: streamers now treat horror as a year-round retention tool, not just a seasonal spike. Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, and AMC+ all debuted horror originals in Q3 2024, while Tubi and Disney+ leaned into FAST (free ad-supported television) and family-friendly IP respectively. Theatrical horror, meanwhile, continues to punch above its weight—Longlegs, Alien: Romulus, and Speak No Evil all overperformed at the summer box office, proving audiences still crave communal scares.

For viewers, the competition means more variety and fewer gaps. You can trace a direct line from Flanagan’s Carrie to the Crystal Lake prequel: both are legacy-IP expansions helmed by creators with proven genre track records. Meanwhile, originals like Other Mommy and Clayface test whether star power and practical effects can launch new franchises.

Final Thoughts: Curate Your Own Festival

No single platform owns Halloween 2024. The smartest approach? Pick one theatrical outing (Verity for psychology, Other Mommy for visceral scares), queue a limited series for weekend bingeing (Carrie or Crystal Lake), and keep a free anthology (Bite Size Terror) on deck for solo nights. With 12 fresh entries across every subgenre and price point, the only wrong choice is skipping the season entirely.

Entertainment, Arts, News, Streaming, Halloween, Horror Movies, TV Series, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, AMC+, Tubi, Mike Flanagan, Stephen King, Carrie, Friday the 13th, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Linda Cardellini, Carrie-Anne Moss, Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, Cassandra Peterson, R.L. Stine, Colleen Hoover, Batman, Clayface, Baba Yaga, Filipino Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Psychological Horror, Body Horror, Anthology, Family Horror, Seasonal Content, October 2024