As the leaves begin to fall and the air turns crisp, October descends on us, bringing with it seasonal flavors, pumpkins, sweaters, and everything else that makes this month so remarkable. Most people would agree that the hallmark of the month is Halloween. As we’ve grown and left behind the tricks and the treats, we’ve graduated to more mature mediums of expressing our festiveness: scandalous costumes, parties, scary movies. No matter how you choose to celebrate, it’s important to take advantage of the horror and the thrills before the season gives way to thankfulness and football. To make sure you’re getting the most out of the spookiest month, take advantage of the streaming services you have available. Whether you subscribe yourself or leech off of a friend or a loved one, follow this guide to ensure you don’t miss any Halloween or horror favorites, whether they are classics or more recent hits.
Netflix
Everybody and their cousin has access to a Netflix account. Though the Horror section has always been somewhat disappointing for the most popular streaming service on the Internet, you can find some gems once you parse through the B-movies and Netflix Originals. What Netflix is offering up as their must-watches for Halloween is called Netflix and Chills.
“It Follows” (2014), an indie must-see, shows a group of kids battling a monster stalker whose target gets passed from person to person. The only way to pass it to someone else? Have sex with them. “Cabin Fever” (2002) and its remake (2016) offer a more irreverent scare. “Interview with the Vampire” (1994), a gothic horror movie based on the novel of the same name starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, tells the story of a Vampire’s life, love, and hunger and the turning of a ten-year-old girl, a young Kirsten Dunst. Netflix seems to be the best outlet for someone looking for good but not great, lesser-known scary movies, one of the best of these being “The Babadook” (2014). The story of a mother and son troubled by a monster-under-your-bed from a children’s picture book has sat on Netflix’s roster for some time.
Hulu
“Huluween” is what Hulu offers as its form of celebration. Though always seen as Netflix’s lesser competitor, Hulu’s Halloween lineup gives more diversity as well as movies and TV shows of substance for its audiences. The catalog of retro TV shows it hosts is especially impressive, among them, “The Addams Family”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Dark Shadows”, “The Outer Limits”, and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”.
Classics that serve as foundation for any horror film buff that Hulu streams include too-real-for-comfort “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), infamous “Child’s Play” (1988), Wes Craven’s “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977), and the original paranormal chiller “The Amityville Horror” (1979). Looking for something more wholesome? Check out Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993), though debatably more a Christmas movie than Halloween, or the Mary-Kate and Ashley throwback “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble” (1993). Ryan Murphy’s recent sorority horror-comedy TV show “Scream Queens” also graces the lineup of “Huluween.”
HBO
One of the more premiere channels, HBO, offers its TV shows and a host of movies online at HBO Go or HBO Now (if you know the difference, please tell me). If your TV package comes with HBO, you have access to these sites, and though its selection is a bit more sparse than Netflix and Hulu, it goes for quality over quantity. The movies worth noting under its Horror/Sci-Fi genre include Stephen King’s “It” (2017) remake, the original “The Omen” (1976), the remake of “The Last House on the Left” (2009), and the absurd high school horror-comedy “Jennifer’s Body” (2009), starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. Fans of the “Wrong Turn” have sequels two, four, and five to consume, and fans of the “Alien” franchise have the newest installment/prequel “Alien: Covenant” (2017). In its Suspense category, Oscar-decorated “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), the story of detective Clarice Starling and the hunt for serial killer Buffalo Bill.
Amazon Prime Video
As Jeff Bezos takes over the world and Amazon rapidly asserts its dominion over the human race, more and more people sign up for Prime, which most popularly expedites customers’ packages. As a student you also get a discount to subscribe to Prime. It offers a streaming service with free movies and TV, as well as the option to rent or buy basically every movie, ever. The library of quality, free movies is much less extensive than the other streaming services. Some gems among the lot include Daniel Radcliffe in “The Woman in Black” (2012), “Jaws” (1975), Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” (1989), “Jeepers Creepers” (2001) and its 2003 sequel, “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” (1976) and its 2014 remake, and Stephen King’s “Carrie” (1976).
The highlight of Prime Video is its original TV show “Lore”, bringing to life Aaron Mahnke’s podcast of the same name that discusses history’s creepiest mysteries, the unexplainable, and urban legend. If you’re willing to shell out the few bucks that most movies cost to rent on Amazon, you’ll be in horror heaven; if not, you might need to turn to other streaming services to fulfill your needs.
Whatever streaming service you use, get in the spirit. Light that pumpkin scented candle, pop some popcorn, grab the remote, kick back, and remember: It’s only a movie… don’t get too scared.