No other holiday serves up the perfect excuse to binge-watch movies all month long like Halloween. Some poor screenagers may partake in the 25 Days of Xmas (a marathon of Christmas-themed made-for-TV trash). Lonely hearts will always use February as an excuse to watch their favorite rom-coms. Still, for everyone else who doesn’t fall into either of those categories and is too old for trick-or-treating, the Halloween season is built for binge-watching movies, horror specifically. Many channels will be playing the classics all month long, but unlike Xmas and lovey-dovey rom-coms, there are only so many Halloween-themed horror movies, which means their lineup is probably stale.
Luckily, the SAW crew has made a list of new classics you should watch this month. Some are psychological thrillers, others are splatter flicks, and there’s even a kid-friendly movie or two thrown in. The only criteria was that it had to be horror or Halloween-adjacent, so much like the trick-or-treating of days past, every day will be a new surprise. If you’re looking for an alternative to the same old Halloween classics or want ideas for your own marathon, check out the recommendations below.
Day 1 | Obsession (2026)
The movie that took the world by storm, Obsession is the newest version of the classic monkey’s paw: what if you got exactly what you wished for? In the film’s opening moments, Bear wishes that his friend Nikki would “love him more than anyone in the world,” and he gets that … and so much more. Barker’s horror debut plays not just with the idea of agency and consent, but the genuine despair and dread of the situation for all parties. This film is so effective as a horror story while still having moments that are so funny I laughed out loud during my first watch. It never gets too in the weeds to the point where it’s not a blast. The perfect balance of fun and scares, this is the perfect Halloween watch for 2026.
–Valerie Morreale
Day 2 | 1408 (2007)
If you have an affinity for either spooky hotels or the video game Silent Hill 4: The Room, I have a wonderfully scary movie recommendation for you. Based on documented reports from San Diego’s Hotel del Coronado, 1408 depicts one skeptic’s troublesome stay in the titular room at the fictional Dolphin Hotel in New York City. John Cusack plays the said skeptic, Mike Enslin, a for-hire horror travel writer at the end of a long rope. Awash from all the fake genre lodgings he’s subjected to, Enslin gets a bit more than he bargained for with this forbidden suite. Though heavily deterred by the hotel manager’s (Samuel L. Jackson) brutal stories of the room, Enslin opts for a stay out of spite to quell any deception.
Once inside, the room becomes an evil entity unto itself, unleashing 350 square feet of Mike’s deepest fears. It turns from freaky hallucinations into a full-blown existential nightmare that means to swallow Mike up into the hellish void inside. It can be a bit unconventional, but 1408 has captivated me every time it comes on. A surprising combination of elements that results in a solidly effective experience.
–Tyler Harner
Day 3 | Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Classic 60’s sci-fi horror from Hammer and the mind of Nigel Kneale. A mysterious object is discovered during a subway expansion project and it may not be of this earth. Conflict between scientists and the military put the whole planet at risk. This is one of those films I saw as a kid and never caught the title – but I remembered how creepy and awesome the film was. The ship (yeah, it’s a ship, spoilers), the monsters, the special effects – they’re all cheap and somehow fantastic at the same time. The concept is more terrifying than the execution, but everyone – director, actors, SFX people – are doing amazing work with what they had. Quatermass and the Pit (AKA Five Million Years to Earth) is one of my favorite Hammer horror films, and one I watch every October.
–Bob Cram
Day 4 | Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
When a hurricane traps a group of wealthy young people inside a remote mansion, a party game quickly becomes a real-life nightmare after someone turns up dead. Bodies Bodies Bodies brings a completely different energy to an October movie night. This movie is pure chaos, blending a dark, stormy night with a thrilling murder mystery that will leave you wondering what the hell just happened by the time the credits roll. Full of paranoia, messy friendships, secrets, and plenty of dark humor, Bodies Bodies Bodies is especially entertaining for people who enjoy Halloween with a sharper, satirical edge. It’s tense, ridiculous, and unpredictable in exactly the way a fun Halloween watch should be.
–Romona Comet
Day 5 | Silver Bullet (1985)
Before Corey Haim faced down a gang of flying vampires alongside the other Corey, he took on a different classic monster in Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. As a horror movie, it’s a bit more wholesome and campy than others from this era, but it features Gary Busey doing very Gary Busey type things, a werewolf whose alter ego might be the last person you’d expect, and Haim saving the day from his custom-built wheelchair motorcycle. It’s a regular October watch for me, and my favorite werewolf movie of all time.
–Billy Dhalgren
Day 6 | Old (2021)
Are you loving Aaron Pierre as John Stewart in Lanterns? Do you want to check out some of his earlier work? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you need to see M. Night Shyamalan’s Old. The 2021 mystery thriller features Pierre in a supporting role as one of the many guests who become trapped on the beach that rapidly ages them. It’s a ticking mystery thriller with that all too familiar Shyamalan twist that will leave you avoiding secluded beaches for a while.
–Marmaduke Karlston
Day 7 | Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Fall is my favorite season, October is my favorite month, and Halloween is easily my favorite holiday. So every year, just like many other movie fans, I create an October watchlist. And every year, Stephen King adaptations feature heavily on it. And as much as I love the season, I don’t always want my watches to utterly horrify me. Sometimes I’m looking for the quirky ones, the fun ones. Ones like Maximum Overdrive. And I’m a simple man. You give me Emilio Estevez, trucks run amok outside a truck stop, and AC/DC–I’m a happy camper.
–Billy Dhalgren
Day 8 | Thelma (2017)
This movie did “What if Carrie was homeschooled?” before Mike Flanagan did. An early film of Joachim Trier, Thelma follows a formerly homeschooled college student as she awakens to weird and unpredictable powers while away at university. It’s a moody, strange, and haunting watch, with much of the runtime leaving you unsure of what’s really happening and what is just in Thelma’s head … and whether her parents were right to isolate her. Ultimately, it’s another horror with a lot to say without being overly preachy about it, and Trier is such a gorgeous director that all of his films are a visual feast. This one is super underrated, and definitely deserves some more love this spooky season.
–Valerie Morreale
Day 9 | Drag Me to Hell (2009)
Sam Raimi returned to his horror roots with this fun, nasty supernatural tale that delivers pure Halloween candy. Alison Lohman plays Christine, a loan officer who denies an old woman an extension on her mortgage and gets hit with a curse that promises she’ll be dragged to Hell in three days. What follows is a nonstop barrage of gross-out gags, inventive kills, and Raimi’s signature chaotic energy. It has a slapstick feel, mixed with flies, vomit, maggots, and gore. You want something that feels like a carnival ride through Hell on a cool Fall day? This is it.
–Vincent Kane
Day 10 | Send Help (2026)
Being trapped with Rachel McAdams on a deserted island should be a dream come true, right? Well, not if you’re Dylan O’Brien. As the only two survivors of a plane crash, McAdams’ Survivor instincts make her the alpha on the island, with O’Brien and his shattered leg at her mercy. If that reminds you of either Cast Away or Misery, well, yeah, this movie is like their lovechild. But, unlike either of those movies, this one has McAdams back in a substantial leading role.
Oh, and it’s directed by Sam Raimi in what can only be described as his second return to horror after he decided to follow Drag Me to Hell up with Oz the Great and Powerful and the Doctor Strange sequel. Fingers crossed that Raimi won’t wait another 17 years before helming another horror movie, but if Send Help is it, well, there are worse ways to go out.
–Marmaduke Karlston
Day 11 | Tremors (1990)
Honestly, I’m shocked Tremors hadn’t been chosen for a Halloween watchlist before this year. Sure, it takes place in the summer, but this creature feature screams Halloween. Isolated surroundings, terrifying monsters that stalk their prey through movement, and a quirky group of ordinary people trying desperately to survive. Set in the tiny desert town of Perfection, Nevada, the movie follows Val (Kevin Bacon) and Earl (Fred Ward) as they discover a horrifying monster moving beneath the ground. Tremors succeeds with its practical effects, clever monster mythology, and wonderfully balanced humor and scares. So while you may be taken to the desert in the middle of autumn, it’s still the perfect kind of horror movie to get swept up in during the spookiest time of the year.
–Romona Comet
Day 12 | A Field in England (2014)
A surreal and occasionally hilarious drama with elements of horror from Ben Wheatley (Kill List), A Field in England is just plain odd. The film follows a group of men during the English Civil War as they search for an alchemical treasure in, well, a field. It’s one of those films that treats almost every moment with weight and dread, so you’re never sure what’s meaningful and what’s just a guy with constipation. Some elements are fantastic – transitions are handled by the main characters posing as if they were parts of traditional paintings or woodcuts, for instance – and others are rough and amateurish. As a whole, though, the film is intriguing and just weird enough to fascinate. Hard to believe this guy directed the subpar The Meg 2: the Trench.
–Bob Cram
Day 13 | Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Arguably the best of the franchise and the one that feels closest to a Fall day. Tommy Jarvis accidentally brings the big lug back from the dead Frankenstein-style, and the result is pure 1980s slasher perfection. We get zombie Jason for the first time, and he’s somehow cooler than ever. The RV sequence alone is worth the price of admission, with Alice Cooper blasting, bodies flying, and Jason emerging from the wreckage like a beast. Tom McLoughlin leans into the camp without ever losing the menace, and the whole thing has this playful, almost comic-book energy that makes it endlessly rewatchable. If you’re only going to watch one Friday this October, make it this one, and if you have seen it a million times as I have, try something new and check it out in black and white.
–Vincent Kane
Day 14 | Passenger (2026)
Passenger isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel when it comes to B horror flicks, but it is bolstered by good-enough inner lore and a few truly creative scenes to make it worth a watch. The film is directed by Andre Øvredal, the director of relative hits like The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Trollhunter, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. He does what he can here with a thin script and lesser actors for a small-budget film. He also sometimes over-indulges, moving the camera around like crazy in an overcompensation for otherwise bland scenes. But as a creepypasta about a ghostly figure who hitches a ride with passersby and then hunts them down, this is very watchable.
–Jacob Holmes
Day 15 | Night of the Creeps (1986)
I saw Night of the Creeps for the first time a couple of years ago, and this movie is practically made for a Halloween movie marathon, especially if you’re a fan of over-the-top, corny 1980s horror. The plot is pretty straightforward- alien parasites begin to overrun a university campus, turning people into zombie-like creatures, and two college students and an eccentric detective must stop them. There is plenty of gore and chaos, but the movie never takes itself too seriously, which is why it’s so much fun. If you want a bit more cheesy charm in your Halloween, definitely give Night of the Creeps a watch. Thrill me!
–Romona Comet
Day 16 | The Night House (2020)
On the surface, The Night House comes across as one of countless horror movies flowing from the wake of the 2010 “elevated horror” boom that seemed to heavily conjoin personal trauma with any new entries into the genre. Underneath is a somber and scary experience that plays with a ghostly curiosity alongside its darker moments to evoke something more than just fear. Rebecca Hall lends some really powerful and present emotion as the recent widow, Beth, with all she has to encounter during this extreme ordeal. As she uncovers her late husband’s dark secrets, The Night House challenges you to fully consider what you would do to keep your loved ones safe even in the face of an unreality. David Bruckner also brings a visual horror element I’ve never seen in a movie before, using the concept of the Rubin vase or the “vase illusion” to create jump scares and visualize an unknown presence. It requires some clever camera trickery and makes for a few genuinely effective scares that link with Beth’s fractured psyche.
It might not be the best of its kind, but The Night House was a woefully underseen movie when it came out in 2020 and is certainly worth the time. Plus, anytime we can give more love to Rebecca Hall, we should.
–Tyler Harner
Day 17 | House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Vincent Price hosting a party in a haunted house and offering ten grand to whoever can survive the night is pure Halloween gold right there. William Castle’s classic is gimmick-driven fun, complete with the original “Emergo” skeleton that supposedly flew over theater audiences, and it still holds up as a wildly entertaining night of thrills. The house itself is a character, dripping with atmosphere and cheap but effective scares, while Price chews every scene with that perfect mix of charm and menace. It’s short, snappy, and never pretends to be more than a good time at the movies. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need when the leaves start falling and the nights get longer. Dim the lights, pour a drink, and let Vincent Price do the rest.
–Vincent Kane
Day 18 | Silent Hill (2006)
Before you roll your eyes, this movie has a lot to love. Based on the beloved video game series, Silent Hill is a weird, creepy, but still unique little movie. What looks like studio slop on the surface actually features some pretty incredible costumes, set design, and a story that pretty closely follows the first video game. Sure, Sean Bean isn’t giving his best performance, but what this movie lacks it more than makes up for in its gory action sequences. A perfect one to watch with a group while drinking.
–Valerie Morreale
Day 19 | Noroi: The Curse (2005)
Noroi is a rare Japanese found footage movie, and a great one at that. It purports to show us the last project from journalist and “paranormal researcher Masafumi Kobiyashi (Jin Muraki) – the film he was working on when he went missing. Director Kôji Shiraishi ratchets up the unease and the tension slowly, giving us bits and pieces that don’t seem to fit together, until they do in the most unsettling ways. Because it’s presented as a documentary, we’re not forced to sit through endless night-vision scenes of running through a forest or hallway; instead, we see interviews, clips from TV shows, conspiracy theorists, TV stars, suicidal pigeons, ancient shrines, a drowned town, and more. It’s a lot, but it all builds to a bizarre and horrifying conclusion. One of my favorite found footage movies.
–Bob Cram
Day 20 | Witchboard (1986)
Can a movie about a ouija board that possesses Tawny Kitaen and sends her on a murder spree be considered cozy? Because that’s what Witchboard is for me. It’s one of those movies that just has a vibe to it that makes me want to revisit it each season. This movie’s got everything: hatchet kills, a great shooting location (that was also used in Waxwork), some t & a, and Stephen Nichols from Days of Our Lives. What?
But seriously, it’s not so much that the movie is amazing or groundbreaking or that it means something personal to me. It’s really none of those things. It’s just one of those cozy movies shot in and around southern California that I’m a huge sucker for. The story is solid, it’s not too horrifying, and it reminds me a bit of being a teen and screwing around with these stupid boards. We never raised any malevolent spirits (thankfully), but we sure had some good times. And that’s what Witchboard is—a good time.
–Billy Dhalgren
Day 21 | Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
This is what happens when a bunch of practical-effects wizards decide to make a movie about murderous alien clowns who turn people into cotton candy. It’s pure, unfiltered ’80s insanity and one of the most inventive creature features ever put on screen. The Klowns themselves are masterpieces of latex and paint. They are goofy, colorful, and genuinely menacing all at once. And the set pieces are endlessly creative: popcorn guns, balloon animals that hunt you down, a circus tent that doubles as a slaughterhouse. The movie never stops inventing new ways to kill people with carnival props, and the whole thing is soaked in that bright, lurid practical-effects glory that modern CGI just can’t touch. It’s silly, it’s gory, and it’s pure Halloween fun. Put this on, turn the lights down, and prepare to smile the entire time someone is getting turned into cotton candy.
–Vincent Kane
Day 22 | Weapons (2025)
It’s hard to nail horror involving kids, but Weapons really does this genre right. Featuring a fantastic leading kid performance from Cary Christopher and some truly bonkers scenes, Weapons really showed Cregger’s ability to do something totally different than Barbarian, and still maintain his balance of humor and dread. It’s aged like a fine wine, and will likely only continue to collect fans as the spooky season rolls around each year. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Aunt Gladys as a big Halloween costume, even now over a year after the film’s release. She’s just that iconic.
–Valerie Morreale
Day 23 | Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)
Found footage horror has turned into quite the mixed bag after The Blair Witch Project really set the standard, so I was delighted (and also terrified) when I finally stumbled across Korean horror hit, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
It sets the scene relatively predictably, with a haunted location expedition taken on by a “live camera” horror show. Attempting to draw their biggest online crowd yet, they hire newcomers to the team and travel to the famously haunted Gonjiam Psychiatric Asylum. Once there, the team encounters some light scares, but things slowly begin to expose the true terror of what’s lurking inside this place. With the use of face and POV cams plus the use of extensive security cameras, the full coverage of this horrific event lends itself to some creative and EFFECTIVE scares outside of pure jump-scare territory. Of all the horror movies I watched in preparation for our Halloween lists, this was the one I dreaded returning to the most. If you stick with this long enough to understand “pspspsps”, you’ll get it.
–Tyler Harner
Day 24 | Waxwork (1988)
The plot of Waxwork involves a group of college students who are invited to a special preview of a new wax museum (run by David Warner, dressed like a Temu Willy Wonka). The various displays suck the unsuspecting kids into the scene and monstrous shenanigans ensue.
Okay, so let’s get this out of the way: Waxwork is a cheaply made film. I mean, sets that look like a high school stage play cheap. The ‘wax’ figures are visibly moving/breathing at times. The epic final confrontation looks like a bar fight in a local ‘haunted house’ attraction. Never has a character been so adamant about HOW MUCH THEY NEED CAFFEINE. None of this matters, because Waxwork is also full to the brim with humor, gory set pieces, great makeup effects (by Bob Keen, who also did effects for Nightbreed and Event Horizon), and love of – and appreciation for – classic horror movies.
Waxwork is classic low-budget 80’s horror goodness, and it screams Halloween to me. There are mummies, zombies, vampires and more. If you’re looking for a fun, goofy and occasionally gory horror film you can’t go wrong.
–Bob Cram
Day 25 | The ‘Burbs (1989)
Looking for some suburban paranoia this October? Then I’ve got the movie for you. Joe Dante’s The ‘Burbs may not have been a critical hit when it was released, but I happen to think it’s a pretty fun, underrated dark comedy. Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, a bored suburban dad who becomes convinced that the mysterious new neighbors next door are hiding something sinister. Between creepy basements, suspicious behavior, neighborhood gossip, and increasingly ridiculous theories, The ‘Burbs turns an ordinary staycation into a wonderfully chaotic nightmare. It gives a spooky, macabre atmosphere while remaining light and rather quotable. If you’re looking for The ‘Burbs in a more modern era, try the Peacock series starring Keke Palmer!
–Romona Comet
Day 26 | Hokum (2026)
When a miserable, asshole author takes a trip to his dead parent’s favorite Irish hotel, he is confronted by rumors of the supernatural. Adam Scott plays the unlikeable lead in Hokum, which is great because his familiarity from Parks and Rec and Severance help us to afford him some leeway to be unlikeable until things can really get into swing. For quite a while, Hokum plays a delicate balance between what of the supernatural is true and what is a cover for human shenanigans. It’s all aided by a truly haunting hotel, especially once we first get to enter the forbidden floor. And eventually, graciously, the supernatural thrills do come. For me, the ending of this film helps to cement it as a new easy rewatch for the horror season.
–Jacob Holmes
Day 27 | Westworld (1973)
At first glance, Westworld‘s inclusion on this list might be a bit of a head-scratcher for some. Isn’t it a sci-fi movie? It sure is, but there’s a horror movie hiding underneath those sci-fi markings. The score is doing the heavy lifting here. It’s eerie and unsettling, making the viewer feel on edge. It’s perfect for when the robots begin malfunctioning and killing all the humans. Coupled with the murderous Man in Black, Westworld begins a secret horror movie, where the bullets are real, and the survivors are few. If you’re looking for something a little more low-key in the spook department this Halloween season, Westworld will give you the heebie-jeebies but keep you from needing to sleep with the lights on afterward.
–Marmaduke Karlston
Day 28 | Fright Night (1985)
By finding the perfect trifecta of horror, comedy, and sexual allure, Fright Night is the perfect vampire movie for any type of horror fan. Not only are there some incredible practical effects by Steve Johnson and William Randall-Cook, but also Chris Sarandon at the height of his powers: mysterious, sexy, and dangerous. A vampire tale that clashes with a high-school comedy in all the best ways to make for an unforgettable movie experience. If you need a Halloween date night movie, there aren’t many better options.
–Tyler Harner
Day 29 | Exit 8 (2026)
Exit 8 was the other liminal space movie that came out this year. An adaptation of a fairly short (and cheap, if you want to check it out) video game, director and co-writer Genki Kawamura elevated the thin premise into an entertaining and sometimes chilling meditation on choices – those made and those avoided. An unnamed protagonist (hold on, it’s not first-person perspective for the whole film) finds himself trapped in an endless loop of subway corridors. If he turns back whenever he notices an “anomaly,” he’ll progress to the next exit and – hopefully – to the eponymous Exit 8, where he can finally leave. It’s more unsettling than it is frightening, but it has plenty of disturbing moments. It’s also weirdly emotional in a slightly over-the-top way, but I kind of expect that from a Japanese horror film. (The only other person in the theater with me apologized for crying during it.) It’s not super deep, but it’s satisfying.
–Bob Cram
Day 30 | The Monster Squad (1987)
I’m shocked that we haven’t included this on any list in the past six years of doing these. This is like The Goonies vs. the Universal monsters. A group of 12-year-old boys team up to save their hometown from the full slate: Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Invisible Man, the Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Because it is a 1987 movie, it’s full of inappropriate things for 12-year-olds, which makes it both funnier and more believable than the corporate-polished stuff we get nowadays. This is absolutely worth your time this and every Halloween.
–Jacob Holmes
Day 31 | Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
I have said for years (as well as others) that if this were simply called Season of the Witch and Halloween was removed from the title, this movie would be so much more beloved and would have gotten the recognition it deserved decades ago. This is still one of the most unique and underrated entries in the entire franchise, and we don’t have a lame looking MIchael Myers running around. Looking at you, Halloween 4! Tom Atkins plays a doctor who stumbles onto a conspiracy involving the Silver Shamrock toy company and their deadly Halloween masks. What starts as a small-town mystery spirals into something genuinely weird and nasty, complete with Stonehenge rituals, android henchmen, and one of the most memorable commercial jingles in horror history. The atmosphere is thick with autumn dread, the kills are inventively gruesome, and the whole thing has this off-kilter, almost science-fiction edge that sets it apart from every other Halloween-type movie. It’s weird, it’s mean, and it’s perfect for anyone who wants something different this season.
–Vincent Kane
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