8 Best Horror Movies to Stream on Max This Halloween Season

If you’re ready for a scream this Halloween season, Max has plenty of titles that go bump in the night. Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service has a deep catalog of horror titles, but with the dozens of options, it can be difficult to determine which horror movies are worth adding to your Halloween movie marathons.

While fellow streamers like Netflix and Hulu also have plenty of options for those spooky season binges, it seems Max is offering some stiff competition this Halloween season. From horror classics like The Shining and Scream, more recent hits like X and Bodies Bodies Bodies, Max has a little something for every horror flavor.

To catch these spooky titles, as well all of the other titles in the Max library, you will need a Max subscription. Max costs $16.99 a month ($169.99/year) for the ad-free version and $9.99 per month ($99.99/year) for the ad-supported tier. The “ultimate” ad-free version with 4K UHD resolution, 100 offline downloads and Dolby Atmos sound is available for $20.99 a month ($209.99/year).

The Conjuring

Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingstron, Lili Taylor
Synopsis: “Paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren confront a powerful demonic entity when they try to help parents and children being terrorized in their secluded farmhouse.”

A Halloween movie list wouldn’t be complete without some hauntings, and not only does The Conjuring bring those scares, it is also the film that launched what would become the top-grossing horror movie franchise of all time, 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, pushing the franchise over the $2 billion mark at the box office. Making things even better, Max hosts The Nun and Annabelle subfranchises.

X

Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi
Synopsis: “In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, until things take a dangerous turn with their hosts.”

Ti West’s 2022 slasher film X was considered one of the best horror movies of the year when it premiered in 2022. Blending slasher tropes, while also paying homage to some of the biggest horror films of the past decades, the film kicked off the X trilogy, which recently wrapped with this year’s MaXXXine, which is also available to stream on Max.

Scream

Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore
Synopsis: “A psycho killer targets a past victim’s daughter, while a tabloid TV reporter hones in on his identity.”

Premiering in 1996, and featuring one of the most iconic openings in horror movie history, Wes Craven’s Scream offered a satirical take on horror, breaking the rules and deconstructing horror movie tropes and cliches. The film was a massive hit and went on to spawn an entire franchise, with three other entries – Scream 2, Scream 3, and Scream 4 – also streaming on Max this Halloween season.

The Shining

Runtime: 2 hours, 24 minutes
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, and Scatman Crothers
Synopsis: “A writer becomes the winter caretaker for an isolated Colorado hotel, but the ghosts of horrors past drive him the brink of murder.”

Decades after its release, Stanley Kubrik’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining remains a horror classic, and the perfect addition to any Halloween movie marathon. Although the movie wasn’t a critical success, and while King himself has expressed his displeasure with the film, The Shining features iconic performances from its stars and has solidified its spot as a terrifying flick. Fans of the film can also stream Mike Flanagan’s 2019 film Doctor Sleep, which serves as a sequel.

Beetlejuice

Runtime: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Starring: Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara
Synopsis: “The ghosts of a happy couple enlist a bio-exorcist to evict the new owners of their former home.”

It and It: Chapter 2

Runtime: 2 hours, 14 minutes; 2 hours, 49 minutes
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott; Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, and Bill Skarsgård

It Synopsis: “When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids is faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise.”

It: Chapter 2 Synopsis: Six childhood friends reunite in their small hometown in Maine to once again confront a evil entity they thought they had destroyed 30 years earlier.

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson
Synopsis: “Mass hysteria seizes a group of rich 20-somethings after a murder mystery game goes awry at a remote mansion.”

The Exorcist

Runtime: 2 hours, 1 minute
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, Linda Blair
Synopsis: “When a 12-year old girl is possessed by demons, a young priest takes it upon himself to selflessly save her at the behest of her famous movie-star mother.”

Honorable Mentions

Signs
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Malignant
Trick ‘r Treat
Saw franchise
Night of the Living Dead
Poltergeist
The Strangers
Evil Dead Rise
Corpse Bride
I Saw the TV Glow
Midsommar
Paranormal Activity