Netflix And Chills: 20 Best Halloween Shows And Films To Treat Yourself To This Spooky Season

We all know that scrolling through Netflix can sometimes be every bit as stress-inducing as any horror movie, especially with so many Halloween-appropriate goodies to choose from this spooky season.

Thankfully, whether you’re after genuine scares, spooky thrills or more family-friendly fun, we’ve rounded up our top picks to help you get in the spirit.

Here are our ultimate Halloween recommendations you can stream on Netflix now…

Starting with what we can only describe as the ultimate Halloween film (and, frankly, one of the best films of all time full stop), Addams Family Values leans into all things macabre, off-kilter and, frankly, weird, but also manages to pack in glamour, big laughs and countless iconic one-liners you’ll find yourself quoting for weeks afterwards.

Come for Anjelica Huston’s never-bettered Morticia Addams, stay for Christina Ricci’s definitive (sorry, Jenna Ortega) Wednesday performance and the delightfully deranged Debbie Jelinsky, played by Joan Cusack.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of the world’s most creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky and all-together-ooky family, now would be the perfect time to dive into Netflix’s hit series Wednesday if you’ve still not managed it.

Tim Burton’s biggest foray into the world of TV broke streaming records when it debuted in 2022 and helped introduce Jenna Ortega to millions of viewers around the world.

A long-awaited follow-up is expected next year, so now is the perfect time to revisit Wednesday’s world, or explore it for the first time.

Sticking with “Halloween viewing as revision” as a theme, it’s now been three years since Netlfix’s iconic show Squid Game first began streaming, so if you’re in need of a rewatch before season two comes on Christmas Day, this could be the ideal opportunity.

The South Korean show became a global sleeper hit in 2021, eventually became the most streamed show of the year thanks to its gripping twists, completely unique aesthetic and award-winning performances – just be warned, its graphic violence and no-holds-barred satire make this one not for the faint of heart.

Another of Netflix’s signature originals, Stranger Things is another of the platform’s shows that’s perfectly suited to watch over the Halloween period

The sci-fi teen drama is undoubtedly one of the most iconic shows of the last decade, proudly wearing its 80s influences like a badge of honour and building a unique world that you can’t help me drawn in by, even at its creepiest. Banging soundtrack, too.

Tim Burton’s anarchic and gloriously chaotic dark comedy is another quintessential Halloween classic, standing up thanks to marvellous performances from its star-studded leads and practical effects that actually feel refreshing to watch, rather than dated, in an age of CGI, green screen and AI.

Of course, sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hit cinemas earlier this year, so there’s arguably never been a better time to refresh your memory on the original.

It’s officially been 10 years since The Babadook, one of the best and most imaginative horrors of the 21st century first hit cinemas.

Not only does the Australian film stand on its own as a deeply unsettling modern addition to the horror cannon (it’s been credited with ushering in a new wave of so-called “elevated horror” films like Hereditary, The Witch and It Follows) with an iconic villain for the history books, it takes on a whole new meaning when you dive into its deeper themes around grief, trauma, mental health and parenthood.

Doubling up as a sinister horror and thought-provoking satire of white liberal racism, Get Out put Jordan Peele on the map as a pioneer within the horror genre, earning him an Oscar win in the process and leading to successful follow-ups Us and Nope.

Get Out still cuts every bit as deep now as it did when it premiered almost eight years ago, with the script, production design and iconic performances from Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams and Christine Keener all every bit as deserving of the plaudits they continue to receive almost a decade later.

We’ll concede that the premise of Smile – in which a therapist traumatised by an ordeal involving a patient is haunted by strangers all making the same creepy face – does sound a little silly, but even if you’re laughing as you watch, you might find that this film is a slow burner in terms of how often you’re thinking about it afterwards.

A sequel was released in 2024 just in time for spooky season (this time set in the world of pop superstardom!), so if you’re in need of a refresher before watching part two, Netflix has got you covered.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024, Saw still makes for gruesome, watch-through-your-fingers viewing, with the sinister and deeply weird Jigsaw character deserving his place in the horror villain pantheon.

“Elevated horror” obviously has its place, but so do the likes of Saw, especially if what you want is a movie packed with jump scares, gore and big screams on Halloween.

The iconic slasher series Halloween was brought back to life in 2018, with Jamie Lee Curtis returning to the franchise after 40 years for one final showdown with Michael Myers.

Halloween wound up becoming a huge success, spawning an additional two sequels (the second of which, Halloween Ends, is also available to stream on Netflix if you feel like rounding off the series in style).

Every horror fan has one or two films on their watchlist they’re still building themselves up to actually sitting through, teasing themselves every now and then with a Wikipedia synopsis or revisiting the trailer on YouTube.

We’re going to be honest, for us, that film is Talk To Me. If you’re ready, it’s waiting for you on Netflix. We’re not quite there yet, personally, but maybe next Halloween will be our year…

Merging the best parts of the teen comedy and slasher genres, Bodies Bodies Bodies sparked plenty of conversation when it first hit cinemas a couple of years back, with Amandla Stenberg, Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova and comedian Pete Davidson among the cast, playing a group of friends who play a deadly game at a house party.

It was directed by Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn, who recently made a big splash with her new film Babygirl, the erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman.

Alternatively, The Cabin In The Woods starts out looking out like your typical teen horror, but quickly turns into something else, packing elements of dark comedy, sci-fi and zombie dystopia into the mix.

Keep an eye out for Sigourney Weaver’s cameo, too.

Horror TV shows are nothing new, but compared to their feature-length counterparts, most would concede that it tends to be the movies that really provide the scares rather than series.

But if anything were to challenge that, it’d be The Haunting Of Hill House, whose central scare figure The Bent-Neck Woman is nightmare fuel if ever it existed.

If you’ve already tried it and enjoyed it, we would suggest diving into creator Mike Flanagan’s follow-up The Haunting Of Bly Manor, or his other Netflix hit The Fall Of The House Usher, which modernised a classic story by Edgar Allen Poe with deeply unsettling results.

Created by Guillermo Del Toro, the filmmaking genius behind the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Shape Of Water and Nightmare Alley, this anthology series tells eight different horror stories, making it perfect for binge-watching over the weekend leading up to Halloween.

Described by Netflix as eight “bizarre nightmares”, expect each of the completely separate episodes to deliver on chills and thrills, with the Spanish director introducing each stand-alone instalment in a nod to The Twilight Zone.

First released in 2021, this fun and action-packed trilogy was a real gift from Netflix to horror devotees, with each chapter paying homage to classic sub-genres from teen slashers to period thrillers.

The franchise proved so popular that another instalment is currently in the works, this time throwing it back to dark 80s greats like Carrie, Nightmare On Elm Street and Heathers.

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

Demonic hauntings, satanic rituals and grisly nightmare sequences were 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.

It’s been 40 years, and no one has ever managed to quite merge the world of comedy and the supernatural in a way quite as iconic as Ghostbusters.

Across the decades, there’ve been countless spin-offs, reboots and revivals, but if you do decide to throw it back to 1984 this Halloween, you’ll quickly discover that there’s no beating the original in this instance.

Why should our younger cohorts miss out on all the Halloween fun, though?

This animated family comedy reimagines our favourite spooky characters as the owners of the titular Hotel Transylvania, whose world is turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a human guest in their midst.

For those who prefer their Halloween kicks to be of the rib-tickling, rather than spine-chilling, variety, 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 their lone offering is a classic thanks to a pregnant Rachel’s refusal 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.