October has begun. Halloween is just a few weeks away now, which means it’s time to either start rewatching some of your favorite horror movies or seeking out some that you have never seen before. Fortunately, HBO Max has a strong selection of horror films, both new and old, including some of the genre’s greatest and most acclaimed entries and some lesser-known gems.
Here are the eight best horror movies streaming on HBO Max right now.
“Sinners” (2025)
“Sinners” is a horror film made with astonishing style and welcome bite. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, this period thriller follows a pair of outlaw twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their Mississippi hometown in 1932 with the hopes of opening their own drink and music joint. Their plans are disrupted when they come face to face with an immortal vampire (Jack O’Connell) who wants to add to his flock.
“Sinners” caught on with moviegoers earlier this year, and for good reason. There are few contemporary horror movies as immersive, entertaining, bloody and thoughtful as it. If you have yet to check it out, then the start of this year’s Spooky Season is as good a reason as you could possibly need to do so.
“The Shining” (1980)
If “The Shining” is available, then no list about a streaming service’s best horror movies would be complete without it. An adaptation of Stephen King’s 1977 novel of the same name, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” is a supernatural horror film of practically unholy power. The film follows a recovering alcoholic novelist (Jack Nicholson) as he takes on the job of winter caretaker at a remote, mountainside resort hotel. While there, he and his family are mercilessly plagued by the hotel’s ghosts, which feed on the tensions between Nicholson’s Jack, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) as part of an effort to violently add them to their hive.
A terrifying psychological thriller and heartbreakingly blunt family drama, “The Shining” drops you into an uncanny and hostile world. The malevolence of the Overlook Hotel is felt in every one of the film’s frames. “The Shining” will, consequently, leave you looking over your own shoulder out of both fear and paranoia. Horror movies just do not get better or more effective than this.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is not only one of horror’s most iconic films, but it also features one of the genre’s most terrifying creations: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Set in a sleepy American suburban town, the film follows a group of oblivious, naive teenagers who find themselves stalked and attacked in their dreams by Englund’s Krueger, an undead and deformed child killer hell bent on unleashing as much brutal cruelty as he can on his victims.
Made with director Wes Craven’s signature, deranged sense of humor and overflowing with imaginative, striking horror images, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” has not lost any of its power in the 41 years since its release. It is a film that viscerally tears away the facade of suburban safety that America once believed in, delivering a nightmare that feels inescapable — to both its characters and its viewers.
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“Carnival of Souls” (1962)
Perhaps the greatest of all horror B-movies, “Carnival of Souls” was made on an incredibly tight, low budget in the 1960s and nonetheless managed to transcend its financial limitations. This starkly photographed black-and-white film follows a young woman (Candace Hilligoss) who survives a deadly car accident and subsequently relocates to a new city.
Once there, however, she finds herself haunted by the ghosts of a nearby, abandoned carnival pavilion, who gradually pull her further and further into their ghostly world. Before long, director Herk Harvey has blurred the lines between life and death to the point of terrifying incomprehension. Punctuated by a number of striking images and dreamlike sequences, “Carnival of Souls” is a disorienting masterpiece, one that slowly but surely wraps you up in its cold, hazy embrace.
“Drag Me to Hell” (2009)
After leaving the horror world for many years to make mainstream blockbusters like 2002’s “Spider-Man” and 2004’s “Spider-Man 2,” director Sam Raimi made a smashing return to the genre with 2009’s “Drag Me to Hell.” A savage, delightfully wicked horror comedy, the film follows a young loan officer (Alison Lohman) who makes a decision, under pressure from her boss, to deny an elderly woman’s mortgage extension.
In retaliation, the woman places a curse on her that comes with the promise of being ultimately dragged to the depths of Hell, but only after she is tortured by increasingly violent, mean-spirited supernatural forces for three days first. Directed with macabre glee by Raimi, “Drag Me to Hell” boasts the same blend of assaultive horror and caustic humor that defined his initial, breakout films. It is an unforgettable horror experience, and there are very few films you will ever see like it.
“Get Out” (2017)
2017’s “Get Out” is a horror film made with razor-sharp precision and cleverness. Writer-director Jordan Peele’s unexpected-at-the-time shift to horror follows a young black man (Daniel Kaluuya) whose trip to meet his white girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) family takes a nightmarish turn when he finds himself at the center of a malevolent conspiracy. For as surprising of a mid-career switch-up as the film may have been, “Get Out” sees Peele’s sketch comedy background transfer beautifully to the horror space.
“Get Out” is funny in all the right places and crackles with the spontaneity and control of a trained, accomplished comedian. It knows how to keep you on your toes and how to command your attention, and it was so immediately respected when it was released that “Get Out” pulled off a rare feat for a horror movie: winning the Oscar in 2018 for Best Original Screenplay.
“It Follows” (2014)
Speaking of contemporary horror classics, director David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows” is an ingenious and striking supernatural and psychological thriller. The film follows a young woman (Maika Monroe) who finds herself stalked by a murderous supernatural entity that others cannot see, and which can only be shaken if its target passes its curse onto another by sleeping with them.
Both a winking, metatextual nod to the treatment of sex in 1980s horror films and a loving ode to the style and creativity of that decade’s genre offerings, “It Follows” is an unnerving, tense and dread-filled cinematic ride. In 2015, it was the rare horror film that felt like an immediate classic, and it has not lost that status at all in the 10 years since then.
“The Substance” (2024)
Coralie Fargeat’s Oscar-winning horror movie immediately racked up buzz during its debut at Cannes, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and took home best screenplay for Fargeat. And it just kept winning over audiences, through its festival run, at the box office and, most surprising of all, even the Academy, which awarded the film’s extraordinary, grotesque and glamorous makeup and hairstyling.
It’s easy to see why. “The Substance” is a knockout, starring an Oscar-nominated Demi Moore as aging television fitness personality Elizabeth Sparkle, who gets a mysterious opportunity to take an unknown substance that will renew her life and her youth. Instead, it hatches a new her, Sue (Margaret Qualley), who absorbs Elizabeth’s life, career and physical vitality in a nightmarish sci-fi body horror monkey’s paw. Aesthetically gripping, totally daring for both actresses and genuinely quite heartbreaking at times, “The Substance” is a must-watch, but it’s only been available to stream on arthouse service Mubi … until now. As of Oct. 10, “The Substance” is now available to stream on HBO Max and it’s one you don’t want to miss. — Haleigh Foutch
