Stop Everything: These Are the Spooky TV Shows and Movies to Watch This Fall

Leaves are falling, pumpkin spice lattes are flowing and you’ve dusted off all your chunkiest knits… Fall is here at last! That also means Halloween is around the corner and what better time to cozy up and binge watch scary TV shows than the spookiest month on the calendar? Whether you’re into mind-bending thrillers, straight-up horror stories, eighties throwbacks, or creepy comedies, there’s legit something for everyone. Or maybe you’re like us, and you’ll watch anything remotely eerie—in which case you better start marathoning immeds. Here are our picks this October based on your wicked preferences:

Terrifying Mindf-cks

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Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl was a legit phenomenon. When a beautiful young woman, Amy, goes missing everyone wants to blame her problematic husband. And in a rare case of the movie *actually* living up to the source material, this flick starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike is dark, brooding and full of surprises.

Hannibal

Most people know Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs, but Mads Mikkelsen brings something mysterious and sexy to the role in this cancelled-too-soon TV show. Only three seasons long, this Toronto-based show was ahead of its time with brilliant casting (Hugh Dancy, Gillian Anderson, and Laurence Fishburne round out the ensemble) and gorgeous story-telling that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Seven

This flick could probably be classified as a straight-up horror film because of its violence and gore, but it does have one of the most shocking endings in cinema history making, it a mind-melter if we’ve ever seen one. Even if you haven’t watched it through terrified fingers, we’re sure you’ve heard someone frantically scream “What’s in the box?!” at a random moment in time. Trying to solve murders based on the seven deadly sins is Morgan Freeman and a gloriously young Brad Pitt—who makes any movie worth watching.

Nostalgia-Inducing Thrillers 

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Stranger Things

Netflix took on this show when no one else saw the potential. If you grow up in the 1980s or just love anything with a throwback feel, you need Stranger Things in your life. Retro clothes, video game inspired-cinematography and an amazing young cast are all things that have us looking forward to season 2 when it drops on October 27.

It

This blockbuster movie will require getting off the couch and venturing into the real world to hit the theatre, but it’ll be worth it, trust. The current adaptation of It has taken the world by storm—with old school-scary suspense, stunning visuals and the perfect casting of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise.

Hocus Pocus

With a Hocus Pocus remake on the way sans the OG cast, enjoy this one before Disney ruins it. The Sanderson sisters are played to perfection by Better Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in this nineties cult classic. Complete with useless adults that need saving from children, a talking cat and tons of laughs, Hocus Pocus will give you all the nostalgic feels.

Classic Horror Flicks 

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Halloween

The original John Carpenter Halloween movie inspired many sequels, a Rob Zombie remake and Michael Myers costumes for decades to come. Sure to give you nightmares no matter how many times you’ve seen it, this horror movie builds slowly and features an incredible performance by a super young Jamie Lee Curtis.

The Exorcist

An oldie but a goodie, The Exorcist originally debuted in the 1970s and terrified audiences everywhere. Whether you’ve seen this cult classic before or it’ll be your first time viewing it, you may want to keep the lights on because The Exorcist is scary movies at their best.

The Conjuring

There aren’t many movies nowadays that do proper horror—most prefer making audiences jump with booming sound effects and cheap scares. But The Conjuring is the perfect mix of true horror, a compelling story, and modern day visual effects. With two prequels following the original, there’s lots to binge watch in The Conjuring universe, but none better than the first.

Spooky LOLs

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The Addams Family

Inspired by the TV series from the 1960s, the 1991 adaption of The Addams Family features one of the best Halloween movie casts of all time, with Cristina Ricci, Anjelica Huston, and Christopher Lloyd rounding out the cast. This rag-tag family is funny and endearing, plus Wednesday Addams always inspires a badass Halloween costume.

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Tim Burton out Tim Burtons himself with this perfect Halloween movie—don’t even try to @ us. Spooky, funny, and heart-warming at the same time, Beetlejuice is a movie about a haunted house where you’re actually rooting for the ghosts.

Family-Friendly Fright-fests

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The Simpsons’ Halloween Episodes

While the quality of The Simpsons over the last decade is debatable, it’s always worth coming back for the iconic Halloween episodes (old and new). Funny short takes on spooky stories, The Simpsons adds a modern twist to your favs.

Ghostbusters

While the remake wasn’t as bad as everyone feared, nothing can compare to the OG. With an iconic cast, and infamous lines like “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a God, you say yes,” Ghostbusters is literally Halloween fun for the whole family.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? No one will ever know. A musical, a cartoon, a scary movie—this Tim Burton flick doesn’t fit nicely into any box. And for that we love it. We’ll be watching this abstract movie from now and until the holidays just to cover all our bases.

Related:
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