Halloween 2023 TV guide: where to watch your favorite spooky movies and shows

Halloween season is upon us and this year there’s no end to the supply of horror and family-friendly Halloween programming to help get you in the spirit. The chilling challenge comes in trying to figure out where to find it all.

Shudder leads the charge with its 61 Days of Halloween celebration. But don’t worry, just because it started in September doesn’t mean the fun is over in October. On the contrary, they’re just getting started with even more original series and the best new horror movies from around the film festival circuit.

Streaming services like Hulu and Netflix have their own curated Halloween collections while networks like Freeform and AMC get into the game with movie marathons and special programming.

And then there’s a whole host of new movies and TV shows coming out in October.

Read on to learn more about all of the Halloween.

AMC Fear Fest Shocked by Shudder

This year, AMC is switching things up by launching Fear Fest Shocked by Shudder. Shudder is your home for Halloween movies all year round, but things get even spookier in October as the horror streaming service offers up new original programming during the month, while AMC is the home of Halloween classics all month long. AMC is also home to The Walking Dead and Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.

In addition to the Shudder library, there are also several new original shows and movies making their debut on the platform. Many of these new movies, like the Edgar Allan Poe tale Raven’s Hollow, are fresh off the festival circuit and making their streaming debut.

Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween

Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween is the only place you’ll find Halloween classics like Hocus Pocus, Maleficent and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas on network television outside of Disney Plus.

This year’s daily lineup includes three Ghostbusters movies (the 1984 classic, the sequel and the 2016 remake) and the Hotel Transylvania franchise.

There are also a couple of movies making their Freeform debut in the lineup. Get Out, 2018’s Halloween, A Quiet Place, Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U all are featured on the network throughout the month.

Disney Plus

There are plenty of frightful and family-friendly Halloween options on Disney Plus, including being the exclusive streaming home for Hocus Pocus 2.

Most of the Disney Plus Hallowstream options are family-friendly and include Halloween episodes of shows like Marvel Studios’ What If…?, WandaVision, Kim Possible and Glee. You’ll also find all 32 episodes of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, along with classic Disney Channel movies like Halloweentown.

There’s also The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along.

Netflix

Netflix has a curated Halloween collection filled with their best movies and shows for horror fans of all ages. From It Follows and Gerald’s Game to The Walking Dead and Supernatural, and even Good Witch and Goosebumps for the little ones, there’s something for everyone.

Here are their categories and some of the movies and shows that you’ll find there:

• Halloween Comedies (The Munsters, Santa Clarita Diet, Z Nation)

• High Brow Horror (Love Death + Robots, Black Mirror, Marianne)

• Witchcraft & the Dark Arts (Fate: The Winx Saga, The Sandman, The Magicians)

• Horror Reimagined (From Dusk Till Dawn, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Dracula)

• Modern Horror Classics (IT, Resident Evil, Ash vs Evil Dead)

• This Place is Evil (Stranger Things, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Hemlock Grove)

• Slashers and Serial Killers (Dahmer, Mindhunter, Flower of Evil)

• Family Halloween Treats (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Phantom Pups, The Worst Witch)

• Horror Hidden Gems (The Babysitter, Veronica, He Never Died)

• Zombies, Vampires and Ghouls (The Walking Dead, Supernatural, The Originals)

• Teen Screams (Ouija: Origin of Evil, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Fear Street: Part One: 1984)

Max

This year, Max kicks off its first spooky season under its new name with "House of Halloween." This curated section on the Max platform features movie collections that funnel into categories like Sweet Treat (think Coraline and Halloween Cookie Challenge), Scary, But Not Scary Scary (like The Last of Us and True Blood) and Haunt Your Dreams (with movies like Annabelle, The Nun and The Exorcist).

Season 2 of 30 Coins debuts October 23. This thriller features Paul Giamatti, Megan Montaner and Miguel Ángel Silvestre in a tale of a remote Spanish town plagued by demonic occurrences.

There will also be Halloween themed content from across the Warner Bros. Discovery family of networks including Discovery, Travel Channel and Food Network, along with family-friendly content featuring Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo.

Hulu

When October hits, Hulu is transformed for its annual Huluween celebration. Here you'll find horror from A (The ABCs of Death) to Z. Well, W, actually, with Winchester.

Keep an eye out for American Horror Stories season 3, featuring four chilling new episodes launching October 26.

Also on Hulu is the Blade trilogy, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Abyss and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, to name a few.

Hulu is also the home of scary shows like American Horror Story and Castle Rock.

Pluto TV

If your taste for the macabre tends toward crime content, whether fictional or true crime, then their Crimetober celebration is for you. The Godfather Saga is returning to Pluto TV and is available on demand or on Pluto TV Crime Movies each weekend. The first three seasons of Criminal Minds are available on the Pluto TV Crime Drama channel during the week, while the weekends are filled with the Hannibal TV series as well as Silence of the Lambs and its sequel, Hannibal. You can also stream all the crime content your heart desires, including hit series like CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, 48 Hours, Forensic Files and Cold Case Files.

Horror aficionados can partake in Pluto TV’s 31 Nights of Horror. Each night in October, tune into the Pluto TV Horror channel at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT to watch a different horror movie. Some of the featured selections include The Woman in Black, The Blair Witch project, The Grudge and all three Urban Legend movies.

You can also find more horror movies like The Addams Family, Flatliners, 10 Cloverfield Lane and 30 Days of Night on all of the Pluto TV channels and on demand.

There are also family-friendly Halloween offerings on Pluto TV’s Rainbow Squad, Kids Movie Club and Forever Kids channels.

And if that’s not enough to whet your horror appetite, you can find more chilling content on Pluto TV’s 24/7 Spooky Channels.

Peacock

Peacock’s Halloween Horror collection features the premiere of Halloween Ends on October 14. You can also stream new hit movies like Beast, Black Phone and They/Them on the platform.

Thanks to Peacock’s ties to Universal and, therefore, Universal Studios, the streamer is also offering an assortment of movies tied to the Halloween Horror Nights celebration at the theme park. Some of those movies include Halloween II, Frankenstein and Child’s Play.

If you’re looking for lighter Halloween fare, you can find Halloween comedies like Zombieland, The Munsters television series, Goonies and more.

And thanks to Peacock’s vast library of classic TV shows, there are plenty of Halloween-themed episodes to choose from, including Top Chef, Parks and Recreation, The Office and Saturday Night Live.

Paramount Plus

If you’re a fan of the Scream franchise, then Paramount Plus is where you’ll find Ghostface in October. The streamer is already the home of the Scream (2022) and Scream 4, but as of October 1 all of the Scream movies are available in one place for your Halloween viewing pleasure.

Other scary movies available on Paramount Plus include The Addams Family, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Grudge, Jacob’s Ladder, Jennifer’s Body and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It’s also the home for the Monster High franchise.