Scary movies during the Halloween season are the same for us, as winter holiday movies are at Christmas time…A beloved annual tradition not to be missed. Halloween is always a fun time of year and my family completely gets into it. In my preparation for this Halloween, I decided to make a list of the best scariest movies of all time (A kind of Halloween Movie Bucket List). We have already begun working our way through the list with plans to try to get through several more by the end of October. We will pick up next year where we leave off this year…there are way too many good horror flicks to choose from!

Now that my son has gotten a bit older, watching scary movies this time of year, has only gotten to be more fun. There really is a certain type of joy, watching unsuspecting teenagers get the crap scared out of them, while trying to maintain their bravery. I grew up in the 1980’s…there isn’t much I was shielded from. My nightmares stemming from horror movies, began at a much younger age! I was pretty well bullet proof by the time I was a teenager!

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The List…

In any event, I had a really hard time trying to narrow down the list and of course, went a bit crazy with it. Many of these movies are older classics that just could not be left out (Ah, yes…the memories of those jump scares!). Some are newer flicks that will be considered classics, later. Any one of these top rated horrors will certainly leave your heart racing and the hairs on the back of your neck, standing!

I have included trailers for each movie, along with it’s description and where you can watch it. I listed the movies between 5 different categories, to make it easier to find that perfect combination of fear. Whether it’s a movie based on true events, a psychological thriller, or a jump scare filled horror that you seek, any one of these gems will do the trick.

So…in between haunted houses, corn mazes, and parties, why not set aside an evening for a scary movie marathon? Make some popcorn, turn off the lights and see who jumps the most! Sounds to me, like a super fun way to get into the spirit!

Classic Horror Movies

1. The Exorcist

Description: 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. (Watch Here)

2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series (1974 original being the best)

Description: In this cult horror classic, five friends pick up a traumatized young hitchhiker, and find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chain saw-wielding killer and his family of psychopaths. (Watch on Prime Video)

3. A Nightmare On Elm Street Series (The original first movie being the best)

Description: Wes Craven’s shocking classic that introduced horror fans to Freddy Krueger, a long-dead child-killer who appears in the dreams of teenagers in order to slice-and-dice them. With John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp and Johnny Depp. (Watch on Prime Video)

4. Friday The 13th Series (1980 original movie – the best)

Description: Camp Crystal Lake has been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp’s new owner and seven young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a “death curse” by local residents. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, or Hulu)

5. Halloween Series (1978 original – the best)

Description: Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again. (Watch on Prime Video)

6. The Blair Witch Project

Description: The Blair Witch Project follows a trio of filmmakers on what should have been a simple walk in the woods but quickly becomes an excursion into heart-stopping terror. (Watch on Imdb, Roku Channel, Paramount Plus, & Prime Video)

7. Poltergeist

Description: Steve Freeling moves his family into a new house in development and it looks like things are going well. But as his wife and his children begin to unpack strange things start happening. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, or Hulu)

8. Alien

Description: The original classic! The frightening, intense story of the discovery of a vicious alien species by blue-collar space crew has become a sci-fi landmark. Oscar-winner for Best Visual Effects. (Watch on Prime Video & Hulu)

9. American Psycho

Description: Patrick Bateman, a young man working on Wall Street at his father’s company kills for no reason at all. With each day, his hatred for the world becomes more and more intense. This incredibly dark comedy is based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis. (Watch on Prime Video or Peacock TV)

10. It

Description: When children in town begin to disappear, a group of young kids is faced with their biggest fears as they square off against evil clown, Pennywise. Based on the Stephen King novel. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, or Imdb)

11. Carrie

Description: Based on a Stephen King novel, Carrie is a shy, friendless girl sheltered by her overly religious mother who seeks revenge on her cruel classmates via her telekinetic powers when they humiliate her at the Senior Prom. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, or Roku)

12. Pulse

Description: When their computer hacker friend accidentally channels a mysterious wireless signal, a group of co-eds rally to stop a terrifying evil from taking over the world. (Watch on Prime Video, or HBO Max)

Movies Based On True Stories

1. The Conjuring 1 (and The Conjuring 2)

Description: Renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren were called to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. In the most horrible case of their lives, the Warrens are forced to confront a powerful demonic entity. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu)

2. The Amityville Horror (1979) or (2005 version)

Description: From Michael Bay, the producer of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, comes the true story of Amityville. In November 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. Now, a year later, an unsuspecting young couple and their children move into the house that was the site of the horrific event. Starring Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool). (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, or Imdb)

3. The Strangers

Description: A young couple set out for a relaxing weekend at a remote vacation home; however, their stay takes a perilous turn when they are terrorized by three masked strangers. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu)

4. Zodiac

Description: A newspaper cartoonist obsessed with solving San Francisco’s infamous “Zodiac” serial killer case closes in on a suspect long after the case has become cold in this fact-based thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. (Watch on Prime Video, Paramount Plus, HBO Max, Hulu)

5. Open Water

Description: A couple are left stranded in shark infested waters while on vacation. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, Imdb)

6. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose

Description: A lawyer takes on the negligent homicide case of a priest who performed an exorcism on a college student. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, HBO Max)

7. The Mothman Prophecies

Description: John Klein (Gere), a Washington newspaper reporter leaves his job after his wife (Messing) dies to investigate strange reports, including psychic visions (“Prophecies”) and sightings of winged creatures (“Mothmen”), in a small West Virginia town, that may be the signs of an alien invasion of Earth….. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

8. The Hills Have Eyes

Description: In Wes Craven’s horror hit, a family on vacation are attacked by mutant killers. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu)

9. The Watcher

Description: As a serial killer stalks the city, a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street.  (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu)

10. Black Water

Description: Inspired by frightening true events, three friends must fight for their lives against a man-eating crocodile when they become trapped in a remote Australian mangrove swamp. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

11. Backcountry

Description: An urban couple go camping in the woods and find themselves lost in the territory of a predatory black bear. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, Imdb)

12. The Haunting In Connecticut

Description: Moving into an old house to be closer to their son’s cancer treatments, a family soon learns the place is infested by sinister spirits. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, Imdb)

13. The Possession

Description: Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Stephanie Brenek (Kyra Sedgwick) see little cause for alarm when their youngest daughter Em (Calis) becomes oddly obsessed with an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. But as Em’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, the couple fears the presence of a malevolent force in their midst. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock)

Psychological Horror and Thrillers

1. Saw

Description: Two strangers awaken in a room with no memory of how they got there and soon discover that they are pawns in a deadly game orchestrated by a serial killer. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, Hulu)

2. The Sixth Sense

Description: When Dr. Malcolm Crowe , a distinguished child psychologist, meets Cole Sear, a frightened, confused, eight-year-old, Dr. Crowe is completely unprepared to face the truth of what haunts Cole. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

3. 1408

Description: A man writing a book about the paranormal travels to New York and stays in a hotel room that has been said to be responsible for the death of all the guests that come to stay. Based on the short story by Stephen King. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

4. Get Out

Description: A young photographer uncovers a dark secret when he meets his girlfriend’s seemingly friendly parents for the first time at their posh estate.  (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, Roku)

5. US

Description: The visionary behind Get Out returns with an original nightmare, pitting an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

6. Seven

Description: Lt. William Somerset is on the brink of retirement. Forced to train his replacement, Somerset is teamed with Detective David Mills on an investigation that draws these cops deeper into the twisted world of a cunning and meticulous criminal. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Imdb)

7. X

Description: A group of actors set out to make an adult film under the noses of an elderly couple. But when the couple catches their young guests in the act, the cast finds themselves in a desperate fight for their lives. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount Plus)

8. Doctor Sleep

Description: Traumatized by the sinister events of his childhood, Dan Torrance meets a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the “shine.” They must soon join forces to battle a cult whose members feed off the shine of innocents to become immortal. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, HBO Max)

9. Gerald’s Game

Description: When her husband’s sex game goes wrong, Jessie — handcuffed to a bed in a remote lake house — faces warped visions, dark secrets and a dire choice. (Watch on Netflix, Imdb)

10. Hereditary

Description: When the secretive matriarch of the Graham family dies, her daughter’s family find themselves haunted by the sinister fate they have inherited. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Imdb)

11. What Lies Beneath

Description: The wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) of a university research scientist (Harrison Ford) believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost – or that she is losing her mind. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

12. Secret Window

Description: A successful writer (Johnny Depp) in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

13. The Mist

Description: When a mysterious mist, and the supernatural creatures within, falls across their town in the wake of a violent storm, a group of local citizens must fend for themselves while trapped inside a local supermarket. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, HBO Max)

14. Mother!

Description: A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, Paramount Plus)

Jump Scare Horror Movies

1. The Ring

Description: It begins as just another urban legend – the whispered tale of a nightmarish videotape that causes anyone who watches it to die seven days later. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Imdb, Paramount Plus)

2. Candyman

Description: The housing projects of Cabrini Green neighborhood have been terrorized by a killer. Now, Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend have moved into a luxury loft in a now gentrified area. An encounter with a resident exposes Anthony to the story behind Candyman. (Watch on Prime, Peacock)

3. Paranormal Activity 3

Description: In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity called Toby, who resides in their home. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

4. A Quiet Place

Description: In this terrifyingly suspenseful thriller, a family must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Hailed by critics and audiences around the world, experience the must-see movie of the year. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, Hulu)

5. Sinister

Description: A true crime writer moves his family into a home where the previous occupants were brutally executed, hoping to find inspiration in the crime scene. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb, Hulu)

6. Lights Out

Description: When a terrifying force arises from her family’s past, a woman must protect her young stepbrother from a spirit that kills its victims in the dark. (Watch on Prime Video, HBO Max, Imdb)

7. Exorcist III

Description: Police Lt. Kinderman notices similarities between his current murder investigation and the methods used by the “Gemini” killer who was executed 15 years before. He soon discovers a hospitalized mental patient claiming to be the dead serial killer, but who looks uncannily like a priest Kinderman knew. As more bodies are found, Kinderman looks for connections between the two supposedly dead men. (Watch on Prime, Hulu, Peacock, Imdb)

8. Dead Silence

Description: A devilish doll possessed by the spirit of a long-dead ventriloquist terrorizes a hapless man in this old-school horror film. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock)

9. Host

Description: Six friends accidentally invite the attention of a demonic presence during an online séance. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Hulu, Imdb)

10. Shutter

Description: A newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Imdb, Hulu)

11. The Taking Of Deborah Logan

Description: An elderly woman battling Alzheimer’s disease agrees to let a film crew document her condition, but what they discover is something far more sinister going on. (Watch on Prime Video, Imdb)

12. Annabelle

Description: The ‘supremely creepy’ (Hollywood Reporter) devil doll from ‘The Conjuring’ terrorizes a young couple in this scary prequel. (Watch on Prime, Hulu, HBO Max)

13. Signs

Description: From M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) comes this terrifying thriller starring Mel Gibson. When a former minister discovers mysterious crop circles in his cornfield, it begins a disturbing series of supernatural events that leave him in a desperate effort to save his family. (Watch on Prime Video, Hulu, HBO)

Haunted Houses

1. Insidious (& Insidious – The Red Door)

Description: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Paramount Plus)

2. The Others

Description: During World War II, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted. (Watch on Prime, Imdb)

3. The Woman In Black (2012)

Description: A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. (Watch on Prime, Imdb, Paramount Plus)

4. Lake Mungo

Description: When sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer drowns while swimming in the local dam, her family experiences a series of strange events leading them to discover that Alice led a secret, double life. (Watch on Prime, Imdb)

5. House On Haunted Hill

Description: In this thriller, five people agree to spend the night in a haunted house in exchange for one million dollars but they must live through the night to receive it. (Watch on Paramount Plus, Prime Video, Imdb)

6. The Haunting Of Bly Manor

Description: After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. (Watch on Netflix, Prime, Imdb)

7. The Orphanage

Description: The Orphanage centers on Laura (Belén Rueda) who purchases her beloved childhood orphanage with dreams of restoring & reopening the abandoned facility as a place for disabled children. (Watch on Prime)

8. We Are Still Here

Description: While mourning the loss of their son, a couple falls victim to the spirits of an old house as they demand a sacrifice. (Watch on Prime, Peacock, Imdb)

9. Ghostwatch (Banned in the U.K for 10 years!)

Description: The BBC gives over a whole evening to an ‘investigation into the supernatural’. Four respected presenters and a camera crew attempt to discover the truth behind ‘The most haunted house in Britain’, expecting a light-hearted scare or two and probably the uncovering of a hoax. They think they are in control of the situation. They think they are safe. The viewers settle down and decide to watch ‘for a laugh’. Ninety minutes later the BBC, and the country, was changed, and the consequences are still felt today. (Watch on Prime, Imdb)

Note: Apparently, this movie was so believable and scary that it caused mass hysteria throughout the U.K. the first time it aired on tv, Halloween night of 1992. It was banned from the U.K. for 10 years and has never been shown on tv since. (Makes me want to watch it that much more! Lol!)

10. The Haunting Of Hill House

Description: Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confronts haunting memories of their old home and the terrifying events that drove them from it. (Watch on Netflix, Prime, Imdb)

11. The Shining

Description: All work and no play makes Academy Award® winner Jack Nicholson, the caretaker of an isolated resort, go way off the deep end, terrorizing his young son and wife Shelley Duvall. (Watch on Prime, HBO Max, Imdb)

12. The Tale Of Two Sisters

Description: After spending time in a mental hospital, a girl is reunited with her sister and returns home, only to see some truly strange events start to happen. (Watch Amazon, Imdb)

Final Thoughts:

While investigating these popular thrillers, I noticed many of them can also be accessed through Google Play, Roku devices, and Apple Tv. The viewing suggestions I provided above for many of the movies, were just the most popular to come up in the search, but not the only ways to watch. The entire movie for a handful of them, can even be found on youtube.com.

Other horror movie favorites that I came across and are worth mentioning are classics like Beetlejuice, The Grudge, Silence Of The Lamb, Hannibal, Misery, Black Swan. Even having seen these movies a few times over, I like to revisit them from time to time. Always good entertainment 🙂

Let us know in the comments if you have any Halloween favorites that are worth a peek. This list only covers a fraction of what is available!