9 Terrifying Horror Movies & Series to Watch this Halloween

A figure central to American literature, Edgar Allen Poe played a part in creating this gothic horror series. The Fall of the House of Usher is a short story written and published in 1839 and serves as the base inspiration for the Netflix drama of the same name. The show offers viewers a look into the lives of the powerful, rich and corrupt Usher family, who possess a pharmaceutical empire. The family’s patriarch is forced to reassess his decisions and life when his precious heirs start to mysteriously die in horrifying ways. 

Based on a short story of the same name by Stephen King, The Boogeyman is a feature film that follows the story of sisters Sadie and Sawyer Harper and their therapist father as the family grieve the recent passing of their mother. Sadie’s father encounters a new patient one day at work and that’s when supernatural forces take over the Harper family, feeding on their suffering and misfortunes. The supernatural film stars Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina and David Dastmalchian, who also acted in the blockbuster film Oppenheimer.

If you’re a true horror film buff, you know that Thailand is known to produce some of the scariest horror films ever made, and The Medium is no exception. The film is a South Korean and Thai collaboration, co-written and co-produced by Na Hong-jin and Banjong Pisanthanakun. The slow-burn style of this horror film weaves in themes of religion and shamanism in an eerie mockumentary. After a failed ritual, the protagonist of the film, Mink is possessed by evil spirits who take over her life and cause her to wreak havoc in her own life and the lives of her family members.

Tumbbad is an acclaimed Hindi-language horror film that combines Indian folklore, Hindu religious symbolism and gore to produce a masterpiece in storytelling. Fuelled by greed, a father-and-son duo seeks treasure and riches in a dilapidated castle in rural India, awakening a demon god named Hastar. Tumbbad, named after a real village in India, was the first Indian film to premiere in the critics' week section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival. The movie’s powerful score and striking visuals make for a truly hauntingly beautiful horror film.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Brooke Shields and Leslie Bibb, The Midnight Meat Train is a story centred around a photographer on a journey to find a serial killer nicknamed “The Subway Butcher”, only to discover that he may have stumbled into something more sinister than he can handle. The combination of mystery and horror takes you on a spine-chilling experience through the eyes of Cooper’s character, Leon Kaufman. The film takes direct inspiration from a short story of the same name, written by Clive Barker in the 1980s.

The AHS anthology series is known to be one of the best horror shows, standing the test of time since its first season in 2011. For its twelfth season titled American Horror Story: Delicate, the show features long-time AHS regulars Emma Roberts and Denis O’Hare are joined by newcomers Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Cara Delevigne and Kim Kardashian, who attracted a lot of PR for the season before it even began. The Delicate season draws inspiration from Danielle Valentine’s book Delicate Condition, which depicts a woman in the throes of her IVF journey, who believes a sinister entity is intent on interfering with her attempts towards motherhood

An A24 film involving satanic possession, supernatural entities and psychological suspense, The Blackcoat’s Daughter is set in a Catholic boarding school, where two students unfortunately get left behind during winter break. Soon, the two young girls, played by Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka, realise the harsh winter isn’t the only thing they will need to battle in order to survive. The film received positive reviews from critics, who especially praised the performances of the two leads.

Home for Rent is another great horror film hailing from Thailand. Inspired by true events, the movie that is literally close to home takes terrifying to the next level. Home for Rent focuses on a young family who rents out rooms to some seemingly ordinary new tenants. But things go south when the female lead, Ning starts to notice strange occurrences between her family and the newcomers. The mystery is twisted even more when Ning realises her new housemates are from a dark cult.

For a bit of lighthearted fun, What We Do in the Shadows is a great Halloween watch. Merging comedy with horror, the series follows the daily lives of four vampires who live together in New York. The mockumentary style, a la The Office (US), provides moments of faux offhand remarks from the main characters and a candid setting for the comedy to take place. The fifth season of the show just launched on Disney+ earlier this month, so step into the vampires’ lair for a fresh take on horror.