Halloween often translates into big plans. You could go see “Sinners” or “KPop Demon Hunters” which are both being re-released this weekend in theaters, you could explore some of the many spooky happenings across Los Angeles or you could dive into L.A.’s vibrant bar scene — the options are endless.
But if none of that sounds more appealing than curling up on your couch with a good show to watch and a bag of your favorite candy nearby, we’ve got you covered.
Seasonal and holiday-themed streaming is not a new phenomenon, and those services know audiences seek out all things supernatural, witchy or horrifying in October. There are several Halloween-themed hubs on streamers, like “Huluween,” “Netflix & Chills” and Paramount+’s “Peak Screaming” that feature slates of horror-themed titles. Many collections tend to feature classics that you may have seen dozens of times, so if you’re looking for fresh spooks and scares, several recent releases well-suited for Halloween season are now available to stream.
Whether you revel in jump scares or prefer the monsters on your screen to be inanimate (and made out of sugar), there’s something for everyone to watch this spooky season.
For the true horror fans
‘It: Welcome to Derry’ (HBO)
The latest story to tackle Stephen King’s supernatural clown Pennywise is a television prequel series to the 2017 film “It” (and its 2019 follow-up, “It: Chapter Two”). Developed by Andy Muschietti, who directed the films, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, this season of the show is set in 1962 during the Cold War and centers on a group of schoolchildren in Maine. Fear of nuclear war is not the only thing haunting the town of Derry — a child has gone missing and a mysterious and dangerous force threatens the town.
The series’ first episode premiered Sunday and seven more episodes will be released weekly. King’s original 1986 novel that provided the basis for the series and the movies follows the eternal evil creature known as “It,” which exploits the fears of its victims, who are often young children.
Times television critic Robert Lloyd praised the young actors at the center of the show who form a “company of junior investigators” reminiscent of the movies and hit series “Stranger Things.” He also noted the body horror, especially in two “monstrous” birth sequences, providing an adequate scare, and there’s a “modicum of well-done fright effects.”
“That ‘Welcome to Derry’ is more of a cheesy B-picture than its makers might like to imagine, assembled from worked-over tropes — somewhat excusable for King having originated many of them — is more in its favor than not,” Lloyd wrote in his review. “TV remains a haven for cheesiness. Long may it remain so.”
For those who can tolerate creepy crawly scares
‘Nightmares of Nature’ (Netflix)
Blumhouse, a production company known for horror franchises like “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious” and “The Purge,” is behind this nature documentary that takes a horror-like approach to the great outdoors. The series, which is narrated by Maya Hawke, features traditional elements of a nature documentary, but there’s also suspenseful music, jump scares and a narrative structure that you’d expect from a traditional horror movie.
“Nature is full of wonder and beauty. But for the creatures who live out in the wild, it’s also full of monsters,” Hawke says in the opening episode. “And the sooner you figure that out, the better your chances are of staying alive.”
The show takes on the perspectives of prey fighting for survival from predators. The first season, titled “Cabin in the Woods,” followed a mouse, a raccoon and a bullfrog. The second season, which premieres Tuesday, is called “Lost in the Jungle,” and it follows the journeys of an opossum, an iguana and a jumping spider in the Central American rainforest. It goes without saying, but this series is not for anyone afflicted with arachnophobia.
For mystery lovers
‘Down Cemetery Road’ (Apple TV)
This British crime drama is led by Academy Award winner Emma Thompson as a tough private investigator, and that alone is probably enough convincing anyone would need to tune in.
Thompson plays Zoë Boehm, who investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding an explosion in Oxford. Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson), an Oxford art conservationist who lives in the neighborhood where the explosion happened, enlists help from Zoë and her husband, Joe Silverman (Adam Godley), when she believes a young girl who survived the blast has been kidnapped. Looking into the situation reveals a complex web of conspiracies and corruption, making for a gripping story.
The Apple TV series is based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron, who also wrote the novels that have been adapted into “Slow Horses.” Morwenna Banks, a writer on “Slow Horses,” adapted “Down Cemetery Road,” writing and executive producing the series. The first two episodes of the series premiere Wednesday and subsequent episodes will release weekly.
For those who are more into treats than tricks
‘The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Halloween’ (Roku Channel) and ‘Is It Cake? Halloween’ (Netflix)
If you can’t stomach the gore and anxiety in a typical Halloween show or movie, you will enjoy a lighter ride with an upbeat baking show. British baking icons Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood judge this one-hour special of “The Great American Baking Show,” and it’s hosted by actors Casey Wilson and Andrew Rannells. Not only do you get to see some adorable Halloween-themed baked goods as they’re being prepared, but the bakers behind them are comedians Patton Oswalt, Rachel Dratch, Leslie Jones and Adam Pally. Their technique might not be exemplary, but the laughs are as they go through a series of baking challenges, including creating a treat based on one of their fears. The special is free to stream with ads on Roku.
If you’re looking for some creepy baked goods that are not made by novices, “Is It Cake? Halloween” delivers on the hyperrealism. In this new season of the series, which is hosted by “Saturday Night Live” cast member Mikey Day, nine bakers who specialize in creating lifelike baked goods compete for a cash prize. A host of celebrity judges have to decide whether they’re seeing an elaborate cake or Halloween decor like a jack-o-lantern, a black cat and a gargoyle.
Judges for the four Halloween episodes include Chelsea Peretti, Jack McBrayer, Gillian Jacobs and Whitney Cummings.
For animation aficionados
‘Hazbin Hotel’ (Prime Video)
Vivienne Medrano, a YouTube personality and animator, created a pilot for an animated series called “Hazbin Hotel” that she shared on the platform in 2019. It rapidly gained interest and developed a rabid global fan base, even years before a full season (produced by A24) premiered on Prime Video. The pilot now has more than 118 million views on YouTube.
Featuring a voice cast of Broadway stars and veterans, the series follows Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen) as the Princess of Hell who is trying to rehabilitate sinners and demons through a hotel she opens in hopes of them “checking out” of Hell and moving into Heaven. It’s her humane attempt to combat Hell’s rampant overpopulation, which has been typically managed through “extermination.” The ensemble cast also includes Stephanie Beatriz, Alex Brightman, Keith David, Alex Newell, Christian Borle and Jeremy Jordan.
Season 2 of the beloved series premieres on Prime Wednesday with music and laughs aplenty.
For those who think real life is scarier than fiction
‘Murdaugh: Death in the Family’ (Hulu), ‘Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy’ (Peacock) and ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ (Netflix)
There have been a host of true-crime dramas released ahead of Halloween, each based on horrifying real stories. Two of the dramas that recently hit streamers, “Murdaugh: Death in the Family,” and “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” follow crimes you have surely heard of before. “Murdaugh” chronicles the lives and many mysteries surrounding a prominent South Carolina family and legal dynasty. The case developed a cult-like following when patriarch Alex Murdaugh was on trial for the murder of his wife Maggie and son Paul, all while years’ worth of financial crimes he committed were surfacing.
Meanwhile, “Devil in Disguise” unpacks the crimes of Gacy, known as one of America’s most prolific serial killers. While it touches on Gacy’s life before he killed at least 33 young men and boys, the show focuses on the victims, their families and the investigators who cracked this haunting case.
Times news and culture critic Lorraine Ali wrote that while the real-life stories these series are based on are “oft-trod,” there’s still value in the dramatizations. “Spanning eight episodes each, both series explore the circumstances that gave rise to horrific crimes — from dynastic hubris, corruption and greed to societal prejudice and lazy law enforcement,” Ali wrote.
While Ed Gein may have been a less recognizable name before the third installment of “Monsters,” his haunting story is likely familiar. Gein, known as the Butcher of Plainfield, and the murders he committed provided fodder for several classic horror movies, including “Psycho,” “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs.” He exhumed corpses from graveyards in Wisconsin in the 1950s and admitted to killing at least two women whose bodies he then mutilated. When he was arrested in 1957, police found body parts and bones on Gein’s property, as well as several items he made out of body parts, including a lampshade made out of human skin, bowls made from human skulls and masks made out of his victims’ faces. (If that doesn’t send a chill down your spine for Halloween, nothing will.)
Charlie Hunnam takes on the titular role in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s crime anthology series. The debut season centered on Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Evan Peters) and its sophomore season focused on the Menendez brothers (Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch).
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