Your Ultimate Horror Movie Checklist For October
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With the rustling leaves of Fall and the sudden chill in the air, it's time to add a little spook to your season. Every year, Freeform has their annual 31 Nights of Halloween marathon, and a few other streamers have gotten in on the action recently including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max, but we're thinking bigger. Looking to add a scare to every single day of the month in October, right from the comfort of your own home? We've put together a horror movie calendar — a mix of cult classics, iconic films, and modern triumphs — that will have you screaming all the way to Halloween.
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Oct. 1: Scream (1996)
The best part about this '90s classic is that it takes some of the most common horror tropes and turns them on their heads.
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Oct. 2: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Most horror movies rely on the darkness to add an element of horror, but in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, everything goes down in broad daylight.
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Oct. 3: Nosferatu (1922)
One of the grandfathers of the modern horror genre, this film's growing suspense and swelling music will fill you with dread.
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Oct. 4: The Ring (2002)
Few things are more terrifying than watching Samara straight up climb out of a TV to bring certain death. And let's not even get started on the tape itself.
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Oct. 5: Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The suspense and Rosemary's perceived paranoia both build to one unbelievable and chilling conclusion.
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Oct. 6: The Sixth Sense (1999)
Arguably one of the most shocking horror twists of all time.
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Oct. 7: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Nothing will make you want to sleep less than the threat of this horrifying nightmare monster.
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Oct. 8: The Descent (2005)
With striking portrayals of loss, grief, and human nature, The Descent will dig right in and rattle your bones.
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Oct. 9: The Mummy (1959)
Nothing like a visit from one of Hollywood's more well-known monsters.
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Oct. 10: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Not only does the film depict an unusual amount of gore for its time, but it also launched the modern-day iteration of the zombie: a flesh-eating member of the undead.
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Oct. 11: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The scariest parts of The Blair Witch Project aren't so much about the things you see, but more about the things you can't see.
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Oct. 12: It Follows (2015)
Isn't it unsettling to think that, no matter where you are, "it" is following you? Step by step, "it" gets closer and closer. Yeah, we're freaked out too.
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Oct. 13: Friday the 13th (1980)
Jason Voorhees may just be one of the most recognizable slasher villains of all time.
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Oct. 15: Carrie (1976)
The bloody prom — everything leading up to it, the actual event, and the horrific fallout — really is horror at its finest.
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Oct. 16: The Fly (1986)
Few things are more grotesque than watching a very handsome Jeff Goldblum transform into a human-sized fly.
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Oct. 17: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Hannibal Lecter is a genius, and that's what makes him so sinister and terrifying. And let's not forget that night-vision sequence at the end that will have you at the edge of your seat.
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Oct. 18: The Omen (1976)
Children are a staple of the horror genre, and that's mostly because they have the ability to be so creepy and unnerving. Imagine how amplified this sensation gets when the child in question is the son of the devil.
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Oct. 19: Hellraiser (1987)
Few things will gross you out more than the graphic body horror in this film. The Cenobites from hell are bad enough as it is, but watching them tear a man apart makes everything that much worse.
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Oct. 20: Children of the Corn (1984)
Once again: children are creepy. Especially when they worship some sort of crazy god that makes them murder people.
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Oct. 21: Jaws (1975)
Good thing Summer's over, because you'll need to steer clear of open water for a while after this one.
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Oct. 22: The Evil Dead (1981)
The glorious thing about this cult classic is the expert way it balances the abject horror of gruesome violence with an almost campy humor.
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Oct. 23: The Babadook (2014)
What a way to bring the idea of "The Boogeyman" to the 21st century. The Babadook is more than just a monster movie, though. It's an allegory for grief, and the way it comes to find you and never leaves.
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Oct. 24: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
A race of aliens that replaces your loved ones with mindless, catatonic husks of human beings? Sign us up.
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Oct. 25: Frankenstein (1931)
You can't say "classic Hollywood monster movie" without thinking of the tragic tale of Frankenstein.
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Oct. 26: The Thing (1982)
Here's what makes the "thing" in The Thing so scary: it inhabits the body of its victim and mimics them almost to perfection. You never know who's human and who's not.
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Oct. 27: Alien (1979)
On one hand, it's hard to watch an alien literally burst from the chest of one of the characters. On the other hand . . . it's hard to look away.
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Oct. 28: Psycho (1960)
Psycho pulls a classic bait-and-switch: we think Marion Crane is the main character, the story's brave heroine. Sadly, though, she's brutally murdered in the film's first act.
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Oct. 29: The Shining (1980)
There's something about Stanley Kubrick's film that transfixes viewers. Part of it is the winding hallways and the perfect symmetry in many of the shots. The other part might just be the brilliant performance by Jack Nicholson, who slowly but surely goes insane.
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Oct. 30: The Exorcist (1973)
The Exorcist is one of the top grossing horror movies of all time, and anyone who's seen it will tell you how much it can scar you. Be prepared: this film is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.
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Oct. 31: Halloween (1978)
How could we not put Halloween on the holiday itself? It's the perfect slasher movie to close out your scary month. Hopefully you'll survive.
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