10 Great Horror Movies Coming to HBO Max in October 2025

HBO Max is getting into the Halloween spirit.

As the Halloween season quickly approaches, HBO Max has announced that it will be adding a number of horror movies to the streaming service on October 1, 2025. These titles include everything from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and the Insidious sequels to some of the Halloween flicks and 2002’s Scooby-Doo.

Here are some recommendations for 10 great horror movies to watch on HBO Max this October.

What 10 great horror movies are coming to HBO Max in October?

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

If you had to pick one Nightmare on Elm Street movie to watch this season, it should be Dream Warriors. Yes, the original is a classic for all the obvious reasons. Wes Craven. Robert Englund. All great. What Dream Warriors does, though, is it takes what makes the first Nightmare on Elm Street and doubles down on it. You never would have guessed that getting terrorized by Freddy Krueger could be so much fun.

Drag Me to Hell

You love him for his work on the Spider-Man movies and the Evil Dead franchise, but you know what else rocks about Sam Raimi? The fact that he made Drag Me to Hell. It’s a strange supernatural horror movie made in a way that only Raimi could pull off, and it just gets better every time you watch it.

Friday the 13th (2009)

There are some good Friday the 13th movies out there. There are some bad ones out there. The most recent one is one of the good ones! People didn’t appreciate it at the time of its release as much as they should have, but this movie knows how to use Jason in a way that’s both fun and terrifying.

Gremlins

Gremlins exists in that Nightmare Before Christmas space where you can watch it around Halloween or Christmas. Or, you know, both. Why not both? It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen it. Gremlins always, always delivers.

Hereditary

Witness the birth of Ari Aster as a filmmaker. We can argue over what his best film is to date all we want, but there is certainly a strong argument to be made for Hereditary. Toni Collette is incredible. The *thing* that happens after the party, along with the whole third act, are also incredible. Guys. I think Hereditary might just kind of be incredible.

Poltergeist

What can you say about Poltergeist that hasn’t been said already? It’s one of the best to ever do it. The evil tree. The clown doll. So many memorable images and scenes in this movie that just stick in your brain forever. 

Talk to Me

The newest movie on this list is Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou. These filmmakers perhaps aren’t for the faint of heart — both this and their latest movie, Bring Her Back, have some disturbing stuff in them. But if you can stomach what they’re into, you’re really in for a treat.

The Exorcist

It’s one of the most famous horror movies ever made. And that’s a reputation it’s well-earned. While you shouldn’t go into The Exorcist with the expectation that it’s going to be the scariest movie ever made, you can bet on it being one of the best-written and best-acted horror movies out there. It’s really that good.

The Shining

Another absolute classic, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Based on a book by Stephen King, who famously is not a fan of this movie, The Shining just does so, so much right. The vibes that The Overlook Hotel puts out there immediately hook you in, and then it’s just a non-stop adventure into insanity as we watch Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance completely lose his mind.

Trick ‘r Treat

A Halloween staple in any good horror-lovers’ October line-up, Trick ‘r Treat is an anthology movie that tells four different stories on Halloween night. You might like some of the stories better than others. But I promise you’ll come away from Trick ‘r Treat saying, ‘Yeah, that was a good time.’

Source: HBO Max

Source: Comingsoon.net