40 Scariest Horror Movies on Netflix to Stream Right Now
From teen screams to psychological thrillers, watch these films in all their gory glory.
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For some, the best part of any weekend is setting up shop on the couch under a cozy blanket with a big bowl of popcorn and a full lineup of scary movies. And then there are others who prefer to have their scares served only during the month of October with a classic Halloween film. Luckily, no matter when you want to watch, some of the best horror movies of all time are on Netflix, which means you don't have to bounce around or pay extra to stream them.
You have your psychological thrillers, must-sees that are sort of, kind of based on a true story or at least inspired by them, movies about witches, some about vampires and a ton of gruesome slashers, if that's what you're into! There are even some recent made-for-Netflix features that take their cues from totally modern themes (think Countdown and Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight — both of which play on tech addictions gone wrong). We’ve even got a little horror comedy for fans of blended genre.
But parents, be warned: These freaky flicks are for mature audiences only. If you’re looking for something to watch on family movie night, check out these kid-friendly scary movies or kids’ movies on Netflix that won't keep the little ones up all night. And if you need a palate cleanser after all that scary fare, wind down with these best romantic movies so you don't have nightmares.
And as you know, movies come and go, sometimes quickly, one Netflix, so here's what's on there as of July 2023.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Release year: 2022
- Director: David Blue Garcia
- Run time: 1 hour, 23 minutes
If you loved the classic, you owe it to yourself to check out this sequel. A group of influencers are trying to revive a sleepy Texas town when they encounter Leatherface, a killer who's been in hiding for 48 years.
The Ring
- Release year: 2002
- Director: Gore Verbinski
- Run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
While the technology in this early 2000s classic is a bit dated, the creep factor remains in full effect. If you haven't watched in a while (or somehow missed it the first time around), definitely check out this horror about a cursed videotape.
Incantation
- Release year: 2022
- Director: Kevin Ko
- Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
A woman must try and save her family after they'd been cursed for something she's done. Fair warning: When this was first released the director had to confirm that all the chants and symbols associated with the movie were fake because people were terrified they had been cursed after watching it.
May the Devil Take You
- Release year: 2018
- Director: Timo Tjahjanto
- Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
An estranged father, a mysterious illness and a satanic ritual: this one has all the ingredients for a great thriller. And trust us, it delivers.
Coming Home in the Dark
- Release year: 2021
- Director: James Ashcroft
- Run time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
In this tense, dark film, a schoolteacher has to confront his past when he and his family come across a pair of sinister drifters on an Australian road trip.
Under the Shadow
- Release year: 2016
- Director: Babak Anvari
- Run time: 2016
A woman living in war-torn Iran during the conflict with Iraq is trying to keep her daughter safe while her husband is off fighting when demons called "djinns" start tormenting them. Single moms really do have to do it all, don't they?
Apostle
- Release year: 2018
- Director: Gareth Evans
- Run time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
It's 1905 and a drifter is on a mission to rescue his kidnapped sister. But when he encounters a sinister religious cult on an isolated island, he might be the one who needs rescuing.
The Munsters (2022)
- Year: 2022
- Director: Rob Zombie
- Run time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
While this movie is on the more lighthearted side of the spooky spectrum, it is directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, this flick revives the kooky 1960s sitcom of the same name, about a vampire who falls in love with a monster.
Sabrina
- Release year: 2018
- Director: Rocky Soraya
- Run time: 1 hour, 53 minutes
If creepy dolls are your jam, add this film — the latest in The Doll series — to your queue. After losing her mother, a young girl tries to conjure her spirit, but things don't go as planned (of course).
There's Someone Inside Your House
- Release year: 2021
- Director: Patrick Brice
- Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
A high schooler and her friends are stalked by a serial killer hellbent on exposing their darkest secrets in this slasher flick.
Ouija
- Release year: 2016
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
This evocative period piece is set in '60s California. In it, the daughter of an imposter medium tries to communicate with her late dad through a Ouija board, but unleashes a demon instead.
A Classic Horror Story
- Year: 2021
- Directors: Roberto De Feo and Paolo Strippoli
- Run time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Traveling in Southern Italy sounds like a dream, right? Not so much in this movie after its characters get lost in the woods and find themselves in a fight for their lives.
Little Evil
- Release year: 2017
- Director: Eli Craig
- Run time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
This one brings a little comedy to go along with the horror. In it, a man wanting to bond with his stepson thinks the boy might actually be a demon.
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight
- Release year: 2020
- Director: Bartosz M. Kowalski
- Run time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
A group of tech-addicted teens (what, too real?) goes to a rehabilitation camp to break their habit. That's where things, er, take a bloody turn.
Till Death
- Release year: 2021
- Director: S. K. Dale
- Run time: 1 hour, 28 minutes
Megan Fox stars as a woman who finds herself handcuffed to her husband's corpse as part of a dark revenge plot. And that's just the beginning.
The Open House
- Release year: 2018
- Directors: Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote
- Run time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
A mom and her teenage son move to an empty vacation home after a tragedy. But let's just say it's not a very healing turn of events.
No One Gets Out Alive
- Release year: 2021
- Director: Santiago Menghini
- Run time: 1 hour, 27 minutes
This film follows Ambar, who moves into a boarding house in Cleveland and starts seeing ghostly apparitions and hearing screams and other voices. But since Ambar is an immigrant without documentation, she doesn't think she can turn to anyone for help.
His House
- Release year: 2020
- Director: Remi Weekes
- Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
In the running for number one scariest movie on Netflix, this film follows a couple that flees South Sudan for asylum in England, only to learn that they may have brought a presence with them. It asks whether it's possible for people, not just places, to be haunted.
Things Heard and Seen
- Release year: 2021
- Directors: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
- Run time: 2 hours
Based on the book All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage, this film follows a family that moves from the city out to a farmhouse in upstate New York. As Catherine (Amanda Seyfried) starts to feel more lonely and isolated in her role as wife and mother, she starts to experience strange things in the house, possibly related to its previous (and deceased) owners.
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Eli
- Release year: 2019
- Director: Ciarán Foy
- Run time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
If you're creeped out by hospitals, look away from Eli, about an 11-year-old boy with a debilitating illness who checks into a clinic that says it can help him. But is the experimental therapy all it's cracked up to be?
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
Alesandra is a digital travel and lifestyle journalist based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Prevention, Insider, Glamour, Shondaland, AFAR, Parents, TODAY and countless other online and print outlets. Alesandra has a masters degree in journalism with an emphasis on cultural reporting and criticism from NYU, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. An avid traveler, she trots the globe with her husband and their twins.
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