All the Horror You Need to Stream in October 2020

The Criterion Collection

Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on what to watch now. Here’s a guide to all the essential horror streaming in October 2020.

It’s the moooooooost wonderful tiiiiiiiime of the year!

That’s right, it’s finally October! A blessed month when you can marathon as much horror as you want, guilt-free! Not that anyone should ever feel guilty about their viewing choices. But now if anyone questions why your Letterboxd is just back-to-back Lucio Fulci splatter films, you can hold your brow high and remind them that this is October, and all bets are off, baby. If you want to watch cheezy eye-gauging all day, you’re well within your autumnal right!

It’s a dark, dark world out there. Quite literally these days, as the sun sets earlier and earlier, plunging us into the pitch-black depths of the winter months. All the better to see a dark-lit horrorshow, I say! And we’ve got quite the line-up this month. Streaming services have delivered the spooky goods in the form of creepy collections, inspired double bills, and spectral specials. I’ve scoured the incoming streamable content and highlighted the best of the best, from well-known bangers to new entries from today’s most exciting genre directors.

Be sure to peruse the complete list below, calendar in hand, for a full picture of what horror flicks are coming and going form your favorite streaming services this October.

Pick of the Month: Don’t Look Now (1973) and the rest of Criterion Channel’s ’70s Horror collection

Synopsis: Laura and John, grieving the terrible and unexpected loss of their daughter, move to Venice, where John is in charge of the restoration of a church. There they meet two mysterious sisters, one of whom tells the couple she has been in contact with their daughter. As Laura finds herself sucked in by this dangerous claim, John scoffs. That is until he glimpses a figure in the canals who looks an awful lot like his daughter.

Don’t look now… but The Criterion Channel is back at it again with an October line-up that easily puts every other streaming service to shame. I wasn’t sure how Criterion was going to top last year’s god-tier round-up of 1970s sci-fi flicks. And shame on me for underestimating them! This year, we’re staring down the barrel of a truly inspired collection of twenty-nine (twenty-nine!) films that represent the wilder, weirder, and whackier landscape of horror in the 1970s. From the passion projects of auteur mavericks to cult curios, and from campy gothic spine tinglers to art-house experiments, this collection brings together what can only be described as a veritable rogues gallery of gore, with the likes of Tobe Hooper, George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg, Nicolas Roeg, and Abel Ferrara all hanging out under one glorious roof.

This is a ridiculously well-thought-out syllabus of sleaze. And as you check out the full listing and plan your month accordingly, I’d encourage those who have not seen it already to prioritize a viewing of Nicholas Roeg‘s Don’t Look Now. Donald Sutherland is the king of the 1970s, and his turn as the grief-stricken John is, absolutely, his best work in a decade full of untouchable performances. Don’t Look Now is the bridge between the arthouse and the camp factory; it would be a marvelous way to kick off a deep dive into a decade of debauchery.

Available on The Criterion Channel October 4th.

A pandemic picture with a macabre match made in heaven

Synopsis: A tyrannical 12th-century prince named Prospero invites the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague. Naturally, all guests must arrive in full masked regalia. Because if you’re going to quarantine you might as well throw a ball, darling. Amidst an atmosphere of next-level debauchery, the prince notices a hooded stranger cloaked in crimson. Believing the mysterious figure to be Satan himself, the prince is horrified at the revelation of the stranger’s true identity. 

The Masque of the Red Death is a part of Shudder’s new “The Price of Fright” collection, a five-film series that aims — and absolutely succeeds — to pay due to the inimitable “Merchant of Menace” himself,  Vincent Price. As the streaming service notes, few actors have been as closely associated with horror as Price. There really was nothing like his unique blend of refinement, intelligence, and giddy delight in the macabre.

I’ve highlighted The Masque of the Red Death for several reasons. First, look: if I were living through a pandemic, I would simply throw a perverted party in my psychedelic satan castle. Second: this is a Roger Corman joint that sees yet another unholy union between Price and his frequent collaborator from beyond the grave, Edgar Allan Poe. Tell me: does it get any more ooky-spooky than that?

Available on Shudder October 1st.

Mike Flanagan’s latest attempt to scare us all off being homeowners

Synopsis: A young governess is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at the family country house after they fall into his care. Arriving at the Bly estate, she begins to see apparitions that proceed to haunt the premises

Mike “gauzy image quality” Flanagan is back at it again! This time, with a new spookernatural Netflix series: The Haunting of Bly Manor. What’s it about? Well, a haunting of Bly Manor of course! Loosely based on the 1898 horror novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Haunting of Bly Manor sees the reunion of much of the cast and crew from Flanagan’s very (very, very) popular The Haunting of Hill House. All nine episodes drop at once, and if you’re at all familiar with James’ novella, you know there’s oodles of creepy kid shenanigans in store.

Available on Netflix October 9th.

Come to daddy, it’s Clive Barker’s original, goo-tastic masterpiece!

Synopsis: Pervert and pain pioneer Frank will do anything to set his senses ablaze. And yes, this means signing over his flesh and soul to interdimensional leather fetishists (demons to some, angels to others!). But Frank finds a way to (quite literally) claw his way out of hell. So it’s up to his sister-in-law (and former lover) to help Frank pull himself back together, as it were. If only her nosey step-daughter would stay out of it!

What’s your pleasure? Is it a wildly entertaining 1980s classic that’s actually, you know, scary? Well good news, because Clive Barker’s absolutely bananapants, kinky, and goop-tastic Hellraiser is available until the end of the month. Hellraiser will tear your soul apart with skin-crawling practical effects, a kick-ass final girl, and one of the best female villains of all time. That’s right. Even in a room full of sensory sadomasochists, Clare Higgins‘ Julia is by far the scariest thing in this film. If you haven’t had a chance to check out this bonafide, top-tier terror trip, now’s your chance.

Leaves Hulu October 31st.

Streamable Horror Incoming This Month

Horror Titles Expiring from Streaming Soon

Related Topics: Horror, Horrorscope

Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.