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I’m sure you’ve heard, but it’s been a big year for horror movies. Over the past few months, there have been all sorts of releases for horror fans, from undersung gems like 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple to unexpected hits like Obsession and what seems to be the start of a booming new franchise in Backrooms.
As we approach fall, we enter the horror season. October has long been a preferred month for horror studios, with many releasing movies that fit the vibe that movie-goers are on the hunt for, whether in cinemas or on streaming. As part of our 2026 Fall Preview, here are 13 horror movies you can watch this October:
1
Beware Boiúna
Oct. 2 in theaters
Beware Boiúna is the perfect way to kick off October if you’re into monster movies, and the concept of watching a group of people battle a creature from the depths of the Amazon sounds like a great night out. Starring Kiana Madeira, Jessica Rothe, and Logan Marshall-Green, the story follows a team of young doctors on a medical outreach mission deep in the Amazonian rainforest. There, they find that the vibes are off. The locals aren’t happy to see them, resulting in an encounter with Boiúna, a massive mythological snake that prowls the area.
2
Verity
Image: Amazon MGM Studios
Oct. 2 in theaters
Verity offers a decidedly different approach to horror. The erotic thriller is based on a Colleen Hoover novel, the author behind the box-office romantic hit It Ends With Us. Directed by Michael Showalter, Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), a struggling ghostwriter, who gets offered a dream job: Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) hires her to complete the last novel of Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), a beloved mystery author who is unable to write after a terrible accident. Lowen takes the job, moving into the Crawfords’ home and developing a fixation with Verity, slowly taking over her life.
3
The Influencer Project
Image: Hades Films
Oct. 2 in theaters
The Influencer Project takes found footage horror and applies it to influencer culture. The fictional story follows Chiara King, playing herself, as she travels to Copenhagen with a documentary crew to film a project that promises her followers an unvarnished look at her life. But then she catches the eye of a local stalker. Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale, the filmmakers behind The Blair Witch Project, are producing it.
4
Appofeniacs
Image: Magenta Edge Films
Oct. 2 in theaters
Directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and starring an ensemble cast that includes Sean Gunn, Appofeniacs takes a stab at generative AI and how it can be wielded to wreak chaos in society. The horror movie is told in vignettes that are ultimately woven together, including the story of a ride-share driver who crosses paths with an unstable individual, a girl who becomes the subject of an online smear campaign, and more.
5
Other Mommy
Image: Universal Pictures
Oct. 2 in theaters
Other Mommy went viral after its trailer premiered alongside The Odyssey, with people online commenting on a second of footage that showed some very creepy contortions. It stars Jessica Chastain, who seems poised for a comeback after a stretch of steady yet under-the-radar work. Directed by Rob Savage and based on the book Incidents Around the House, the story follows a little girl (Arabella Olivia Clarke) who’s haunted by a supernatural presence that looks just like her mother (Chastain).
6
The Devils
Image: Warner Bros. Clockwork
Oct. 16 in theaters
The Devils is one of those infamous you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it movies. First released in 1971 to fierce controversy, censorship, and criticism, Ken Russell’s masterpiece is getting a 4K director’s cut that depicts his full vision 15 years after his death. The story is based on Aldous Huxley’s novel The Devils of Loudun about the case of a priest from the 1600s who was burned at the stake after being accused of seducing an entire convent. It stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave in two of the best performances of their careers.
7
Crawlers
Image: Saban Films
Oct. 16 in theaters
Crawlers is another creature movie you can add to your list, this time following an infestation of venomous spiders that results in the police placing an entire apartment building under quarantine. Directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández, the film follows the building’s manager (Matilda Lutz) as she uses her knowledge of the layout of the place to help residents survive. Making her life more complicated is the fact that she has arachnophobia.
8
Breeder
Image: IFC
Oct. 16 in theaters
Screening in theaters on a limited release following a Tribeca Film Festival premiere earlier this year, Breeder follows a broke college student (Daniel Doheny) who finds a great deal online, allowing him to move into the remote ranch of a poodle breeder (Dot Marie Jones) who promises to fund his research. The catch is that boarding won’t come for free – she needs his help, and she’s moving from poodle breeding onto bigger and more ambitious projects.
9
Hallowarrior
Image: Shudder
Oct. 16 in theaters
Available on Shudder following a Tribeca Film Festival premiere, Hallowarrior is directed by Ben Sottak and follows Pumpkin (Hereditary’s Milly Shapiro), a young girl living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland who copes with her loneliness by filling her life with Halloween paraphernalia. When a group of scavengers appears, they promise an escape, only for things to take a terrifying turn, pushing Pumpkin to fight for her survival.
10
Whalefall
Oct. 16 in theaters
Based on the Daniel Kraus novel of the same name, Whalefall is one of the most exciting releases of the fall for Austin Abrams fans. Directed and written by Brian Duffield, the story follows a scuba diver (Abrams) searching for his father’s remains at sea. At the start of his expedition, he’s swallowed by a sperm whale with only an hour of oxygen in his tank.
