10 Must-See Horror Movies Hitting HBO Max This October 2025

HBO Max is unleashing ten great horror picks on October 1, 2025—just in time for Halloween—from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies to the Insidious sequels and more.

HBO Max is loading up for spooky season. On October 1, 2025, the service drops a big batch of horror, ranging from a run of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and the Insidious sequels to a few of the Halloween entries and, yes, 2002's Scooby-Doo for the sugar-corn crowd. If you want the good stuff without digging through everything, here are the 10 I would cue up first.

10 horror picks worth streaming on HBO Max this October

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors — If you only have time for one Elm Street, make it this one. The original is a legend for a reason, but Dream Warriors takes the core idea and just pushes it further. It should not be this fun to be hunted by Freddy, and yet here we are.
• Drag Me to Hell — Sam Raimi stepping back into unruly supernatural chaos is its own kind of comfort food. It’s gnarly, it’s playful, and the Raimi-isms stack up beautifully on rewatch.
• Friday the 13th (2009) — The franchise is a roller coaster, but the most recent theatrical entry is on the right side of that curve. It was shrugged off at release; time has been kinder. Smart, mean, and it actually knows how to use Jason.
• Gremlins — Seasonal loophole unlocked. You can run this at Halloween or hold it for December and still be correct. No matter how many times you revisit it, the chaos still lands.
• Hereditary — Ari Aster’s breakout that turned heads and stomachs. Toni Collette goes for broke, the post-party moment you’re absolutely thinking of still stings, and the final stretch is a sustained freak-out. Kind of incredible, honestly.
• Poltergeist — One of the great haunted-house movies, full stop. The tree. The clown. The images that move in and set up shop in your brain. It’s a classic because it earns it.
• Talk to Me — The newest on this list, from Danny and Michael Philippou. Not for the squeamish; this and their latest, Bring Her Back, go to some bleak places. If you can handle the intensity, it pays off.
• The Exorcist — Legendary for good reason. Don’t expect the single scariest thing you’ve ever seen; do expect razor-sharp writing and performances that have been imitated for decades because they’re that strong.
• The Shining — Kubrick’s icy spin on Stephen King, which King famously does not love. The Overlook’s vibe grabs you by the collar, and watching Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance slide into madness is the whole show.
• Trick 'r Treat — A Halloween-night anthology (four stories, one town) that’s basically a seasonal ritual at this point. Some segments hit harder than others, but the overall ride is a blast.

That should get you through the first week of October. Again: all of this starts rolling onto HBO Max on October 1, along with a bunch more horror, the Insidious sequels, some Halloween movies, and a little Scooby-Doo chaos for dessert.