One of the great pleasures of spooky season is settling onto the couch and working through the flood of horror programming available across movie libraries and TV channels. There is no need to pay for endless rentals or add more subscriptions, either: free services such as PlutoTV and Tubi offer plenty of genre classics from across film history. You just have to accept the occasional commercial—or, as we like to call it, a convenient candy break.
Tubi’s catalog is especially wide-ranging, mixing recent releases with classics and cult favorites that regularly rotate on and off the service. Like every streaming platform, it also contains its share of forgettable filler. To help you navigate spooky season ’26, Decider has assembled this countdown of the best horror movies currently available to stream for free. The lineup includes classic monsters, daring reimaginings, and indie originals spanning decades. Happy Halloween streaming—or screaming, as the Crypt Keeper might say! (Tales from the Crypt is on Tubi, too.)
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Chuck Russell
CAST: Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Melanie Jarnson
Pay tribute to the late Chuck Russell, who died this year, with his little-seen remake of an ’80s cult favorite. Russell was already making an impact in that decade, directing the terrific 1988 remake of The Blob and the acclaimed third Nightmare on Elm Street. His Witchboard, however, feels more like a lost—and unexpectedly effective—supernatural horror film from the mid-2000s. Madison Iseman stars as a recovering addict whose fragile mental state begins to unravel after she forms an unlikely bond with a spirit board and starts experiencing visions connected to its creator.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: George Romero
CAST: Jan White, Raymond Laine
Several years after making history with Night of the Living Dead, George Romero blended domestic drama with occult horror. The result, sometimes released under the titles Hungry Wives and Jack’s Wife, is not his most frightening film, but it remains a compelling time capsule of the second-wave feminist era and the suburban dissatisfaction that accompanied it.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Carter Smith
CAST: Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Shawn Ashmore
Scott B. Smith—who is not related to director Carter Smith—adapted his own acclaimed bestselling horror novel about carnivorous vines discovered at a Mayan ruins site. The film did not earn the same praise as the book, but The Ruins delivers far more effective creepy-plant horror than that year’s The Happening, complete with memorably visceral visual effects.
RATING: TV-PG
DIRECTOR: Terence Fisher
CAST: Peter Cushing, Robert Urquhart, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee
Despite its title, this is not a late entry in Universal’s Frankenstein series, which began in 1932. Instead, The Curse of Frankenstein launched a separate Hammer Films cycle inspired by Mary Shelley’s novel, loosely adapting the story for the studio’s first major horror hit. Its success ushered in a new era of monster movies, using vivid color and relaxed content restrictions to showcase bright-red blood, gruesome experiments, and inventive fates for the dead and undead.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Rob Zombie
CAST: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Danielle Harris
This is not the Halloween II starring Jamie Lee Curtis—or the other one starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Rob Zombie’s sequel to his own remake is a different beast, although its opening pays tribute to the hospital setting of the “original” 1981 sequel. From there, Zombie takes Michael Myers into a stranger, darker, and more daring place than either his first film or most of the Halloween sequels that came before it. Audiences largely stayed away, but admirers of Zombie’s distinctive style often rank it among his finest movies.
RATING: TV-PG
DIRECTOR: Robert Siodmak
CAST: Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige
Robert Siodmak was one of his era’s most underrated filmmakers, later directing a series of superb film noirs and psychological thrillers, including several works with proto-horror elements. Son of Dracula arrived before that peak period. While Siodmak’s Universal Monsters entry does not match his later achievements, it is an entertaining showcase of his versatility. Lon Chaney Jr. plays the mysterious Count Alucard—spell the name backward—who arrives at a New Orleans plantation after being invited by Katherine Caldwell, played by Louise Allbritton. She may be seeking something only this enigmatic stranger can provide. The film is more pulpy than elegant, and Chaney is no Bela Lugosi, but Siodmak’s stylish direction makes Son of Dracula an enjoyable detour into classic horror.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Levine
CAST: Amber Heard, Whitney Able, Michael Welch
The release history of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane shows how dramatically the horror business has changed over the past two decades. Despite being a sharp, beautifully shot slasher, the film remained in release limbo for seven years after premiering at Toronto, at least in the United States; some international markets received it sooner. By the time it finally arrived in 2013, the long mystery may have raised expectations too high. Viewed today, however, it is easy to admire the evocative cinematography, strong performances—particularly from a young Amber Heard—and clever sociological twist. Director Jonathan Levine later built a Hollywood career helming several Seth Rogen comedies and the horror romance Warm Bodies; he was recently chosen to direct the Tom Cruise sequel Days of Thunder. It may not be the most frightening film here, but his feature debut remains one of his strongest.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Tom Holland
CAST: William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowall
No, the director isn’t the Spider-Man who’s married to Zendaya. This Tom Holland has horror bona fides: He co-wrote and directed the original Child’s Play, wrote Psycho II, and made this suburbs-set horror movie about a teenage boy who realizes his new neighbor is a vampire – and enlists the help of an only-on-TV vampire hunter to try and stop the creature’s killing spree. It’s not the most intense vampire movie you can watch, but it’s one of the most fun, playfully injecting vamp mythology into a culture that presumes familiarity with it already.
STREAM ON: August 27 Photo: Everett Collection
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Neil Jordan
CAST: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan
Neil Jordan’s best-known horror movie is Interview with the Vampire. But honestly, his other, far lesser-known, female-driven vampire film featuring heavy backstory is the more consistently entertaining of the two. It may not have Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, but Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan are sensational as a mother-daughter pair of vampires forced to relocate to a small coastal town in England, a location that gives way to surprising amounts of gothic atmosphere.
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RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Neil Marshall
CAST: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
Initially enough of an obscurity that its sequel never even came out in theaters in the U.S., The Descent has grown in reputation over the past 20 years, to the point where it’s now considered one of the best and most intense horror movies of the 2000s. It helps that it will freak some viewers out before it even gets to the creature-feature or the gore; scenes of a group of spelunkers exploring cramped underground graves are enough to induce nightmares in anyone with even a hint of claustrophobia. On top of that, the mutated bat-people emerge! The attempts at trauma-mining setup may be a little hackneyed, but as far as gnarly creature horror goes, it’s hard to beat The Descent.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Mitchell Lichtenstein
CAST: Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais
There are, unavoidably, a great many horror movies about vampires, zombies, slashers, and creatures, some of which appear on this very list. There are vanishingly few, however, about the idea of vagina dentata – women’s genitalia lined with, yes, teeth. That’s precisely what this darkly funny indie horror is about, featuring a command performance by Jess Weixler as a teenage girl whose sexual awakening has some bloodier-than-usual results.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Clive Barker
CAST: Andrew Robinson, Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence
Clive Barker’s adaptation of his own novel won’t be to all tastes. But it’s a fantastical horror movie unlike any other, standing head and shoulders above the many sequels it spawned. Barker’s mythology involves a mysterious box that summons Cenobites, creatures from another dimension that blur together pain and pleasure, making this one of the more perverse and sexually charged of the famous 1980s horror pictures.
RATING: PG-13
DIRECTOR: Stephen Sommers
CAST: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Oded Fehr
Stephen Sommers reinvigorated the creakiest of Universal’s original monsters by making, essentially, Indiana Jones with more supernatural monsters (instead of nazi-style human ones). It’s not exactly wall-to-wall scares, but it’s a perfect transition from one throwback (two-fisted action-adventure) to another (monster horror!) for younger movie fans.
May (2003)
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Lucky McKee
CAST: Angela Bettis, Anna Faris, Jeremy Sisto
An indie-horror cult classic that riffs on both Carrie and Frankenstein, Lucky McKee’s movie was barely released commercially back in 2003 but is well worth checking out. Angela Bettis gives a bravura nervous-loner performance as a vet tech who winds up building an unusual doll collection; Anna Faris in her pre-sitcom days provides killer comic support. May and May are macabre and heartbreaking in equal measure.
Rotten Tomatoes Score:
60%
The Addams family is so much more than inspo for this year’s Halloween costume. In the 1991 adaptation of the 1960s series, a con artist pretends to be Gomez Addams’ long lost brother Fester in order to gain access to the family’s wealth. Unaware of his scheme, Morticia, Wednesday, and Pugsley Addams grow close to Uncle Fester, forcing him to choose between his old and new family.
[Stream The Addams Family] ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
RATING: PG-13
DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfeld
CAST: Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christina Ricci, Christopher Lloyd
The Addams Family, a smash hit from the early ’90s, is easily the kid-friendliest movie on the list – nascent horror kids and even less spookily-inclined older elementary schoolers will enjoy it – while also having impeccable fall vibes, with stunning production design, great one-liners that outwit the beloved sitcom it’s partially based on, and note-perfect performances from every cast member. Oh, and get this: the sequel is even better.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Robert Eggers
CAST: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Black Philip
The movie that arguably established A24 as a horror-label force, and definitely established Robert Eggers as a major name in the genre, is short yet spookily immersive. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the daughter of a family too annoying even for the Puritans, exiled in the New England woods in the 17th century, and bedeviled by a witch – though it’s Taylor-Joy who shoulders the blame.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
CAST: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Forget Luca Guadagnino’s drab remake with Dakota Johnson and go straight for the visually arresting original, surely one of the medium’s greatest triumphs of shapes and colors. The story is pretty simple: Suzy (Jessica Harper) attends a German ballet school and discovers what any of us might have suspected: It’s run by a coven of murderous witches. The widely beloved film from Italian master Dario Argento became hugely influential with its eye-popping colors and ear-popping score from prog-rock act Goblin.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Bob Clark
CAST: Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Keir Dullea
Man, 1974 was a hell of a year for the barely-existent slasher genre; it’s also when The Texas Chain Saw Massacre made its gnarly mark. That one is perpetually Tubi-available, but plenty of services have it on hand, and plenty of folks have seen it. So while it’s obviously more December than October, Black Christmas is equally worthwhile, as a mysterious creep terrorizes a sorority house with some of the most gorgeously lit and framed stalking the genre has ever seen. Two very different remakes couldn’t touch it.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Tobe Hooper
CAST: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Gunnar Hansen
Like I said: A hell of a slasher year. Honestly, Texas Chain Saw is available all over the place, so it’s not necessarily imperative that you watch it on Tubi. But it’s probably one of the dozen or so best and most influential movies ever made, so if you haven’t seen it and don’t have any subscription services handy, don’t let that stop you! After all, it’s one of the scariest and most visually distinctive horror movies ever made, following a group of young people who stumble upon a family of cannibals. The old rumors about Tobe Hooper not actually directing his later (and less disturbing) horror film Poltergeist will seem particularly absurd once you’ve seen this singular horror masterpiece.
RATING: R
DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
CAST: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Christopher Walken
Tim Burton is known for his spooky movies, yet he rarely puts out something violent enough for an R rating. His retelling of the Washington Irving story – this time with actual supernatural elements and a strong influence from the Hammer Studios films of the 1960s and 1970s – is bloody enough to serve as an exception. Johnny Depp plays an investigator version of Ichabod Crane, Christina Ricci plays his love interest, and none other than Christopher Walken (with stunt assistance from original Darth Maul actor Ray Park!) plays the horseman himself. It’s simply one of the most beautifully painterly atmospheric horror films.