Spooky season is upon us once again, and as we head deeper into October Horror fans around the world will be looking for chills and thrills, blood and gore, and all sorts of other scary shenanigans.

Luckily Netflix has got you covered, with a vast array of options for all different sensibilities and tastes – from gothic horror such as The Others to modern gems like Midsommar.

Tim Burton's supernatural whodunnit Sleepy Hollow has also recently been added to the platform while there are various other treats such as the terrific Doctor Sleep, which managed to act as a strong follow-up to Stanley Kubrick's classic The Shining.

Netflix also has plenty of original horror on offer – including last year's Fear Street Trilogy – and with new horrors appearing on the platform weekly, the streamer continues to keep viewers on their toes and peaking through their fingers at the onscreen scares.

The RadioTimes.com experts have picked out some of the very best streaming scares available on Netflix which will at least remove the horror of having to scroll through the options for hours.

Last updated: 12th October 2022

Best horror films on Netflix right now

Showing 1 to 24 of 26 results

  • 1922

    • Horror
    • Drama
    • 2017
    • Zak Hilditch
    • 102 mins
    • 15

    Summary:

    A farmer pens a confession admitting to his wife's murder, but her death is just the beginning of a macabre tale. Based on Stephen King's novella.

    Why watch 1922?:

    This Stephen King adaptation set in the titular year follows the story of a farming family in Nebraska with the father Wilf James (Thomas Jane) citing the mantra “a man’s pride is his land” as a rule to live by. His wife Arlette (Molly Parker) wants out, however. She intends to move to the city, upgrade, leave the tough slog of farm life behind. In response, Wilf conspires to kill Arlette with the help of son Henry (Dylan Schmid).

    1922 is a bleak tale, certainly not one for the rat-haters in your life, but it is transferred very well from page to screen by Zak Hilditch with many critics hailing it as one of the best efforts at replicating King’s work on screen. Much of the trauma throughout stems from the guilt ebbing away at Wilf’s consciousness, a slow chipping away of his resolve, and while there’s little cheer to go around, it’s a worthy Netflix production.

    How to watch
  • Annihilation

    • Action
    • Fantasy
    • 2018
    • Alex Garland
    • 115 mins
    • 15

    Summary:

    When a biologist's husband disappears, she signs up for a dangerous secret expedition into a environmental disaster zone. Her expedition team soon discover that the laws of nature don't apply. Fantasy drama, starring Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Benedict Wong and Sonoya Mizuno

    Why watch Annihilation?:

    Alex Garland follows up his stellar directorial debut Ex Machina with this sci-fi horror oddity. Lena (Natalie Portman) is a US army soldier who joins a squad tasked with the terrifying mission of entering a strange alien zone (known as the Shimmer), from which a number of exploratory teams have never returned. Upon entering the surreal place, she and her squadmates encounter some truly macabre and nightmarish beasts, but push on to the lighthouse where they hope to find answers.

    Portman gives a brilliant performance in the lead role, with Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) and Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok) all giving memorable supporting turns. Its ending proved a little divisive when the film was first released, but the journey Annihilation takes you on is more than worth your time, boasting gripping tension and striking visuals throughout.

    How to watch
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