For those with a Hulu subscription, everyday can be “Huluween” with how many great horror movies are available to stream on the platform. With so many to choose from, we thought we would help narrow down your search with our choices for the absolute scariest and smartest thrillers available at the moment.
A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
The continuing struggles of the Abbott Family – some of the most resourceful characters in horror movies – in a world overrun with vicious, man-eating, sound-detecting aliens.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: John Krasinski returns to write and direct the second chapter of the A Quiet Place universe, A Quiet Place Part II, which could be considered a perfect sequel for its intriguing expansion of the lore and spine-tingling tension.
Stream A Quiet Place Part II on Hulu.
Splinter (2008)
A young, vacationing couple (Jill Wagner and Paulo Costanzo) are taken hostage by an escaped convict (Shea Wigham), but then must join forces with him to survive against a strange, manipulative parasite.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: With a cleverly constructed plot, high-wire suspense, and intense moments of body horror, director Toby Wilkins’ Splinter is a criminally underrated creepfest that will, to quote the tagline, “get under your skin.”
Escape Room (2019)
Six strangers are invited to participate in an immersive, puzzling challenge for a prize, only to discover that the consequences are deadly.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Any frustrations you may have faced when participating in a real-life escape room will seem like nothing compared to the horrors our protagonists face in director Adam Robitel’s surprisingly fun nail-biter.
Titane (2021)
The story of a go-go dancer (Agathe Rousselle) whose life has been strangely affected by the cranial implant she received after suffering a car accident years earlier and a fire chief (Vincent Lindon) whose unexpected reunion with his long-lost son is met with even more surprising circumstances.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: From French writer and director Julia Ducournau, Titane is a strikingly unique and deeply unsettling thriller that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.
Ghostbusters (1984)
Three fire parapsychologists (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis) and a former Air Force pilot (Ernie Hudson) take on evil, spiritual forces haunting New York City.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: While Ghostbusters – which has another sequel called Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire coming soon – is far more funny than it is scary, frightening elements such as sinister specters and ruthless demons make director Ivan Reitman’s beloved, seminal favorite an undeniable classic of the horror genre.
The Cabin In The Woods (2012)
While on a woodland vacation, five college students fall prey to a deadly, supernatural occurrence, only to learn that there is more than meets the eye to their situation.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: From co-writer and director Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods is one of the sharpest horror-comedy movies of its time (if not all time) for its inventive way of sending up the genre’s most classic tropes.
Stream The Cabin in the Woods on Hulu.
The Descent (2005)
A grieving widow (Shauna Macdonald) joins her friends on a cave exploration that goes horribly wrong.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Writer and director Neil Marshall’s The Descent is one-part claustrophobic survival thriller, one-part ferocious creature feature, and all raw, haunting, unmerciful fear that makes it one of the best horror movies of the 2000s.
Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil (2010)
A pair of well-meaning hillbillies (played by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) get caught up in a misunderstanding with a group of young vacationers that proves deadly for everyone involved.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: The sort of hillfolk who are typically creepy in most slasher movies are reinvented as the heroes in brilliantly subversive, hilarious off-the-wall farce, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
Stream Tucker and Dale vs. Evil on Hulu.
V/H/S (2012)
A group of thieves bear witness to some strange footage while searching for a valuable video cassette tape in a decrepit house.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: The first installment of the V/H/S franchise is a blistering, increasingly terrifying blend of found footage thrillers and anthology horror movies from filmmakers including Adam Wingard, Ti West, and Radio Silence.
Prey (2022)
A Commanche (Amber Midthunder) takes on her biggest hunting challenge yet when she discovers a cunning, hulking creature from another planet on her tribe’s land in the 18th Century.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: By setting the story centuries in the past and casting a talent like Midthunder in the lead, director Dan Trachtenberg, arguably, delivered the best Predator movie since the 1987 original with Prey.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
A sheriff (played by Kurt Russell in one of his most badass roles), his deputy (Richard Jenkins), an injured rancher (Patrick Wilson), and a cocky gunman (Matthew Fox) set out to find the local doctor (Lili Simmons) – also the rancher’s wife – who has been kidnapped by a tribe of cannibals in the Old West.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Writer and director S. Craig Zahler pulls off one of the best Western movies of its time (and one of the most terrifying, period) with Bone Tomahawk, which boasts one of the scariest horror movie scenes in recent memory.
Enys Men (2022)
A wildlife volunteer (played by Mary Woodvine) begins to lose her grip on reality while researching a plant on a Cornish island in 1973.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Pronounced “ennis mane,” Enys Men is a dizzying surrealist nightmare from writer and director S. Mark Jenkin.
Mandy (2018)
After losing the love of his life (played by Academy Award nominee Andrea Riseborough) to a deadly cult, a lumberjack (Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage) is driven to go on a bloody rampage in the early 1980s.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Featuring one of the most beautifully unhinged Nicolas Cage performances, writer and director Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy is an instant revenge movie classic that converts the unearthly world of a heavy metal album cover to celluloid.
The Omen (1976)
Years after secretly swapping his stillborn son for another abandoned child, the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain (played by Gregory Peck) and his wife (played by Lee Remick) begin to suspect the boy is the spawn of Satan.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: One of director Richard Donner’s best movies is The Omen, for its unforgettable moments of gore and a brilliant performance from young Harvey Stephens as Damien Thorn.
Willy’s Wonderland (2022)
To pay off repairs to his car, a nameless, wordless drifter (played by Nicolas Cage) takes an overnight job cleaning up a closed down family entertainment center inhabited by goofy animatronic characters that turn out to be alive and hungry.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: While the plot sounds eerily similar to that of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video games and later movie, writer G.O. Parsons claims he conceived the idea for the gloriously campy B-movie Willy’s Wonderland before the game became popular and the result is an absolute blast featuring a badass Nic Cage.
Stream Willy’s Wonderland on Hulu.
Alien (1979)
A commercial space freighter crew intercepts a distress signal that leads them to make a bizarre discovery that could endanger them all.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Before the slasher genre really began to take off, director Ridley Scott incorporated some of its traditional elements into Alien – a classic space movie dripping with intense, creature feature suspense.
The Babadook (2015)
A single mother (played by Essie Davis) becomes convinced that she and her son (played by Noah Wiseman) are being haunted by a sinister storybook character.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Writer and director Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook is a thoroughly, viscerally traumatic experience and is also a horror movie that addresses grief in cleverly symbolic ways.
Day Of The Dead (1985)
A group of military officers and scientific researchers struggle to figure out how to survive the ongoing apocalypse – and each other – while stationed together in an underground bunker.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: The third installment of George A. Romero’s long-running series of zombie movies, Day of the Dead, has some of its most eye-popping special effects and thought-provoking social commentary – both of which are a specialty of his filmography.
Stream Day of the Dead on Hulu.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Years after surviving his father’s descent into madness at a remote hotel, a recovering alcoholic with telekinetic abilities (played by Ewan McGregor) meets a girl more powerful than he (played by Kyliegh Curran), whom he must protect from a band of ruthless psychics.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Writer and director Mike Flanagan made one of the best Stephen King movies’ out of the author’s sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, which also stars Rebecca Ferguson as one of horror’s greatest female villains, Rose the Hat.
The Empty Man (2020)
While searching for his friend’s missing teenage daughter, a former cop (played by James Badge Dale) discovers she has ties to a bizarre cult trying to summon an evil entity.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: A somewhat recent horror movie that flew under the radar but deserves to be seen is The Empty Man – the mindblowing feature debut of writer and director David Prior, who went on to helm one of the best episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix.
The Menu (2022)
A couple (played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) and other strangers participate in a renowned chef’s (played by Ralph Fiennes) once-in-a-lifetime dining experience, only to learn he has something more sinister in mind for his guests.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Directed by Mark Mylod and written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, The Menu is one of the best horror movies of 2022, let alone one of the most ferociously original horror-comedies in years.
No One Will Save You (2023)
A young woman (played by Kaitlyn Dever) finds her quiet, isolated existence uprooted by the intrusion of dangerous invaders from another planet.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Dever gives one of her best performances yet in writer and director Brian Duffield’s ingenious, tautly crafted, nearly dialogue-free take on the alien invasion movie that may have you perplexed by the No One Will Save You ending, but still ultimately satisfied.
Stream No One Will Save You on Hulu.
Skinamarink (2022)
A young boy (played by Lucas Paul) and his sister (played by Dali Rose Tetreault) wake up to find themselves trapped inside their own house with their parents nowhere to be found, but they soon discover they are not alone.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: Writer and director Kyle Edward Ball demonstrates a distinct talent for recreating the authentic aura of a nightmare in his feature debut, Skinamarink – a highly experimental indie horror flick that may not be for everybody, but is undeniably unique.
Fresh (2022)
A young woman (played Daisy Edgar-Jones) thinks she has found the man of her dreams (played Sebastian Stan) until his true intentions for her are revealed.
Why it is one of the best horror movies on Hulu: A movie that takes the already anxiety-inducing concept of modern dating into an intriguingly subversive and disturbingly cautionary direction is the Hulu exclusive, Fresh, which is already among the finest horror movies created by women — namely first-time director Mimi Cave and writer Lauryn Kahn.
There are also many great horror TV shows on Hulu, which means fans of the genre who subscribe to the platform should have no problem getting a good scare as much as they want, anytime that they want.
