13 Halloween Movies, TV Episodes & Marathons to Watch If You Dare
Unlucky number, but lucky you!
From classic Halloween and horror movies (like Hocus Pocus and A Nightmare on Elm Street) to TV episodes (like The Conners) to new picks (like Roald Dahl’s The Witches), we scared up a frightening amount of TV to watch — if you dare.
Shriek Week
Themes go bump in the night all week, beginning with a vampire triple feature (Dracula 2000, The Lost Boys, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula) on Monday and exorcisms (The Exorcist and The Conjuring) on Tuesday. The original Halloween and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later salute psycho Michael Myers on Wednesday; Thursday gets Insidious with a trio of the franchise’s films; and Friday fittingly brings it to an end with the classic Friday the 13th and its 2009 reboot. If you can survive this bill, you deserve some candy come Saturday! Starts Monday, October 26, 6/5c, BBC America
Roald Dahl's The Witches
Wicked fun for the whole family: Oscar winners Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) and Octavia Spencer (The Help) face off in this enchanting adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel that also inspired the 1990 Anjelica Huston cult favorite. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) and cowritten by Kenya Barris (black-ish), the rollicking new version finds Hathaway’s Grand High Witch and her child-hating (and quite fashionable!) coven invading a seaside resort. There, a no-nonsense Southerner (Spencer) shows them what’s up after they target her grandson (Jahzir Bruno) with spooky spells. It’s a colorful, campy tale loaded with heart, humor and just a li’l bit of horror. Available now, HBO Max
Hocus Pocus
Who cares if you’ve watched this gem a thousand times already? There’s no better way to prep for All Hallows’ Eve than with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as Salem witches who always put a spell on us. Tuesday, October 27, 8:30/7:30c; Friday, October 30, 4:40/3:40c; Saturday, October 31, 3/2c and 9:20/8:20c, Freeform
Hubie Halloween
Hocus Pocus‘ witches aren’t the only ones running amok in Massachusetts. Adam Sandler headlines this horror comedy as a hapless Salemite who spends October 31 making sure his neighbors (including ones played by Maya Rudolph and Kevin James) have a safe holiday. That proves trickier after two threats come to town. Also tricky: getting seasonal props for the spring shoot. “Try to find a carvable pumpkin before the Fourth of July!” says Tim Herlihy, Sandler’s Hubie cowriter. Available now, Netflix
The Osbournes: Night of Terror
The Addams Family of music goes ghostbusting in a two-hour special that sends siblings Jack and Kelly Osbourne off to explore paranormal activity at an allegedly haunted spot in Los Angeles while folks Ozzy and Sharon monitor the investigation remotely. “None of us realized how insane and freaky this was going to be,” says Jack, who has had the most experience working with the weird as cohost of Portals to Hell, “but [everyone] certainly held their own.” Friday, October 30, 9/8c, Travel Channel
Bad Hair
Ever have one of those days where your hair seems to take on a life of its own? Not like this! Laverne Cox, James Van Der Beek, and Blair Underwood costar in this ’80s-set satirical film about a woman (Elle Lorraine) who gets a weave in hope of fitting in to the TV biz. Her haunted ‘do is scarier than a bad perm! Available now, Hulu
The Conners
After all of Roseanne‘s iconic Halloweens, Michael Fishman, aka D.J. Conner, is calling the shots — and promising pranks and surprises — on the spin-off’s latest ode to what he calls “the Conners’ tradition.” Fishman makes his directorial debut with this outing centered on D.J.’s daughter Mary (Jayden Rey) and the younger family members. “[We] bring the joy of Halloween to the next generation,” teases the actor, who worked closely with the show’s set decorators and wardrobe and special effects departments “to pull off a Halloween worthy of our legacy.” Wednesday, October 28, 9/8c, ABC
Mr. Mercedes
No Halloween is complete without Stephen King, and this series based on his detective novels (it previously aired on AT&T Audience Network) should hit the spine-chilling spot — especially once a retired cop (Brendan Gleeson) realizes a serial killer who evaded him is ready for round two. Seasons 1–2 available now, Peacock
A Nightmare on Elm Street Marathon
Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep during this 16-hour binge of the Freddy Krueger classics, including the 1984 original. Thursday, October 29, noon/11am c, Syfy
Exhumed: A History of Zombies
This special adapted from PBS’s monsters-and-myths online series Monstrum explores the rise of the walking dead in literature and pop culture. Friday, October 30, 10/9c, PBS (check local listings at pbs.org)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Stay up late Friday to do the Time Warp again, if only for the sight of Tim Curry in tights. Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick battle Curry’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 musical oddity. Friday, October 30, 1:30am/12:30c, Paramount Network
The Munsters Marathon
Since every day is Halloween at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, the real trick to this treat is figuring out which plans to cancel so you can spend 11 hours with Herman (Fred Gwynne, above) and the fam. Saturday, October 31, 9am/8c, Cozi TV
Married…with Children
What’s more frightening than Peg’s (Katey Sagal) wardrobe? Answer: this sitcom quartet. Episodes include the Bundys’ stay at an ax murderer’s favorite motel and a Halloween meetup between schlub Al (Ed O’Neill) and the Grim Reaper. Saturday, October 31, midnight/11c, getTV
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services