The 13 Best New Horror Movies of 2026 (and Where to Watch Them)

Yes, Spider-Man: Brand New Day just proved that superhero movies still have some box office juice left in them, and there has even been a small comeback of sorts for theatrically released comedies in the past couple of years. But for much of the past 20 years, there have been few genres more durable than horror. Maybe it’s because they’re the rare films that can attract appreciative audiences at almost any scale, from tiny Shudder releases to blockbuster franchises.

2026 has been no exception. In fact, it’s featured two of the biggest-grossing horror movies of all time, alongside countless smaller wins. (This is a genre where even flops might actually turn a profit eventually.)

Now that spooky season is upon us, it’s the perfect time to catch up with the best horror movies 2026 has offered so far. Some of them are easy to stream, others are still playing in theaters, and all of them are worth any horror fan’s time.

Here are the lucky 13 we’ve picked to represent the best of the year (at least through early October).

1. Insidious: Out of the Further

   WHY IT’S GOOD: The Insidious series is now a six-movie saga, and the most delightful surprise is that, unlike a lot of horror series that reach this point, it hasn’t yet exhausted itself. In fact, the sixth entry is one of the better ones, and more satisfying than many entries in the similarly long-running Conjuring series that originated with the same creative team. Here, new characters explore the demon dimension known as the Further, with the twist that this time, a bunch of demons are trying to get out of the further and into our world. The real draw here is a series of well-executed set pieces, which play fair even when utilizing the occasional jump scare. It’s just a solidly well-made B-picture, which is what the Insidious movies have often delivered over the past decde and a half.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Currently, Insidious: Out of the Further is mostly Out of the Theaters, but it’s available to rent or buy via the usual VOD platforms. It should be hitting Netflix around the end of 2026.

2. Buddy

   WHY IT’S GOOD: It’s unlike any horror movie you’ll see this year. Casper Kelly, an Adult Swim veteran, has assembled a surprisingly clever and varied parody of ’90s kids TV like Barney and Friends, given a menacing makeover in the form of Buddy the Unicorn. The movie mixes a pitch-perfect imitation of cheesy TV of that era, creature-feature gnarliness, and an emotionally affecting performance from Cristin Milioti, among other seemingly disparate elements. (If you’ve seen the film and are still wondering how they all come together, we’ve broken down the ending here.) It became enough of an instant cult attraction that the distributor reissued a singalong version to theaters.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Buddy is still singing in a handful of theaters, but it became available to rent at home starting on October 13. It will likely turn up on subscription streaming services sometime in early 2027, and a physical media release (including a special edition VHS, befitting its lo-fi look!) is scheduled for December.

3. Cold Storage

   WHY IT’S GOOD: Because horror comedy is trickier to pull off than it looks! This movie about a zombiefying pathogen unleashed from a storage facility and the two employees caught in the middle came and went from theaters pretty quickly in early ’26, but it’s a surprisingly charming and well-acted bit of genre mish-mashing, with Joe Keery (from Stranger Things) and Georgina Campbell (from Barbarian) doing particularly fine work. It’s a silly movie, but it’s a lot of fun.

   WHERE TO WATCH: In addition to rental options, Cold Storage is also streaming on MGM+, which can be added onto a Prime Video subscription if you’re so inclined.

4. Her Private Hell

   WHY IT’S GOOD: According to a lot of people, including some of the best critics around, it’s not! Let’s just say that Nicholas Winding Refn movies, particularly his later-career stuff, is an acquired taste; everyone loves Drive, but movies like The Neon Demon and now Her Private Hell are even more stylized and sometimes abstract as they explore neon-lit dreamscapes that bend space and time. Ostensibly, Her Private Hell is about an actress, her relationship with her dad’s much-younger lover, and, separately, a man searching for his daughter in what appears to be post-war Japan. Really, though, this is an impeccable vibes movie, where Italian slasher movies invade Vogue fashion spreads. At the center of it all are two rising stars: Sophie Thatcher, beguiling as always, playing the actress, and Charles Melton, striking a fine figure as the fighting machine conducting his shadowy investigation. Do you like looking at Thatcher and/or Melton? Like just staring at them in a trance, maybe? Her Private Hell is Shapes and Colors cinema, with occasional verbal bon mots and splatters of blood. It won’t be for everyone, but the people it’s for should have a blast.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Her Private Hell is currently available to rent or buy on VOD. As a Neon release, it will be another few months before it turns up on a subscription streamer, most likely Hulu.

5. Forbidden Fruits

   WHY IT’S GOOD: Though a group of quasi-upscale mall-store workers forming a coven makes Forbidden Fruits sound like The Craft, it’s closer to Heathers in its exploration of toxic female friendships — and, eventually, their gory consequences. The movie definitely skews more toward dark comedy than outright horror, but it’s also nasty enough in the final stretch to satisfy genre fans. Before the blood flows, it’s so smartly written, funny, and strange that you’ll be happy just to go along for the ride — which includes one of Lili Reinhart’s best post-Riverdale performances. (Maybe her best performance full stop.)

   WHERE IT’S STREAMING: Forbidden Fruits is now available on Shudder.

6. Obsession

   WHY IT’S GOOD: In case you missed it, it’s the horror movie of the year (and a discourse lightning rod). You need to get caught up so you can understand some Halloween costumes that might otherwise appear a bit obtuse. As for the movie itself: Is Curry Barker’s feature a canny portrait of male selfishness, or an opportunistic exploitation of how society reacts to manipulated women? Maybe both? See for yourself; either way you can catch Inde Navarrette’s breakout performance as a woman wished into a relationship with her recessive male friend.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Obsession is currently streaming on Peacock.

7. Never After Dark

   
   WHY IT’S GOOD: Back in the 2000s, a wave of Japanese horror movies inspired some American remakes, from the great (The Ring) to, ah, not so much (The Grudge). Never After Dark throws back to both the originals and their American remakes; it’s a Japan-set, Japanese-language movie directed by an American, Dave Boyle (no relation to British director Danny Boyle). It follows a spiritual medium who arrives at an old hotel to address some kind of haunting situation. (She’s invisibly accompanied by her sister — who happens to be a ghost herself.) Her investigation digs up a different, additional threat in this supernatural-plus horror story; to explain further about how it hybridizes several different horror subgenres would be to spoil the fun. Boyle has made a scary and unpredictable story out of some familiar materials, and it’s all anchored by an excellent performance from Moeka Hoshi (aka Shōgun‘s scene-stealing Fuji) in the lead.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Never After Dark is still playing in a handful of theaters around the country, though its theatrical release has been fairly quiet. It will be available to rent on VOD on October 26th.

8. Colony

   WHY IT’S GOOD: Well, the director, Yeon Sang-ho made Train to Busan, one of the best-loved zombie movies of the past decade. There are sequels to Busan, but Colony isn’t one of them; though it retains some zombie ideas from that movie (like the fact that they don’t have strong vision or object permanence), it’s a different take on the subgenre. This time, the audience is there for the initial spread of a pathogen that turns its victims into undead monsters, first infecting an office building. The extra trick this time is that the monsters also form a hive mind, subject to firmware-style updates when some of them gain new information, as well as some grotesque physical recombinations that will recall creatures from Resident Evil. In fact, a lot of this movie is reminiscent of the Paul W.S. Anderson/Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movies, with their maze-like geography, video game-style levels, and fusion of horror with sci-fi and action. It’s a gooey, fast-paced genre movie that’s well-crafted enough to premiere at Cannes.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Considering its pedigree, and the fact that it rules, Colony received a strangely muted theatrical release. But it’s now available to rent at home through the usual VOD platforms, and films from the Well Go USA distributor often wind up on Hulu eventually.

9. Send Help

   WHY IT’S GOOD: For one thing, Sam Raimi. For another thing, Rachel McAdams. Structurally, Send Help is more of a thriller than a straight-up horror movie: A meek woman (McAdams) winds up stranded on an island with her demanding jackass of a boss (Dylan O’Brien) and turns the tables on him with her survival skills. But because Raimi remains inimitably himself, the movie is full of shock cuts, goop, and shrieks; however you classify it, this is a delirious good time.

   WHERE TO WATCH: Send Help is currently streaming on Hulu.

10. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

    WHY IT’S GOOD: Because Ralph Fiennes brings down the house in a showstopping climactic sequence that has inspired paying audiences to applaud. But even before that inspired sequence, the newest 28 Years Later installment, handed off to director Nia DaCosta, is an inspired addition to this now-saga of Britain after the zombie apocalypse. Picking up where the previous film left off, it follows Spike (Alfie Williams) as he’s conscripted into a gang of brutal hooligans who are, per the series tradition, just as dangerous as the zombies in their own way, while also continuing with the story of Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), a survivor who forges an unexpected bond with… one of the undead?! The whole cast is great, but Fiennes is particularly superb.

    WHERE TO WATCH: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is currently streaming on Netflix.

11. The End of Oak Street

    WHY IT’S GOOD: Sometimes it’s fun to watch a horror movie with the whole family! Sure, The End of Oak Street comes across more like a Spielbergian adventure story, with a family of four (including parents Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor) inexplicably transported back to dinosaur times along with the rest of their suburban neighborhood, but make no mistake: It escapes an R rating by the skin of its teeth, it’s from It Follows director David Robert Mitchell, and it’s got a scary goddamned snake in it (among other fearsome beasts). It could be the scariest movie your 10-year-old sees all year. It’s also a total blast.

    WHERE TO WATCH: The End of Oak Street is currently finishing up its theatrical run, and it currently available to rent or buy on VOD through the usual platforms. It should be arriving on HBO Max within about a month.

12. Resident Evil

    WHY IT’S GOOD: Zach Cregger’s take on the classic zombie game has nothing to do with the previous film incarnations (which are all worth seeking out too!) and instead replicates the experience of playing the game — and not playing it very well, which turns out to be one of its smartest touches. A medical courier (Austin Abrams) bumbles through a delivery job that turns out to be even more important than he thought as he must dodge a growing array of zombies and other creatures caused by, yes, yet another undeadly pathogen. The movie is as simple as that, yet its scares and situational laughs alike are as big and satisfying as any horror movie this year (and better than plenty of actual comedies).

    WHERE TO WATCH: Resident Evil is still drawing crowds in theaters, and that’s the best place to see it anyway. But it will probably turn up as a VOD rental sometime next month, or maybe just before Halloween.

13. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

    WHY IT’S GOOD: Horror fans’ relationship to the genre tends to be intensely personal, so it’s only fitting that a movie about slasher movies would feel that way, too. Jane Schoenbrun’s new film digs into the psychosexual underpinnings of slashers, and our complicated relationship to potentially “problematic” art, through the eyes of an up-and-coming filmmaker (Hannah Einbinder) who seeks out a former scream queen (Gillian Anderson) to star in a planned reboot of a long-running horror franchise. The movie itself isn’t scary so much as it is funny, sexy, eerie, gory, squishy, and willfully strange— all the things mixed in with horror that can make it a surprisingly comforting genre for so many fans. Einbinder and Anderson are both terrific; the regally playful Anderson has several line readings that are among the funniest moments of the year in cinema so far, and Einbinder paints a nuanced portrait of a self-conscious movie nerd who’s never felt comfortable with her own sexuality. From lovingly faked VHS boxes to sketch-comedian cameos, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is packed with weird, and weirdly touching, delights.

    WHERE TO WATCH: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is currently streaming on MUBI.

Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com, too.