Editor’s Note: This story comes from CableTV.com.
Trick or treat, smell my feet, gimme somethin’ good to stream! Okay, horror fans — it’s time to start planning your Halloween-season horror movie binge-watching schedule. To help you find the good stuff, we’ve compiled this guide the best streaming services for horror fans.
We don’t mean the usual streaming services like Max, Netflix, or Paramount+. We’re talkin’ ’bout Shudder (our editor’s choice pick), Arrow Player (best for cult horror), Screambox (best horror value), Full Moon Features (best for schlock), and Tubi (best for free horror).
Read on to see which of these horror streaming services is best for you. (SPOILER: Real horror fans gotta have ’em all.)
Best streaming services for horror fans
- Shudder ($6.99/month or $71.88/year) — Editor’s choice
- Screambox ($6.99/month or $59.99/year) — Best alternative to Shudder
- Arrow Player ($6.99/month or $69.99/year) — Best for cult horror
- Full Moon Features ($6.99/month or $59.99/year) — Best for schlock
- Tubi (free) — Best for free horror
- Night Flight Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year) — Best for cheap horror
Compare horror streaming services head to head
In terms of price, library size, features, and resolution, these five horror streaming services all have similar pricing, libraries, and value. Here’s an overview with what sets them apart from one another. Following this, we’ll get into our recommended streaming services for horror fans.
- Editor’s choice: Shudder — $6.99/month or $71.88/year, 7-day trial, 625+ titles, 1 stream, 720p
- Best alternative to Shudder: Screambox — $6.99/month or $59.99/year, 7-day trial, 410+ titles, 3 streams, 1080p
- Best for cult: Arrow Player — $6.99/month or $69.99/year, 14-day trial, 570+ titles, 3 streams, 4K (2160p)
- Best for schlock: Full Moon Features — $6.99/month or $59.99/year, 7-day trial, 440+ titles, 3 streams, 1080p
- Best for free horror: Tubi — Free, 53,800+ titles (8,490+ horror titles), 720p
Data as of post date. Library size data from JustWatch.com
Horror streaming services compared
Except for Tubi, which is free, all the listed horror streaming services cost $6.99 a month, which is already a solid deal considering what the services offer. If you go with annual subscriptions, the range drops to $4.99-$5.99 monthly — and the value explodes like that dude’s head in “Scanners.”
Shudder, Screambox, and Arrow Player are the most quality-dense horror services, with expertly curated libraries of 400-650 movies and shows. Tubi is an outlier. It has the largest horror library of any streaming service, with nearly 8,500 horror movies and shows — but the quality spectrum runs from Grade-Z garbage to horror classics. It’s totally worth sorting through the trash to get to the good stuff.
Arrow, Full Moon Features, and Screambox have three streams — that’s the industry average. Shudder has only one stream, which is surprising. Tubi’s stream allotment is moot since the service is free.
Only Arrow Player and Full Moon Features let you download movies and shows to watch offline. Everyone loves the convenience of this feature, so we wish that Shudder and Screambox would follow suit. Free streaming services like Tubi will never have this feature because it’d be too hard to serve ads on downloads.
Arrow Player streams at up to 4K Ultra-High Definition (2160p), Full Moon Features and Screambox stream in full HD (1080p), and Shudder and Tubi stream in standard HD (720p). Note: Streaming resolution varies according to your internet connection and the source material.
An overview ain’t enough for you? Fine. Let’s look at each service individually and in more detail starting with our editor’s choice for the best overall horror streaming service: Shudder.
Editor’s choice — Shudder
- Price: $6.99/month or $71.88/year
- Library size: 645+ titles
- Streams: 1
Pros:
- Affordability
- Large library curated by horror fans
- Frequent new additions
Cons:
- 720p resolution
- Only one stream
- No offline viewing
Curated by real horror fans, Shudder is the unstoppable masked serial killer of horror streaming services. It’s the service you go to for pure horror.
At only six or seven bucks, Shudder is a screamin’ deal. It has everything from hoary old black-and-white classics to cult horror to slick new hotness. Even better, Shudder is prolific in licensing exclusive — and creating original — movies and shows. Shudder is also the current home of legendary horror scene gadfly Joe Bob Briggs and his show “The Last Drive-In.”
A couple of gripes, though: Shudder has only one stream, 720p max resolution, and no offline viewing. Every other horror streaming service in this article has more streams, higher resolution, and offline viewing for roughly the same price.
Even so, while Arrow Player got a higher rating, Shudder still gets our editor’s choice pick based on its much stronger horror library.
Best Shudder alternative — Screambox
- Price: $6.99/month or $59.99/year
- Library size: 425+ titles
- Streams: 3
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Good-sized library
- Eight live FAST channels
- Offline viewing
Con:
- Reports of billing issues
When we first tried Screambox, we hated it. The app didn’t always work, and when it did, it only kinda worked. Also, the content — “horror you won’t find anywhere else,” Screambox advertised — mostly sucked. Only 11 of the then 400+ films rated 5.0 or above on IMDb.com.
Two years later, Screambox is on its second new app, which, we’re happy to say, is a much more enjoyable experience. It works, for one thing, and it’s also good-lookin’ and fun to use. Also, the Screambox library gets better all the time, with new movies, excellent exclusives and originals, horror classics, deep cuts, low-budget indies, and eight ad-supported live TV channels.
Screambox is one of the most affordable on-demand streaming TV services, even with its recent price increase. Annual Screambox subscriptions are now $59.99 ($4.99 monthly), which amounts to around a 30% discount on the regular monthly price. Screambox has also nixed its discounted half-yearly memberships, so ya gotta commit to a full year to get any discount.
Still, if you want to add extra horror to your streaming TV service lineup, Screambox is affordable and, finally, a pleasure to use.
Best for cult horror — Arrow Player
- Price: $6.99/month or $69.99/year
- Library size: 415+ titles
- Streams: 3
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Deep, well-curated library
- 4K UHD resolution
- Offline viewing
- 14-day trial
Con:
- Some missing Arrow Video titles
Arrow Player is owned and operated by Arrow Video, one of the top boutique Blu-ray companies in the world. That means you can expect nothing but quality in every aspect of Arrow Player.
Content-wise, Arrow bows to “The Art of Cult” before any single genre. So, while horror comprises a significant chunk of the Arrow Player library, it also contains many action, comedy, kaiju, sci-fi, and western films. If you’re nostalgic for late-night cable TV, drive-in theaters, or video stores, Arrow Player is your dream streaming-TV experience.
Another highlight of the service is the Arrow Player app. It combines what we loved about browsing VHS covers at Blockbuster with the colorful and vivid imagery favored by geeks of all stripes. Factor in 4K resolution (mostly on newer titles) and offline viewing; you’ll see why we love it.
Or, if you’ve seen “Clerks,” think of the part where video store clerk Randal falls to his knees visiting the rival Big Choice Video. That’s how we feel about Arrow Player.
Best for schlock — Full Moon Features
Price: $6.99/month or $59.99/year
Library size: 440+ titles
Streams: 3
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Large library of schlock and classic horror titles
- Offline viewing
- Free DVDs or Blu-rays with annual subscription
Con:
- Limited titles available for freebie offer
Full Moon Features is best known for schlocky horror films, but its library also includes action, comedy, and kids movies. That’s the Full Moon library we’re talking about — the service also licenses scarier horror titles from Blue Underground, Severin Films, and other horror distributors.
You may already know about Full Moon Features franchises like “Puppet Master,” “Demonic Toys,” “Subspecies,” “Evil Bong,” and “The Gingerdead Man.” If so, you know Full Moon’s signature style, which is all about enthusiasm, exploitation, and imagination. For that reason, Full Moon Features’ schlock is many fans’ favorite horror flavor — but also an acquired taste for others.
If you’re unsure where you stand on that, try Full Moon Features free for seven days. If you like the service, keep it. It’s inexpensive, with a reasonably large library, offline downloading, and three streams. Full Moon Features’ annual subscription option makes the service even more affordable (like $5 monthly), and you can get one of the following items as a free gift:
- Full Moon Features The Legacy Collection, Vol. I (reg. $120): 11-disc region-free Blu-ray box set.
- Wizard Video “Eurocine Collection Vol. 1” box set: Key pictures from directors like Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, Jose Luis Merino and more on six Blu-rays.
- Evil Bong “Eebee Stash Box” collection (reg. $180): All eight films in the “Evil Bong” series, plus “Weedjies,” on Blu-ray in a laminated cigar box.
- “Puppet Master Collection” 12-disc box set (reg. $120): All 12 “Puppet Master” films on Blu-ray.
Best for free horror — Tubi
- Price: Free
- Library size: 8,490+ titles (horror)
- Streams: N/A
Pros:
- Free
- Massive library
- Reasonable ad breaks
- Parental controls
Cons:
- Ad breaks
- 720p resolution
- Some NC-17 content
With a free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service like Tubi, all that matters are its library and ad-break frequency/duration.
Tubi’s catalog is taller than Godzilla (we reckon) with nearly 39,000 movies and shows, including a whopping 6,200 horror films. That’s double the combined size of Shudder, Arrow Player, Full Moon Features, Night Flight Plus, and Screambox catalogs. But the quality of Tubi’s horror titles doesn’t always measure up.
True horror fans will find tons of conventionally good and so-bad-it’s-good content. Don’t expect many new releases (aside from Tubi Originals like “Hellblazer”), though. And beware the glut of straight-up garbage titles on Tubi.
There’s no point in simultaneous streams on Tubi since it’s free. You can use the service with or without an account, but signing up for one adds features like a watchlist and recommendations. It also gives you parental controls — a necessity with all of the extreme horror films on Tubi — but they’re easily circumvented.
Finally, ads are how Tubi pays the bills. So we’re paying Tubi with our time (and attention, if you watch the commercials). Fortunately, Tubi has only four to six minutes of ads per hour of content. That’s a price we can afford.
Best for cheap horror — Night Flight Plus
- Price: $5.99/month or $49.99/year
- Library size: 666+ titles
- Streams: Unlimited
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Deep, diverse library
- Delicious nostalgia fix
Cons:
- Buggy Roku Ultra app
- No syncing of favorites lists
Okay, Night Flight Plus isn’t purely a horror streaming service. It’s more like a pop-culture portal with a healthy amount of horror films. And if you grew up forgoing sleep to stay up and watch four-hour blocks of “Night Flight” on the USA Network, you’ll love all of the content regardless of genre.
We’re talking about cartoons, concert films, movie trailers, music documentaries, music videos, “as-aired” classic episodes of “Night Flight” (with commercials), and horror films.
Night Flight Plus has scary flicks from Arrow Video, Blue Underground, Grindhouse Releasing, Severin Films, Vinegar Syndrome, Troma, Factory 25, and more. Some are cheesy, some are freaky, and they’re all fantastic — even when they’re not conventionally good.
So if you’re looking for another cheap way to scratch your horror itch, Night Flight Plus has a super-low price, generous streams (unlimited), and offline viewing for less than six bucks a month.
Horror on traditional streaming services
While niche streaming services are best for horror fans, we wanted to take a look at horror content on traditional streaming services (like Amazon Prime Video, MaxTM, Netflix) and free, ad-supported streaming — FAST — services (PLEX, The Roku Channel).
Horror sections on most traditional streaming services tend to be modest for most of the year, with modest-to-mind-blowing expansions when October comes. The free services might call out their respective horror sections during spooky season, but they don’t necessarily add more content for Halloween.
Following are pricing and horror library details for traditional, fast, and add-on streaming services.
- Amazon Prime Video: $8.99-$14.99/month or $139.00/year — 2,778 horror movies, 109 horror shows
- AMC+: $8.99/month or $83.83/year — 572 horror movies, 38 horror shows
- Apple TV+: $9.99/month — 0 horror movies, 6 horror shows
- Crackle: Free — 561 horror movies, 12 horror shows
- Criterion Movie Channel: $10.99/month or $99.99/year — 122 horror movies, 0 horror shows
- Disney+: $7.99-$13.99/month or $139.99/year — 23 horror movies, 10 horror shows
- Fandor: Free (or $3.99 monthly via Prime Video) — 110 horror movies, 0 horror shows
- Freevee: Free — 2,258 horror movies, 65 horror shows
- Hulu: $7.99-$17.99/month — 229 horror movies, 85 horror shows
- Max: $9.99-$20.99/month or $99.99-$209.99/year — 144 horror movies, 52 horror shows
- MGM+: $6.99/month or $58.99/year — 88 horror movies, 3 horror shows
- Netflix: $6.99-$22.99/month — 263 horror movies, 133
- Paramount+: $7.99-$12.99/month or $59.99-$119.99/year — 58 horror movies, 12 horror shows
- Paramount+ with SHOWTIME: $7.99-$12.99/month or $59.99-$119.99/year — 34 horror movies, 3 horror shows
- Peacock: $7.99-$13.99/month or $79.99-$139.99/year — 3,064 horror movies, 243 horror shows
- PLEX: Free — 4,069 horror movies, 40 horror shows
- Pluto TV: Free — 1,214 horror movies, 52 horror shows
- Roku Channel: Free — 2,756 horror movies, 14 horror shows
- Shout! Factory TV: Free (or $2.99/month via Prime Video) — 325 horror movies, 16 horror shows
- STARZ: $10.00/month — 89 horror movies, 1 horror shows
- Xumo Play: Free — 101 horror movies, 11 horror shows
Best traditional streaming service for horror (year-round) — Amazon Prime Video
Since traditional streaming services are the most common, and FAST services are free, you probably already have subscriptions to one, some, or several of those listed. That might save you some money, depending which ones you have.
Traditional services like Hulu and Netflix tend to have a lot of original content plus a selection of licensed movies and shows from other studios. You can’t go wrong with either service (excuse the pay hikes), but we think Hulu has the edge over Netflix here.
But overall, we like Amazon Prime Video for its massive selection, which seems to include a lot of video store–era classics. And remember, Prime Video includes Freevee, which has a similar selection of ad-supported titles.
Best traditional streaming service for horror (Halloween) — Peacock
For spooky season, we’d go with Peacock. For most of the year, Peacock’s horror selection can be a bit scanty and weak — but you’ll find some good horror titles among the dreck.
But a few months before Halloween — aka now — Peacock’s horror section grows like a radioactive monster. It’s almost like this part of Peacock could be its own niche horror streaming service, on par with Shudder and Screambox — but also five times as large.
What to look for
Usually, when shopping for a streaming TV service, you want to consider pricing, library (quality and size), features (simultaneous streams, offline viewing), and overall value. The same is true for horror streaming services — with some slight differences.
Movies and shows
We highly recommend evaluating a horror movie streaming service’s library before subscribing.
You don’t want to subscribe to schlock-laden Full Moon Features if you’re mainly interested in Shudder’s blend of classic horror and new releases.
Price
Niche streaming services like the horror ones covered in this guide don’t have as much content as larger on-demand or live TV streaming services. Expect to pay $3.99-$6.99 monthly for horror and other genre-specific streaming services like Brown Sugar (classic black cinema) and HI-YAH! (martial arts).
If you can afford to pay higher upfront costs, many services have an annual subscription option that can save you up to 40% annually.
Streams
Most streaming services allow an average of three simultaneous streams. Exceptions are Shudder (one stream) and Night Flight Plus (unlimited streams).
Full Moon Features doesn’t specify how many streams it has, but we’ve used it on three devices simultaneously.
Offline viewing
With offline viewing, you can download movies and shows to watch when you’re away from home, so you don’t have to use your mobile data — or watch vanilla airline entertainment.
Among the horror streaming services covered here, only Shudder lacks offline viewing. That’s a bummer but not a dealbreaker.
Remember: The library is the main attraction, and Shudder’s is vast and masterfully curated.
Resolution
Nobody wants to see exploding heads in boring standard definition — we want to see the chunks on the chunks!
That said, on these horror streaming services, resolution maxes out at full high-definition (1080p), depending on the strength of your internet connection. Shudder, however, streams in regular HD (720p), and Arrow Player goes up to 4K UHD.
Remember that many streaming TV services adjust resolution according to your internet speed. So, while a service reports a max resolution of 4K, a poor or overcrowded connection means your content will stream at 1080p or lower.
Streaming resolution also depends on the quality of the source material. Horror streaming services have a lot of older titles that haven’t been (or can’t be) upgraded to HD or 4K, so they stream in their original resolution (480–720p).
