Why You Can Trust CNET The Best Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix Right Now
These titles will haunt you in all the best ways.
- Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
Period piece meets horror in Crimson Peak.
If you enjoy a healthy dose of horror and thrills, look no further than Netflix's wide selection of scary movies. From platform originals to acquired titles, you'll find something that speaks to you — including a hint of time travel or period drama mixed in with all the gore.
Scroll down and you'll find our picks for some of the best horror movies to stream on Netflix right now. (And keep an eye out for Parasyte: The Grey, a Korean drama about humanity's fight against parasites that take over ghosts, which drops April 5.)
Read more: The 14 Best Netflix Original Movies to Watch Right Now
Creep (2014)
This psychological horror film is deeply unsettling in the best ways. A videographer named Aaron (Patrick Brice) responds to a Craigslist ad placed by a dying man named Josef (Mark Duplass), who says he wants to record a video diary for his unborn son. But when Josef starts behaving strangely, Aaron becomes increasingly uneasy, and a series of disturbing events unfold.
Crimson Peak (2015)
If you're a fan of period pieces and horror, Crimson Peak is for you. An author named Edith (Mia Wasikowska) marries British aristocrat Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston) and is taken to a remote mansion, where she's confronted by ghosts and dark secrets.
#Alive (2020)
In this fast-paced and gripping Korean horror/action film, a livestreamer is trapped in his apartment during a zombie apocalypse and struggles to survive.
X (2022)
A group of filmmakers in 1979 convenes at an elderly couple's property in Texas to shoot an adult film. But they soon realize they're in serious danger.
His House (2020)
This thriller follows a refugee couple from South Sudan looking to start a new life in England. But when they move into their new home, they find an unsettling, sinister presence within it.
Joker (2019)
A chilling origin story for one of the most iconic villains. Failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) spirals into madness after being ignored by society, leading him to ultimately become Batman's archnemesis.
The Call (2020)
A great pick for fans of time travel (not to be mistaken with the other 2020 film with the same title, this one is South Korean). When 28-year-old Seo-yeon (Park Shin-Hye) finds a phone in her childhood home, she's connected with Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), a woman who lived in the same house 20 years in the past. Their lives become inextricably linked as their realities begin to shift.
1922 (2017)
This horror drama, an adaptation of a Stephen King novella, follows a farmer who decides to murder his wife with the help of his teenage son. But they become haunted by guilt — and rats. Lots of rats.
Train to Busan (2016)
In this South Korean action-horror film, train passengers fight to stay alive in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Meanwhile, a father and daughter try to reach the only safe city left.
Cam (2018)
This psychological horror tells the story of a cam girl (or webcam model) named Alice (Madeline Brewer) whose account is stolen by a look-alike. She sets out to find the impostor and reclaim her identity.
Apostle (2018)
In the early 1900s, a troubled man named Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens) travels to a remote island to rescue his sister, who's been kidnapped by a religious cult. This film is part mystery, part bloodbath.
Thanksgiving (2023)
A year after a bloody Black Friday riot, a masked killer terrorizes people in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as he seeks revenge. It's a grisly film laced with intriguing mystery.