Halloween Horror Watchlist 2026
I can't believe this is the 6th annual Halloween Horror Watchlist. That means I've been doing this for six whole years! (I didn't publish a watchlist in 2024, but we still had one privately). 125 horror (and horror-adjacent with a little sojourn into practical magic fall) movies later it is time for the 2026 Halloween Horror Watchlist!
The Numbers: A Retrospective
2021: 35 (we didn't watch everything on that list)
2022: 27
2023: 14
2024: 19 (skipped this year)
2025: 30
I should probably do a whole separate article about my experiences over the last 5 years.
But, without further ado, I present to you, The Watchlist:
I'm playing with the formatting this year to make it more readable (we've now got a clickable table of contents!). Also, partly because I got sucked into 4k Blu Rays and physical media in general and partly because the monthly prices have risen to an unsustainable level, I'm no longer schlepping for the streamers, so no more links to the platforms.
Even though I care much less about Rotten Tomatoes scores these days, I still find them fascinating (especially the difference between audience and critic score), so I will be including them.
As always, check back each week for a writeup on each movie along with my take.
1) Birth
Don't let the low Rotten Tomatoes score put you off, this is a very, very good movie. It has been on my list for a long time, but I haven't taken the plunge because the pitch, while interesting, is, like the movie, uncomfortable. Ten years after her husband dies, a woman meets a 10-year-old boy who claims to be her dead husband.
Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, who also did The Zone of Interest, my second favorite movie of 2023. It was this movie that finally sold me on taking the plunge into this masterpiece.
Go in knowing it's going to be uncomfortable, but not without taste. I originally put this on the list as a horror-adjacent baby-step into the watchlist, but I really think it should be viewed as a horror film.
43% on Rotten Tomatoes (44% audience score)
2) Obsession
I've been actively avoiding the two big horror movies of the year, Obession and Backrooms, because I feel like they have a high likelihood of being annoying and/or problematic. I figured I'd just get them out of the way at the beginning. Let's find out if the kids are okay.
If you don't know what this is (ahem, Liz), Obsession is inspired by YouTuber/film-school-dropout Curry Barker's 2023 YouTube shortfilm The Chair. Bro looks like such a douche and he's literally like 5 years old, so my expectations are low. I fear it's going to be immature disturb-slop, but it was hugely successful and I feel like I should at least give it a shot. You're definitely going to want to check back for my take on this one.
93% on Rotten Tomatoes (94% audience score) - See what I mean? It's like universally praised.
3) Backrooms
The cult of A24's poster child, Kane Parson's (also looks like a douche) Backrooms grossed $400M worldwide. For perspective, this is such a high number that A24 is trying to use it to take a bigger cut of the ticket prices from theaters.
Liminal space horror has been getting it's day in the sun lately. I think it's largely due to the breakout success of the video game Control and the subsequent Alan Wake 2. Both largely inspired by Twin Peaks (specifically 2017s The Return). And then Severence really skyrocketed the genre into the popular cultural consciousness.
Like Obsession, Backrooms also began it's life on YouTube. This time as a series of shorts. I am much more interested in this one, but I still have some trepidation on it's depth.
87% on Rotten Tomatoes (74% audience score)
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