2026 has been a great year for horror, and now that it’s October, tons of great horror films are hitting theaters ahead of Halloween. However, some viewers would prefer to stay in and get their scares at home. Luckily, some of the year’s best scary movies are already streaming.
While some streaming services, like Disney+ and Tubi, aren’t the best places to look for all-new critically acclaimed horror films, other platforms have great selections. So, here are five incredible horror films that you can watch at home now across several different streaming services.
Sam Raimi is one of the masters of horror, with him being the director behind the iconic Evil Dead franchise as well as other great creepy movies like 1990’s Darkman and 2011’s Drag Me to Hell. Raimi returned from a years-long directing hiatus with the release of 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and this year he made his return to the horror genre with the survival horror comedy film Send Help.
Send Help stars Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle, a corporate strategist at a financial management company who is forced to deal with her sexist boss, Dylan O’Brien’s Bradley Preston. While on a job retreat, their plane crashes, and Linda and Bradley wash up on an island as the only survivors. So, the feuding coworkers must work together to survive the horrors of the jungle, leading to a gory and goofy story that is constantly ratcheting up the tension. Send Help is now available to stream on Hulu.
Speaking of Sam Raimi, his most famous franchise got an all-new entry in 2026, albeit with a different director. After 2023’s Evil Dead Rise successfully reinvigorated the franchise, two more successors were announced, with the first of these being 2026’s Evil Dead Burn. Directed by Sébastien Vaniček, the film tells the story of a feuding family who goes on a reunion trip after a death, only for a Deadite infestation to take things in a wild direction.
Evil Dead Burn is one of the most mean-spirited movies in the series, and that’s a good thing. The film features some of the most violent kills and twisted Deadites that the franchise has ever shown, making it arguably the most disturbing Evil Dead movie. It isn’t quite as funny as Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. Instead, it is more tonally in line with the 2013 Evil Dead remake, meaning that fans of that iteration will find a lot to enjoy here. Evil Dead Burn is now available to stream on HBO Max.
Backrooms has been one of the biggest phenomena of 2026, and for good reason. The idea originated as an online creepypasta, with the world and lore of the Backrooms evolving as different users and creatives fleshed out the idea across various stories, video games, and YouTube videos. One of these creatives is Kane Parsons, who created a viral web series based on the Backrooms concept. These videos got so popular that Parsons was asked to direct an A24 Backrooms movie at only 20 years old, and luckily this gamble paid off.
Backrooms made $401 million on a budget of $10 million, kicking off all kinds of conversations about the next generation of young filmmakers, the state of modern blockbusters, and how social media is influencing Hollywood. While all of this discourse is interesting, it buries the lede a bit. Backrooms is absolutely terrifying. The film is the prime example of liminal horror, and the cinematography, editing, production design, and visual effects all work together to create an incredibly eerie world. Backrooms is now available to stream on HBO Max.
Danny Boyle’s 2002 zombie masterpiece 28 Days Later was revolutionary, and it is hard not to find traces of the film in every piece of zombie media that has been released since. 2007’s 28 Weeks Later was a bit of a disappointment, which is why it was so exciting when it was announced that the franchise would return, with Danny Boyle directing and Alex Garland writing the beginning of an all-new saga: 2025’s 28 Years Later. Now, the story has continued in 2026’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, which continues the story of the zombie-infested quarantine zone.
The Bone Temple and its predecessor are gorgeously shot, feature fantastic scores, and are some of the best thematic explorations of zombies in movie history. The relationship between Dr. Ian Kelson and the zombie Samson is one of the highlights of the film, and the satanic Jimmy Crystal cult is one of the most compelling groups of villains in recent years. 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple are now available to stream on Netflix.
When it comes to horror movies in 2026, the biggest success story is undoubtedly Obsession. Directed by Curry Barker, the film was made for $750,000 and has gone on to gross $523 million while simultaneously becoming one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. Obsession tells the story of Bear, a young man who wishes that his crush Nikki would love him more than anyone else in the world. When the wish comes true, it initially seems like a dream for Bear. However, it quickly becomes a nightmare.
Obsession is one of the best movies of the year, and almost anyone can find something to love in it. The film has sharp political commentary that has ignited all kinds of discourse online. Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnston give fantastic performances and are quickly becoming some of the most sought-after young actors in Hollywood. Plus, the movie is really funny. Obsession is terrifying and terrific, and is the must-see horror movie of 2026. Obsession is now available to stream on Peacock.
What is your favorite horror movie of 2026? Let us know on the ComicBook Forum!
