40 Best Horror Movies on Netflix Right Now 2024

If your idea of a perfect night involves turning off the lights, clutching a blanket, and shouting
“Why would you go down there?” at your TV, you’re in the right place. Netflix’s horror section in 2024
is stacked with everything from slow-burn psychological nightmares to gleefully gory slashers and
international zombie chaos.

This guide rounds up the 40 best horror movies on Netflix right now in the U.S., mixing critic-approved
gems, fan favorites, and under-the-radar scare machines. Catalogs change all the time, of course, so
think of this as your snapshot tour of what’s currently worth your precious scream time.

How We Picked the Best Netflix Horror Movies

Instead of just scrolling Netflix until our thumbs hurt, we dug through a pile of expert lists,
critic roundups, and Netflix’s own recommendations, then cross-checked what’s actually streaming in 2024.
We leaned on:

• Critics’ lists of the best horror movies on Netflix right now.
• Netflix’s own horror spotlights and “scariest things to watch” roundups.
• Sites that track what’s currently streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

We prioritized:

• A mix of subgenres: haunted houses, slashers, creature features, found footage, and elevated horror.
• Strong critical reception or highly loyal fan followings.
• Diverse voices and international titles, not just Hollywood staples.

With that, let’s dim the lights and hit play.

The 40 Best Horror Movies on Netflix Right Now

1. His House (2020)

Part haunted-house movie, part immigration horror, His House follows South Sudanese refugees
trying to start over in England, only to find that something sinister has moved in with them.
It’s emotionally brutal, politically sharp, and genuinely terrifyingperfect if you like your scares
with substance.

2. Train to Busan (2016)

This South Korean modern classic traps a father, his daughter, and a train full of passengers in the
middle of a sudden zombie outbreak. It’s fast, frantic, and surprisingly emotional. If you think you’re
over zombie movies, this one will change your mindthen break your heart.

3. Hereditary (2018)

One of the bleakest family dramas ever disguised as a horror movie, Hereditary starts as a slow
exploration of grief and spirals into occult madness. Come for the incredible performances; stay for the
dread that lingers for days. Maybe don’t watch this with your mom.

4. The Ritual (2017)

Four friends hike through a remote Swedish forest to honor a deceased friend and quickly discover
they’re not alone. The Ritual blends folk horror with creature feature energy and a heavy dose
of guilt and survivor’s remorse. Think: “therapy, but with antlers and trees that hate you.”

5. Creep (2014)

A videographer answers a Craigslist ad and meets Josef, an overly friendly guy with a suspiciously
intense need to be filmed. The less you know going in, the better. Creep is an uncomfortable,
low-budget found-footage gem that proves one unnerving weirdo can be scarier than any ghost.

6. Creep 2 (2017)

The rare sequel that’s just as strong, Creep 2 leans into dark comedy while staying deeply
unsettling. This time, a documentarian interviewing Josef for an art project finds herself in way over
her head. If you liked the first, this is an essential double-feature.

7. Apostle (2018)

Set in 1905, Apostle follows a desperate man who infiltrates a remote island cult to rescue his
sister. What starts as a slow-burn thriller explodes into grisly, folk-horror weirdness. It’s for viewers
who like their Netflix horror atmospheric, bloody, and just a little bit unhinged.

8. Cam (2018)

Cam is a psychological tech-horror that centers on a camgirl whose online identity is stolen by
an uncanny doppelgänger. It’s eerie, smart, and surprisingly empathetic, turning internet horror into a
disturbing identity crisis instead of cheap jump scares.

9. Army of the Dead (2021)

Imagine a heist movie, but with zombie tigers and a quarantined Las Vegas. Zack Snyder’s
Army of the Dead is big, loud, and gloriously over the top. If you want sheer spectacle with
your gore, this one is Friday-night pizza horror at its finest.

10. #Alive (2020)

In this South Korean zombie thriller, a gamer wakes up to find his city overrun and everyone outside
his apartment either dead or undead. #Alive nails the feeling of isolation, then turns it
into exciting survival horror. It’s lean, fast, and surprisingly relatable after a few years of lockdowns.

11. 1922 (2017)

Based on a Stephen King novella, 1922 is all about a farmer who conspires to murder his wife
and then is consumed by guilt, rats, and supernatural consequences. It’s grim, slow, and earthythe
kind of horror that crawls rather than jumps.

12. Gerald’s Game (2017)

Another King adaptation, Gerald’s Game traps a woman handcuffed to a bed in a remote cabin
after a kinky weekend goes very, very wrong. What follows is part survival thriller, part psychological
deep dive, with one of the most infamous scenes in modern horror.

13. Bird Box (2018)

In Bird Box, unseen creatures drive anyone who looks at them to madness and suicide.
Sandra Bullock leads a group of survivors in a world where seeing is deadly. Equal parts dystopian
thriller and horror, it helped define the “don’t look, don’t breathe, don’t make noise” wave of
Netflix nightmare fuel.

14. Fear Street Part 1: 1994 (2021)

The first entry in Netflix’s trilogy takes the slasher formula and injects it with ’90s nostalgia and
a surprisingly emotional queer love story. Fear Street: 1994 is slick, bloody, and a great
warm-up for the two sequels.

15. Fear Street Part 2: 1978 (2021)

Welcome to Camp Nightwing. Fear Street: 1978 leans hard into summer-camp slasher vibes, complete
with axe-wielding killers and doomed counselors. It also deepens the series’ lore and makes the overall
mystery more tragic.

16. Fear Street Part 3: 1666 (2021)

The trilogy ends with a jump back to colonial times, revealing the origin of the Shadyside curse.
Fear Street: 1666 mixes witch-hunt horror with a satisfying modern-day payoff, tying the three
films together in an unexpectedly emotional way.

17. In the Tall Grass (2019)

Another Stephen King (and Joe Hill) story, In the Tall Grass turns a field in the middle of
nowhere into a labyrinth of time, space, and bad decisions. If you like cosmic weirdness, this grassy
nightmare is worth getting lost in.

18. The Perfection (2018)

Two star cellists, one elite music academy, and a whole lot of revenge. The Perfection swerves
between genrespsychological thriller, body horror, and pitch-black satire. Just when you think you know
what’s happening, it gleefully proves you wrong.

19. No One Gets Out Alive (2021)

An undocumented immigrant moves into a crumbling boarding house and begins experiencing terrifying visions.
No One Gets Out Alive combines social horror with a memorable final-act creature that feels like
a nightmare you’d only have after way too much takeout.

20. The Old Ways (2020)

A journalist returns to her hometown in rural Mexico and is kidnapped by locals who believe she’s possessed.
The Old Ways leans into folk rituals, exorcism horror, and questions of identity and heritage.
It’s compact, tense, and refreshingly different from standard possession fare.

21. The Wretched (2019)

A rebellious teen notices strange behavior in his neighbors and suspects a witch-like creature is
possessing parents and devouring children. The Wretched feels like a twisted suburban fairy tale,
with practical effects that make the monster feel sickeningly real.

22. Things Heard & Seen (2021)

A couple moves to a farmhouse with a dark history, and their marriage cracks right alongside the walls.
Things Heard & Seen is part domestic drama, part ghost story, with art-history nerdiness
and a genuinely haunting atmosphere woven throughout.

23. There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)

High school graduates start dying one by one at the hands of a killer who exposes their worst secrets.
There’s Someone Inside Your House updates the teen slasher for the social-media age, mixing
masked-killer tension with commentary on public shaming.

24. Incantation (2022)

Presented as a cursed video and faux documentary, this Taiwanese found-footage film asks you, directly,
to participate in its ritual. Incantation is meta, unsettling, and packed with imagery that
sticks in your brain long after the credits roll.

25. Blood Red Sky (2021)

A transatlantic flight is hijacked, but the terrorists have made a terrible mistake: one of the passengers
is hiding a monstrous secret. Blood Red Sky is a pulpy mix of action, vampire horror, and mom-on-a-mission
energy that somehow all works.

26. The Babadook (2014)

A single mother and her hyperactive son are tormented by a sinister storybook creature called Mister Babadook.
Underneath the jump scares is a raw look at grief and depression. It’s one of the definitive “elevated horrors”
that still absolutely plays as a straight scarefest.

27. American Psycho (2000)

Is it horror? Is it satire? Trick questionit’s both. Christian Bale’s iconic turn as Patrick Bateman, a
Wall Street yuppie with homicidal hobbies, is bloody, absurd, and disturbingly funny. It’s perfect if you
like your horror with a side of capitalism roast.

28. Annihilation (2018)

A strange phenomenon called “the Shimmer” slowly alters everything inside it, and a team of women heads in to
investigate. Annihilation is cerebral, haunting sci-fi horror, with one of the all-time most
unsettling creature sequences. (You’ll know it when you seeor hearit.)

29. As Above, So Below (2014)

Found footage meets urban exploration in the Paris catacombs. A group of thrill-seeking researchers looking
for the philosopher’s stone instead find a personal descent into hell. Claustrophobic, clever, and surprisingly
ambitious, it’s a great pick for fans of occult puzzles.

30. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Netflix’s legacy sequel drags Leatherface into the influencer era, throwing a busload of content creators
into his pathliterally. It’s gory, mean, and not especially subtle, but if you’re here for chainsaws and
chaos, it delivers exactly what the title promises.

31. The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Ed and Lorraine Warren head to 1970s London to investigate the Enfield Poltergeist case. The Conjuring 2
balances jump scares with character-driven moments, making you care about the family before throwing them at
demonic nuns and crooked men.

32. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Prequels rarely outshine the originals, but this one does. Set in the ’60s, it follows a widowed mother and
her daughters who add a Ouija board to their fake seance businessand accidentally invite in something real.
It’s stylish, creepy, and surprisingly heartfelt.

33. Under the Shadow (2016)

Set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, Under the Shadow follows a mother and daughter haunted by a
malevolent djinn. It blends political tension, cultural folklore, and psychological horror into a slow-burn
that hits far harder than its modest runtime suggests.

34. Thanksgiving (2023)

From an infamous fake trailer to a full-length holiday slasher, Thanksgiving delivers everything you’d
expect: seasonal puns, inventive kills, and a masked killer with a flair for dramatic table settings.
It’s perfect for when the family gathering already felt like a horror movie anyway.

35. Cobweb (2023)

A lonely boy hears a mysterious voice in his bedroom wall, and his parents’ insistence that “it’s just your
imagination” quickly stops feeling reassuring. Cobweb is a creepy little fairy tale about secrets,
monsters, and the things families hide.

36. Until Dawn (2025)

A group of friends relives the same night over and over in a deadly time loop, each run unleashing new killers
and creatures. Until Dawn feels like an interactive horror game turned into a movie, full of meta jokes,
brutal deaths, and clever twists.

37. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

The ghost with the most is back. Mixing horror, comedy, and gothic whimsy, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
leans into practical effects and offbeat humor while revisiting its haunted family. It’s more spooky-fun than
nightmare fuel, ideal for mixed-scare tolerance households.

38. The Babysitter (2017)

A nerdy kid discovers his cool babysitter is part of a satanic cult that really, really doesn’t want witnesses.
The Babysitter is a candy-colored horror-comedy full of splatter, one-liners, and ’80s throwback energy.

39. The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020)

The sequel doubles down on absurdity, bringing back familiar faces and upping the supernatural stakes.
Is it ridiculous? Absolutely. Is it fun background viewing for a late-night Netflix hang? Also yes.

40. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

A teen befriends an elderly billionaire who dies but somehow keeps texting from beyond the grave.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is a quieter, more melancholic Stephen King adaptationless jump scares,
more eerie moral choices and slow-burn dread.

How to Get the Most Out of Your 40-Movie Netflix Horror Marathon

You’ve got the list; now you need the vibe. One of the best ways to tackle these 40 horror movies is to
theme your nights. Do a “Cult and Curses” weekend with Apostle, Incantation, and
Under the Shadow. Follow that with “Things That Should Never Be on a Plane or Train” and pair
Train to Busan with Blood Red Sky. Suddenly you’re not just watching horroryou’re curating it.

Pay attention to pacing, too. Some of these movies are emotionally heavyHis House,
Hereditary, and The Babadook can all leave you feeling wrecked in very different ways.
When you tackle those, consider balancing them with something lighter or more playful afterward, like
The Babysitter or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, so you’re not going to bed feeling like
you just lived through a generational-trauma TED Talk.

If you’re watching with friends, turn it into an interactive event. Have everyone rank each movie on a
“scream score,” a “gross-out score,” and a “bad decisions made by characters” score. You’ll quickly
discover that some films, like As Above, So Below, are best enjoyed while collectively yelling
“Don’t go deeper into the catacombs,” while others, like 1922, are more about quietly absorbing
the slow collapse of someone’s soul.

Solo watcher? Lean into the atmosphere. Horror thrives on sound design, so a good pair of headphones
or a decent soundbar makes a huge difference. Tiny detailsthe whispering voices in Incantation,
the creaks and rattles in His House, the distorted animal noises in Annihilationhit
harder when the audio isn’t coming out of a tired laptop speaker.

Don’t sleep on Netflix’s subtitles and audio options either. International titles like Train to Busan,
#Alive, and Under the Shadow are best experienced in their original language with subtitles
on. It keeps you closer to the performances and helps the atmosphere feel more authentic. Plus, reading
fast while something terrifying rushes the camera is its own kind of adrenaline rush.

If you’re easily spooked but still want in, start with gateway horror: horror-comedies and less intense titles.
The Babysitter, Army of the Dead, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are great on-ramps.
Once you’re comfortable, work your way up to heavier hitters. Think of it as leveling up your scare tolerance;
by the time you reach Hereditary or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you’ll be ready.

Finally, remember that horror is weirdly socialeven when you’re alone. People love comparing which movies
messed them up the most, swapping recommendations, or arguing over whether American Psycho “counts”
as horror. Use this list as both a watch guide and a conversation starter. Whether you’re chasing jump scares,
emotional gut punches, or just something spooky to throw on at midnight, Netflix’s 2024 horror lineup has
more than enough to keep the lights off.