Shudder, Screambox & 12 Other Streamers for Horror Fans

Updated October 16, 2023

Where do you turn to get your horror fix? From a particular channel or streamer, like Shudder or Screambox? Or do you supplement with others also, such as Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix?

Recently Dread Central posed an interesting question in regards to Paramount+: should horror fans subscribe to it?

Mike Sprague, author of the post, noted three strikes against forking out dough for Paramount+, including a limited horror selection and no way to create a watchlist. But perhaps the biggest strike was that he noted there was no horror section at all.

However, he also pointed out that could change since they have the new Paranormal Activity movie in the works as well as a new Pet Sematary one.

At this point, I think the last thing any of us really want is another streamer. And even though Paramount+ doesn’t really cater to that genre, how cool is it that there are streamers and channels that do? (That’s a rhetorical question.)

Even for the bad rap and inconveniences technology sometimes hassles our lives with, it’s actually a wonderful time to be alive. Especially for entertainment geeks and diehard fans of certain content, be it anything from food and cooking or home improvement shows to true crime, the paranormal and horror. It’s more convenient to watch what we love than ever!

But for this post, we’re concentrating on spooky content. Let’s take a look at the streaming services, both paid subscriptions and free, that now make it possible for us to enjoy horror 24/7.

7 Paid Horror Streaming Services

Not all of the streamers on this list are devoted to horror-only programming. However, their healthy horror collection qualifies them as a great place to find scary movies.

Also, Screambox appears in both this section and the free horror streaming services because it offers both free and paid options.

And, finally, they’re not ranked from best to worst. They’re simply listed in alphabetical order.

1. Amazon Prime Video

Amazon offers a lot of great horror movies with an Amazon Prime membership, but you can also rent or buy movies through them too. And with Prime Video Cinema you can sometimes even purchase in-theater rentals and watch from the comfort of your own home.

They’ve even upped their game and are offering Amazon original movies and series, like Them or the Welcome to the Blumhouse movies from horror master Jason Blum.

And if you want to add other paid channels, like Showtime, Hulu, or even Shudder and Screambox (and a few of the other streaming services on this list), you can.

You’ll even find Monsters & Nightmares, a dedicated horror Prime Video Channel, that’s exclusive to Amazon. (It’ll set you back $2.99/month after a free 7-day trial.)

Subscribing to other paid channels through Amazon gives you handy access to everything all in one spot.

For a while, I had Showtime through Amazon. I still have Acorn and Shudder that way, but people have told me I’m actually missing out. They say the viewing experience is better having the channels independent of Amazon. Apparently, it’s easier to navigate the content and see what’s new if you stream directly from the source.  

But for now, it works for me going through Amazon. (I like to watch on my Kindle when I’m on the go.)

Cost: Prime Membership costs $119/year. Which sounds steep, but includes free shipping and Prime Video. Bargain! But you can also pay $8.99/month just for an Amazon Prime Video membership.

For more info visit: https://amzn.to/3AKg26m. (Affiliate link.)

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2. discovery+

You won’t exactly find horror movies on discovery+, but their Paranormal & Unexplained hub hands down offers the scariest haunting docuseries and Reality TV show content anywhere. You can find a plethora of paranormal TV shows here that aired (or are still airing) on places like Travel Channel and Discovery. But they also offer original content too, including Ghostober exclusives.

And they offer a ton of ways to watch, including online, iOs, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox, and Chromecast.

Cost: Plans start at $4.99/month.

For more info visit: https://www.discoveryplus.com.

3. Hulu

Hulu offers a great mix of everything from blockbuster horror to slashers, thrillers , indie and everything else in between. Sometimes they even have Hulu originals, like Into the Dark, an anthology movie series similar to Amazon’s Welcome to the Blumhouse. (Into the Dark was also a Blumhouse production.)

And, of course, they get into the spirit of the season with the Huluween hub every year that collects all their spooky content —new, old, movies, TV series, kids and adult content— all in one convenient spot.

Cost: Plans start at $6.99/month or $69.99/year. (I don’t know if you have Hulu but they recently changed it from where they were billing me monthly to annually. Which was fine. There was a little savings that way.)

For more info visit: https://www.hulu.com.

4. Netflix

Netflix is fantastic about offering a mix of older movies, sometimes newer ones, and Netflix originals.

They’ve hands down showed that there very much is a demand for fresh, innovative horror content, both movies and TV shows, and as a result have had some massive winners. Among them, Stranger Things, The Haunting of Hill House, and most recently Squid Game for TV shows. And for movies there’s been Bird Box, Vampires vs. the Bronx, and His House. To name but a few!

Cost: Plans start at $8.99/month.

For more info visit: https://www.netflix.com.

5. Screambox

Screambox is a great hybrid option for people who may not want to pay for a subscription, don’t mind ads, and want a variety of nothing but horror movies and TV shows. So why is it in the paid section then? Because they do offer a membership.

I’m not sure if they create originals like Shudder does. Yet. I’m still becoming acquainted with them. However, they do have an Only on Screambox section of offerings that are exclusive to their streamer.

They also have a healthy amount of sub-genre sections, from Backwoods Butchers and Slashers to Monster Mayhem, Psychological, and Witches, Occult and Religion —and everything in between.

It’s a very user-friendly platform with options to stream both online as well as via Android, iOS, or on Roku.

Cost: Paid plans start at $7.99/month but you can stream quite a bit of content for free too.

For more info visit: https://www.screambox.com/plans.

6. Screamstream

Screamstream is much like Shudder in that it offers hundreds of horror, thriller and suspense movies. I’m not personally signed up with this one, so I don’t know if they also produce original content like Shudder does. But it’s another option if for whatever reason Shudder doesn’t float your boat.

Screamstream is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and TVs.

Cost: $5.99/month (or $47.88/year) after a free 7-day trial.

For more info visit: https://signup.scream-stream.com.

7. Shudder

I’d argue Shudder is probably the streamer most diehard horror fans opt for. Not only does it offer a superb selection of horror movies, but also series and documentaries.

They’re also affiliated with AMC, so shows that air there end up coming to Shudder too —and in some cases vice versa. Like Creepshow, which was a Shudder original and premiered on the streamer before heading to AMC.

Shudder also has A Discovery of Witches, which is why I originally signed up for a free trial. I’d heard it was a great series and wanted to check that out as well as find out what the streamer was all about. As it turned out, I realized Shudder appealed to my horror sensibilities.

Like I mentioned elsewhere, I subscribe to it as an Amazon Prime Video channel. But if you sign up directly through them, you can watch via iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Roku, Xbox One, FireTV, and Chromecast.

Cost: Plans start at $4.75/month.

For more info visit: https://www.shudder.com/signup.

9 Free Horror Streaming Services

Most of these are what are known as AVODs, advertising-based video on demand, which means they’re free as long as you don’t mind a few ads sprinkled in during your viewing experience. But you can choose what you want to watch when you want to watch it like you do with paid streamers.

But there are also a couple of FASTs on here too, which is free ad-supported streaming television. That means it’s like broadcast or cable TV where shows air in specified time slots and are accompanied by ads. But you stream it all via an app or online.

And like their paid cousins above, these aren’t listed by ranking but also in alphabetical order.

Note: Streamers have changed since we first published this list in 2021. We updated it to reflect some other streaming options with lots of horror content.

1. Crackle

Each month Crackle adds new movies and TV shows, sometimes even Crackle originals. It always also has at least one horror channel, though it’s not always called the same thing. Like in July it was called “We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Channel.” (Their nod to Shark Week.) For October this year, it’s called “31 Nights of Frights.”

Something else to note is that even though they call their genre sections “channels,” they’re not channels like how some FASTs have them set up. They are just sections like you have on Netflix or Hulu where you can pick what you want to stream at any time.

Crackle is available for streaming online, as well as via Amazon Fire TV & Fire Stick; Android phones, tablets and TVs; Apple TV, iPhones and iPads; Chromecast; LG TV; Playstation 4; Roku; Samsung TV; Vizio TV; and Xbox One.

It’s also available in approximately 500,000 hotel rooms in the Marriott Bonvoy chain.

For more info visit: https://www.crackle.com.

2. Dark Matter TV

This is the newest addition to the list as of Oct. 16, 2023, when I discovered it offered a Darktober programming event. It’s an AVOD with “with highly curated collections of superbly entertaining film & TV in your favorite genres: Sci-Fi, Horror, Action, & True Crime.” Dark Matter TV is available to watch on many connected TVs, including LG, Sony, Samsung, and more. You can also watch via Roku, Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android phones and tablets, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, DistroTV, Local NOW, Plex, FreeCast, Fubo TV, and Rakuten TV. Watching online via a computer is an option, too.

For more info visit: https://www.darkmattertv.com.

3. Freevee

Freevee’s what prompted the update to this post. As I was writing about how to scare up more horror for less with Prime Day 2023 deals, I realized Freevee has recently emerged as a new source for horror streaming. It’s an Amazon service similar to Tubi and Pluto. You don’t need a Prime Video subscription to access it, but you do need an Amazon account.

For more info visit: https://amzn.to/3AKg26m.

4. Peacock

I didn’t include Peacock on the Paid Horror Streaming Services list because it doesn’t really have enough horror content in its Premium offerings to justify putting it there. Plus, they offer a lot of horror content for free, both movies and TV shows.

However, folks with the Premium membership have a few additional offerings to watch, and even sometimes access to new release movies. At the time of this post, Halloween Kills is the newest example of that.

The other cool thing about Peacock is that it’s both an AVOD and a FAST. Under their Channels (the FAST portion of the streamer), you’ll find Universal Monsters, Witching Hour, and Halloween Horror Nights channels for horror movies. The Out of This World and Dust channels provide paranormal TV show viewing.

Peacock is available to stream online as well as on Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices; Android TV-enabled Smart TVs like Sony Bravia, and set-top boxes like NVIDIA Shield; Apple TV; Chromecast; LG Smart TV; PlayStation; Roku; Samsung Smart TV; Vizio TV; and Xbox.

It’s also available through cable provider set top boxes from Cox and Xfinity.

For more info visit: https://www.peacocktv.com.

5. Pluto TV

Pluto TV is a FAST that offers a bunch of cool channels for horror fans, including four that are dedicated to scary movies under the “Movies” section: Thrillers (channel 74), Horror (channel 75), Terror (channel 76), and The Asylum (channel 115).

Under the “Entertainment” section you’ll find Pluto Suspense (channel 149) and SCIFI (channel 151).

Are you a fan of either the original The Addams Family or Dark Shadows TV shows? There are channels (511 and 535, respectively), dedicated to each under the “Classic TV” section.

And under “Explore” you’ll find Pluto Paranormal (channel 669) that shows reruns of a variety of paranormal series and docuseries.

You can watch Pluto TV online; on Smart TVs (Amazon Fire TV, Hisense, Roku, Samsung and Vizio); on streaming devices (Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Playstation, TiVo, XFinity, and Roku), and mobile apps (Android and iOS).

For more info visit: https://pluto.tv.

6. Redbox

It was May 2023 when I first realized that Redbox was more than just a kiosk you could rent movies from. You can rent and buy movies on their website, too, and also watch Live TV or Free On Demand movies and TV shows there also. Like Crackle, it’s owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul, so there is some cross-over in titles. But Redbox has its own very healthy and unique horror collection to watch free with ads.

For more info visit: https://www.redbox.com.

7. The Roku Channel

The Roku Channel is like Peacock in that it offers both AVOD and FAST viewing options. You’ll find scary movies under the Thriller and Horror sections, but if you’re in the mood for Live TV they also offer that option too.

Under the Roku Channel Live, you can stream spooky offerings on Dust (channel 755), FilmRise Sci-Fi (channel 760), The Asylum (channel 765), FilmRise Horror (channel 768), Bloody Disgusting TV (channel 770), and HauntTV (channel 773).

In fact, it was that last one, HauntTV, which is how I found out about the other Roku channels and in some ways helped shape this post.

I’d been thinking of writing about the different horror streaming services. When HauntTV announced its Halloween 2021 countdown lineup, I realized the Roku Channel had live horror channels. Did other streamers have anything similar? As you can see, I answered my own question. I hope it proves useful to others too.

The Roku Channel is available, obviously, on Roku devices and Roku Smart TVs. Some Samsung Smart TVs and Amazon Fire TVs are also Roku compatible. There’s also an app for that on both Android and iOS phones. You can also stream online.

For more info visit: https://therokuchannel.roku.com.

8. Screambox

Since I covered this above, I won’t say much else here except that they really do offer an impressive amount of content for free. Even the stuff in the New Screams section, which I figured would mostly require upgrading to a paid account. Nope. Pleasant surprise!

See above for all the ways to stream Screambox.

For more info visit: https://www.screambox.com/plans.

9. Tubi

Tubi is another streamer that came to my attention this year and sort of helped sparked the idea for this post. It’s an AVOD like Crackle that offers movies and TV shows, but also original programming. Which, for spooky season this year, also includes new originals for its Terror on Tubi celebrations!

But overall Horror and Thrillers (as well as Sci-fi  & Fantasy, which sometimes bleeds over into the scary realm) are always genres you can find on the streamer.

Tubi is available on Android, iOS, Roku, and Amazon Fire.

For more info visit: https://tubitv.com/home.

Check-In

Did you know there were so many options, both free and paid, for horror streaming? Which ones do you use?