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Best Streaming Services for Horror Fans 2023

CableTV.com’s TV experts-slash-horror movie nerds translate hundreds of hours of research into horror streaming service recommendations.

Editor's choice

Shudder

Price: $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Library size: 625+ titles
Streams: 1

Shudder

Price: $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Library size: 625+ titles
Streams: 1

Best for cult

Arrow Player

Price: $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.
Library size: 600+ titles
Streams: 3

Arrow Player

Price: $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.
Library size: 600+ titles
Streams: 3

Best for schlock

Full Moon Features

Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 440+
Streams: 3

Full Moon Features

Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 440+
Streams: 3

Best for low budgets

Screambox

Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 410+ titles
Streams: 3

Screambox

Price: $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size: 410+ titles
Streams: 3

Best for free horror

Tubi

Price: Free
Library size: 47,000+ titles
Streams: N/A

Tubi

Price: Free
Library size: 47,000+ titles
Streams: N/A

Trick or treat, smell my feet, gimme somethin’ good to stream! Okay, horror fans—it’s time to start planning your Halloween-season horror movie binge-watching schedule. To help you find the good stuff, we’ve compiled this guide the best streaming services for horror fans.

We don’t mean the usual streaming services like Max, Netflix, or Paramount+. We’re talkin’ ’bout Shudder (our editor’s choice pick), Arrow Player (best for cult horror), Screambox (best horror value), Full Moon Features (best for schlock), and Tubi (best for free horror). Read on to see which of these horror streaming services is best for you. (SPOILER: Real horror fans gotta have ’em all.)

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Your Guide to Horror and Halloween

Best streaming services for horror fans

  • Shudder ($6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.)—Editor’s choice
  • Arrow Player ($6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.)—Best for cult horror
  • Full Moon Features ($6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.)—Best for schlock
  • Screambox ($6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.)—Best for low budgets
  • Tubi (free)—Best for free horror

Compare horror streaming services head to head

Service Monthly price Free trial Library size Streams Resolution (up to) Details
Editor’s choice
Shudder
$6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr. 7 days 625+ 1 720p View plan
Best for cult
Arrow Player
$6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr. 14 days 570+ 3 4K (2160p) View plan
Best for schlock
Full Moon Features
$6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr. 7 days 440+ 3 1080p View plan
Best value
Screambox
$6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr. 7 days 410+ 3 1080p View plan
Best for free horror
Tubi
Free 48,000+ titles (7,500+ horror titles) N/A 720p View plan

Data as of post date.
Based on CableTV.com testing.

In terms of price, library size, features, and resolution, these five horror streaming services all have similar value—except for Screambox, which has the best value. Here’s what tears sets them apart from each other.

Price
Except for Tubi, which is free, all of the above horror streaming services cost $6.99 a month, which is already a solid deal considering what the services offer. If you go with annual subscriptions, the range drops to $4.99–$5.99 monthly—and the value explodes like that dude’s head in Scanners. If you’re wondering which services charge only $4.99 a month, it’s the new and improved Screambox and Full Moon Features.

Library size
Tubi has 7,500+ horror movies, and Screambox has a modest 250+ titles. The rest have 600+ titles each—and better overall quality.

Library quality
Shudder and Arrow Player are the most quality-dense horror services.

Streams
Arrow, Full Moon Features, and Screambox have three streams—that’s the industry average. Shudder has only one stream, which is surprising. Tubi’s stream allotment is moot since everyone can have their own free account.

Offline viewing
Only Arrow Player and Full Moon Features let you download movies and shows to watch offline. Everyone loves the convenience of this feature, so we wish that Shudder and Screambox would follow suit. Free streaming services like Tubi will never have this feature.

Resolution
Arrow Player streams at up to 4K Ultra-High Definition (2160p), Full Moon Features and Screambox stream in full HD (1080p), and Shudder and Tubi stream in standard HD (720p). Note: Streaming resolution varies according to your internet connection and the source material. We’ll get into that in the “What to Look For” section.

Best horror streaming services in depth

An overview ain’t enough for you? Fine. Let’s look at each service individually and in more detail.

Editor’s choice—Shudder

Editor's choice
Price:
$6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.
Library size:
630+ titles
Streams:
1
  • Low price
  • Large, well-curated library
  • Frequent new additions
  • Exclusive and original movies and shows
  • Fun user experience with Shudder app
  • 720p max resolution
  • Only one stream
  • No offline viewing

Curated by real horror fans, Shudder is the unstoppable masked serial killer of horror streaming services. It’s the service you go to for pure horror.

At only six or seven bucks, Shudder is a screamin’ deal. It has everything from hoary old black-and-white classics to cult horror to slick new hotness. Even better, Shudder is prolific in licensing exclusive—and creating original—movies and shows. Shudder is also the current home of legendary horror scene gadfly Joe Bob Briggs and his show The Last Drive-In.

A couple of gripes, though: Shudder has only one stream, 720p max resolution, and no offline viewing. Every other horror streaming service in this article has more streams, higher resolution, and offline viewing for roughly the same price. Even so, while Arrow Player got a higher rating, Shudder still gets our editor’s choice pick based on its much stronger horror library.

Pro tip: AMC+ is only $8.99 a month and includes Shudder, AMC, BBC, IFC, Sundance TV, and more. That’s a fantastic deal, but the dull AMC+ app doesn’t even show you the full Shudder library. For the best user experience, horror fans should subscribe to Shudder directly.

Best for cult horror—Arrow Player

Best for cult
Price:
$6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.
Library size:
600+ titles
Streams:
3
  • Affordable price
  • Deep, well-curated library
  • Gorgeous, reliable app
  • 4K UHD resolution
  • Offline viewing
  • 30-day trial
  • Some missing Arrow Video titles

Arrow Player is owned and operated by Arrow Video, one of the top boutique Blu-ray companies in the world. That means you can expect nothing but quality in every aspect of Arrow Player.

Content-wise, Arrow bows to “The Art of Cult” before any single genre. So, while horror comprises a significant chunk of the Arrow Player library, it also contains many action, comedy, kaiju, sci-fi, and western films. If you’re nostalgic for late-night cable TV, drive-in theaters, or video stores, Arrow Player is your dream streaming TV experience.

Another highlight of the service is the Arrow Player app. It combines what we loved about browsing VHS covers at Blockbuster with the colorful and vivid imagery favored by geeks of all stripes. Factor in 4K resolution (mostly on newer titles) and offline viewing; you’ll see why we love it.

Or, if you’ve seen Clerks, think of the part where video store clerk Randal falls to his knees visiting the rival Big Choice Video. That’s how we feel about Arrow Player.

Best for schlock—Full Moon Features

Best for schlock
Price:
$6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size:
440+ titles
Streams:
3*
  • Affordable pricing
  • Large library
  • Downloads for offline viewing
  • Free DVDs or Blu-rays with annual subscription
  • Poor experience as an Amazon Prime Video Channel
  • Limited titles available for free DVD/Blu-ray offer

Full Moon Features is best known for schlocky horror films, but its library also includes action, comedy, kids, and softcore pr0n movies. That’s the Full Moon library we’re talking about—the service also licenses scarier horror titles from Blue Underground, Severin Films, and other horror distributors.

You may already know about Full Moon Features franchises like Puppet Master, Demonic Toys, Subspecies, Evil Bong, and The Gingerdead Man. If so, you know Full Moon’s signature style, which is all about enthusiasm, exploitation, and imagination. For that reason, Full Moon Features’ schlock is many fans’ favorite horror flavor—but also an acquired taste for others.

If you’re unsure where you stand on that, try Full Moon Features free for seven days. If you like the service, keep it. It’s inexpensive, with a reasonably large library, offline downloading, and three streams.

Pro tip: If you like Full Moon Features, the annual subscription option makes it even more affordable—like $5 a month—and you can get 10 free Full Moon DVDs or Blu-rays as a sign-up bonus.

Screambox—best for low budgets

Best for low budgets
Price:
$6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.
Library size:
410+ titles
Streams:
3
  • Affordable pricing
  • Vastly improved app and library
  • Eight live FAST channels
  • Downloads for offline viewing
  • Cancel anytime
  • Reports of billing issues

When we first tried Screambox, we hated it. The app didn’t always work and when it did, it only kinda worked. Also, the content—”horror you won’t find anywhere else,” Screambox advertised—mostly sucked. Only 11 of the then 400+ films rated 5.0 or above on IMDb.com.

Two years later, Screambox is on its second new app which, we’re happy to say, is a much more enjoyable experience. It works, for one thing, and it’s also good-lookin’ and fun to use. Also, the Screambox library gets better all the time, with new movies, excellent exclusives and originals, horror classics, deep cuts, low-budget indies, and eight ad-supported live TV channels.

Screambox is one of the most affordable on-demand streaming TV services, even with its recent price increase. Annual Screambox subscriptions are now $59.99 ($4.99 monthly)—a big jump from the previous price of $26.99—which amounts to around a 30% discount on the regular monthly price. Screambox has also nixed its discounted half-yearly memberships, so you gotta commit to a full year to get any discount.

Still, if you want to add extra horror to your streaming TV service lineup, Screambox is affordable and, finally, a pleasure to use.

Night Flight Plus—honorable mention

Best for cheap horror
Price:
$5.99/mo. or $49.99/yr.
Library size:
666+ titles
Streams:
Unlimited
  • Affordable pricing
  • Deep, diverse library
  • Delicious nostalgia fix
  • New content weekly
  • No Android app
  • Buggy Roku Ultra app
  • Non-syncing favorites lists
  • No “Continue Watching” menu on some apps

Okay, Night Flight Plus isn’t purely a horror streaming service. It’s more like a pop-culture portal with a healthy amount of horror films. And if you grew up forgoing sleep to stay up and watch four-hour blocks of Night Flight on the USA Network, you’ll love all of the content regardless of genre.

We’re talking about cartoons, concert films, movie trailers, music documentaries, music videos, “as-aired” classic episodes of Night Flight (with commercials), and horror films.

Night Flight Plus has scary flicks from Arrow Video, Blue Underground, Grindhouse Releasing, Severin Films, Vinegar Syndrome, Troma, Factory 25, and more. Some are cheesy, some are freaky, and they’re all fantastic—even when they’re not conventionally good.

So if you’re looking for another cheap way to scratch your horror itch, Night Flight Plus has a super-low price, generous streams (unlimited), and offline viewing for less than six bucks a month.

Best for free horror—Tubi

Best for free horror
Price:
Free
Library size:
38,717 titles
Streams:
N/A
  • Free
  • Massive library
  • Reasonable ad breaks
  • Parental controls
  • Ads
  • 720p resolution
  • Some NC-17 content
  • No age check

With a free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service like Tubi is free, all that matters are its library and ad-break frequency/duration.

Tubi’s catalog is taller than Godzilla (we reckon). With nearly 39,000 movies and shows, including a whopping 6,200 horror films. That’s double the combined size of Shudder, Arrow Player, Full Moon Features, Night Flight Plus, and Screambox catalogs. But the quality of Tubi’s horror titles doesn’t always measure up.

True horror fans will find tons of conventionally good and so-bad-it’s-good content. Don’t expect many new releases (aside from Tubi Originals like Hellblazer), though. And beware the glut of straight-up garbage titles on Tubi.

There’s no point in simultaneous streams on Tubi since it’s free. You can use the service with or without an account, but signing up for one adds features like a watchlist and recommendations. It also gives you parental controls—a necessity with all of the extreme horror films on Tubi—but they’re easily circumvented.

Finally, ads are how Tubi pays the bills. So we’re paying Tubi with our time (and attention, if you watch the commercials). Fortunately, Tubi has only four to six minutes of ads per hour of content. That’s a price we can afford.

What to look for

Usually, when shopping for a streaming TV service, you want to consider pricing, library (quality and size), features (simultaneous streams, offline viewing), and overall value. The same is true for horror streaming services—with some slight differences.

Movies and shows

We highly recommend evaluating a horror movie streaming service’s library before subscribing. You don’t want to subscribe to schlock-laden Full Moon Features if you’re mainly interested in Shudder’s blend of classic horror and new releases.

Pro tip: We get it. Horror fans want every movie, sequel, prequel, collector’s edition, etc. I subscribed to everything, all at once, and discovered I didn’t have time to watch them. That was a significant wa$te. So start small with your favorite horror movie streaming service. Add new ones individually and slowly until you max out your schedule and wallet.

Price

Niche streaming services like the horror ones covered in this guide don’t have as much content as larger on-demand or live TV streaming services. Expect to pay $3.99–$6.99 monthly for horror and other genre-specific streaming services like Brown Sugar (classic black cinema) and HI-YAH! (martial arts).

If you can afford to pay higher upfront costs, many services have an annual subscription option that can save you up to 40% annually.

Streams

Most streaming services allow an average of three simultaneous streams. Exceptions are Shudder (one stream) and Night Flight Plus (unlimited streams). Full Moon Features doesn’t specify how many streams it has, but we’ve used it on three devices simultaneously.

Offline viewing

With offline viewing, you can download movies and shows to watch when you’re away from home, so you don’t have to use your mobile data—or watch vanilla airline entertainment.

Among the horror streaming services covered here, only Shudder lacks offline viewing. That’s a bummer but not a dealbreaker. Remember: the library is the main attraction, and Shudder’s is vast and masterfully curated.

Resolution

Nobody wants to see exploding heads in boring standard definition—we want to see the chunks on the chunks!

That said, on these horror streaming services, resolution maxes out at full high-definition (1080p), depending on the strength of your internet connection. Shudder, however, streams in regular HD (720p), and Arrow Player goes up to 4K UHD.

Remember that many streaming TV services adjust resolution according to your internet speed. So, while a service reports a max resolution of 4K, a poor or overcrowded connection means your content will stream at 1080p or lower.

Streaming resolution also depends on the quality of the source material. Horror streaming services have a lot of older titles that haven’t been (or can’t be) upgraded to HD or 4K, so they stream in their original resolution (480–720p).

Pro tip: Many smart TVs and Blu-ray players have an AI upscaling feature that can boost 1080p resolution to near-4K quality.

Final take

All five horror streaming services we recommend in this guide are affordable and packed with content. Let’s recap our reasons behind our recommendations:

  • Editor’s choice: Shudder has the best and scariest horror experience, but only one stream and 720p resolution.
  • Best for cult horror: Horror fans who also appreciate cult action, comedy, sci-fi, and westerns will fall madly in love when Cupid shoots them in the ‘donk with the affordable, nearly perfect Arrow Player.
  • Best for schlock: Full Moon Features schlock isn’t for everyone, but it’s affordable, and plenty of people will love its bizarre movies. And don’t forget the free Blu-rays offer.
  • Best for low budgets: Screambox is affordable, but it’s even cheaper if you get the annual subscription—and you get a good-sized, respectable library of horror movies and shows, plus eight live TV channels.
  • Honorable mention: Night Flight Plus isn’t purely for horror fans, but it has a sizable selection of spooky titles and unlimited streams for a very low price.
  • Best for free horror: With 7,500+ horror movies—including everything from horror classics to sublime trash cinema to straight-up crap—for free, you can’t lose with Tubi.

Best streaming services for horror fans FAQ

Which streaming service is best for horror?

Shudder ($6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.) is the best horror streaming service, with a hefty library stuffed with classic and modern horror movies and shows—including several exclusive and original titles—for a nice price

We also recommend these horror streaming services:

  • Arrow Player ($6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.): For fans of cult films, including horror, action, comedy, sci-fi, westerns, and more.
  • Full Moon Features ($6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.): Mostly schlocky but also scary movies—plus action, comedy, sci-fi, westerns, and softcore erotic films.
  • Screambox ($6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr.): New and improved Screambox has a respectable library of 410+ movies and shows plus eight live TV channels for a low price.
  • Tubi (free): If your budget is tight, you can find 6,200+ horror movies (and 33,000+ other titles) on Tubi if you don’t mind watching ads.
  • Night Flight Plus ($5.99/mo. or $49.99/yr.): A super affordable source of late-night horror movies, cartoons, concert films, music documentaries, sci-fi, and vintage Night Flight episodes.

Is there a horror streaming service?

Shudder is best for horror and only horror, with a hefty library stuffed with classic and modern horror movies and shows—including several exclusive and original titles. And it’s only $6.99 a month.

Which is better, Shudder vs. Screambox?

Shudder is far superior, with a vast library (625+ movies and shows) of killer horror movies and shows for only $6.99/mo. or $71.88/yr.. Screambox has a smaller library (410+ movies and shows) that’s not quite as good as Shudder’s, but it’s getting better all the time—and it’s only $6.99/mo. or $59.99/yr..

What platform streams scary movies?

Nearly every on-demand and live TV streaming service streams at least some scary movies. But if you want the best horror streaming service, try Shudder.

Methodology

The TV experts and horror sickos at CableTV.com have spent thousands of hours researching and testing horror movie streaming services. For this article, we compared the services’ libraries, features, and overall value so we could make accurate, insightful recommendations to our readers. For more on our process, check out the CableTV.com How We Rank page.

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