This is a guest post by Mr. Cable Cutter, who runs CutCableToday, a site dedicated to helping people find the content they want without the constraints of a cable contract. Follow him on Twitter @CutCableToday.
Scare Yourself Silly with These Horror Streaming Services
With Halloween upon us, many of us are looking to get our scary movie fix. If you don’t have cable, you may feel like you’re missing out on all those slasher and ghost movie marathons. But not to worry — due to the ever-increasing popularity of the horror genre, thanks to movies like the SAW franchise and shows like The Walking Dead, some really good horror streaming services have popped up that serve as a great supplement to your OTA Halloween viewing options. Let’s take a look at the cream of the crop.
(Side note: Speaking of Walking Dead, I recently put together a comprehensive streaming guide for the show on how to watch it without cable, legally)
#1 Shudder
Put out by AMC, Shudder features curated content from all over the world. Containing classics like Night of the Living Dead as well as indie films you’ve never heard of, there’s more than enough here for all types of horror fans. One of the coolest features of the service is that it not only includes an on-demand library, but it also has a live streaming channel with never ending horror movie lineup. So if you aren’t sure what you want to watch, you can just select the live stream option and get sucked right in.
While some niche streaming services come across as second-rate downright cheesy, Shudder looks and works great. It’s extremely easy to navigate. The on-demand library is divided into collections based on themes such as: animal planet, monster mash, psychos and madmen, haunted habitations, gross anatomy, alien intruders, romantic blood suckers, smart slashers, and more. Includes a search feature if you’re looking for a particular title. You can also the view entire library or sort by new releases, most watched, most reviewed, etc. You can also filter by category.
When looking at the movies, hover over a film to get a summary. Click a movie and get a longer review with the option to watch trailer. It’s everything you’d expect from a top-tier streaming platform. Not to mention the spooky stills and quotes at the bottom. It just looks awesome.
Shudder offers a 14-day free trial, which is more than enough to last you through Halloween. And at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, it’s affordable for true horror fans to add to their cord cutter lineup. Available on Desktop, iOS, Android and Roku platforms
#2 Screambox
Screambox comes in a close second on my horror streaming service list. Content-wise, it has lots of movies, but overall the content quality is a peg lower than Shudder. Same thing goes for the look and feel. It’s easy to use and understand, but much more basic than Shudder. I’d compare it to an early version of Netflix compared to their current user interface. It’s not as visually appealing or responsive.
That being said, it’s not a bad service whatsoever. You’re still going to find a horror movie to make you scream and potentially give you nightmares later on. And there are also a few perks that may cause some to choose it over Shudder. For example, it’s only $3.99 per month, and it offers a full 30-day trial so you can really dive into the library before you make the decision to turn over your hard earned dollars.
#3 FrightPix
Created by Screen Media Ventures, LLC, company behind PopcornFlix, FrightPix is probably the best free option out there. Of course, that comes with the usual free streaming service caveats. Free means ads. And in the case of FrightPix, those come before the movie, as well as spot ads and banner ads. It’s not that big a deal, but some cord cutters refuse to deal with the ads.
As for the content library, there are 16 categories such as staff picks, paranormal, screaming worldwide, creature feature, and more. There’s a decent content selection, but nothing to rival the two mentioned above. That being said, it’s probably worth sifting through if you’re just looking for one or two movies to get you through Halloween.
What about Horror Movies on some of the “Big Name” Streaming Services?
If we’re talking some of the broader, more popular streaming services, I always start the conversation with Sling TV. For $20 per month, it offers really the only legitimate service of its kind. A service that lets you live stream popular cable channels over your internet connection without a cable contract. What does Sling TV have to offer in the horror department? It carries a few popular networks that are running some Halloween specials: AMC, A&E, and Travel Channel. Odds are you’ll find some more Halloween-related content on some of the other channels as well. You can see what they’re playing in this post.
As for on-demand services, Hulu and Netflix both have decent horror sections. These are fine for people just looking for a horror movie here or there. However, neither has a sufficient quality selection for a horror movie enthusiast. Hulu is probably your best bet with a decent library of B-movies (Carrie, Demons, I Frankenstein…and some shows too).
After Hulu, I’d say Netflix would be the next place to look, with a handful of good horror movies. Although there are lots of sequels, sometimes missing the part ones. And as you probably know, movies are constantly coming and going on Netflix. So you might take a look, but I wouldn’t expect too much.
A Happy Cord Cutting Halloween
Whichever service(s) you decide to try out, you’re sure to find something frightful without having to subject yourself to the biggest horror of them all–the cable bill. Happy Halloween!
