Fall Preview: 2024 Horror Movies and Shows For Grownups

Coming Oct. 3

Hold Your Breath, Hulu

Sarah Paulson, 49, and The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach top-line Hulu’s moody environmental thriller set in Oklahoma in the 1930s, about a woman who’s convinced that a wave of deadly dust storms are out to get her and her family. Think of it as a cross between Twister and The Grapes of Wrath.

Salem’s Lot, Max

New Line, the studio behind the latest interpretation of Stephen King’s eerie 1975 vampire bestseller, is skipping theaters altogether and heading straight to the Max streaming service. The plot: An author (Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman) returns to his hometown looking for inspiration for his next novel. He should be more careful what he wishes for.

Coming on Oct. 4

V/H/S/Beyond, Shudder

The seventh installment in the V/H/S horror anthology franchise on the Shudder streaming service features six fresh new tales that should have you digging your fingernails into the armrest. Why? Well, the common thread this time around is a series of unsettling found-footage video cassettes. Hopefully, they’re more of the excellent Blair Witch 1 variety than the Blair Witch 2 one. This is a fantastic excuse to check out what Shudder offers.

The Platform 2, Netflix

Netflix is finally rolling out the eagerly awaited follow-up to Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s 2019 Spanish-language chiller about a squalid vertical prison in a not-too-distant dystopian future. The plot of this creepy-looking cult import sounds more than a little bit like Chris Evans’ Snowpiercer — the inmates who live on the top floors of this towering and hellish jail have it better than the unlucky souls on the lower levels who fight over scraps of food — but no matter. Based on the delightfully twisted trailer, we’re in.

Coming on Oct. 10

Teacup, Peacock

Inspired by Robert McCammon’s bestselling novel Stinger, Peacock’s latest series follows an unlikely group of people in Georgia who join forces to face a mysterious threat in order to survive. The streamer’s top-secret plot description is stingy on details, but the involvement of executive producer James Wan (of the Conjuring films) is reason for optimism. Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman and Kathy Baker, 74, head up the cast.

Caddo Lake, Max

Produced by M. Night Shyamalan, the maestro of the whiplash-inducing twist ending, this swamps-and-secrets backwoods thriller set on the border of Texas and Louisiana kicks off with the mysterious disappearance of an 8-year-old local girl. From there, a series of past deaths and vanishings begin to connect and paint a harrowing picture for one family that has been shattered beyond repair. The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien and Six Feet Under’s Lauren Ambrose head up the cast.

Coming on Oct. 18

Smile 2, not yet rated

The original 2022 Smile was an unexpected sleeper hit. Now, in director Parker Finn’s sequel, Aladdin’s Naomi Scott plays the Lady Gaga–esque global pop superstar Skye Riley, who is about to embark on a world tour. That is, until she begins to be haunted by inexplicable events (not to mention the series’ trademark grin of death). Combined with the pressure cooker of fame, it makes Skye begin to spiral out of control, forced to face her dark past. Little Fires Everywhere’s Rosemarie DeWitt, 52, costars.

Hysteria!, Peacock

Remember when ’80s parents became obsessed with the dangers of heavy metal music? So does Peacock, whose latest series tells the story of a high school varsity quarterback who goes missing and a struggling rock band who embrace Satanism to become infamous. But when a rash of local disappearances, kidnappings and supernatural happenings hit, the taboo-embracing musicians instantly become prime suspects. Modern Family’s Julie Bowen, 54, and The Evil Dead’s Bruce Campbell, 66, star.

Coming Oct. 25

Don’t Move, Netflix

This dark thriller sounds like a more sinister riff on that Jason Statham movie, Crank. You know, the one where he has to keep his heart rate up and racing to stay alive. Produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi, 64, Don’t Move is a harrowing story about a killer who injects a female victim with a paralytic agent forcing her to flee, fight and hide before her body completely shuts down. American Horror Story’s Finn Wittrock and Yellowstone’s Kelsey Asbille star.

Coming on Nov. 8

Heretic, not yet rated

If you’ve been waiting for Hugh Grant, 63, to play a character who’s as unsettling as all get-out, your wait is finally over. In this horror flick from indie powerhouse A24, Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher and The Fabelmans’ Chloe East play extremely religious Christian missionaries who go door-to-door to spread the good news, only to ring the doorbell of someone who is decidedly bad news (a mild-mannered Grant in nerdy serial-killer glasses). Trapped inside the house, the women have to think fast in a series of cat-and-mouse games to stay alive.

Coming on Dec. 6

Nightbitch, R

Being a new mother is exhausting. But in Nightbitch, director Marielle Heller’s new psychological thriller, it can literally drive you crazy. Amy Adams, 50, stars as a frazzled stay-at-home mom looking after a 2-year-old son and slowly losing her marbles. In fact, she starts regressing into a subhuman animal state while her husband (Scoot McNairy) condescends to her and minimizes her stressed-out plight. Nightbitch got fall festival audiences buzzing, and the film’s title sure is catchy. But it doesn’t really matter. We’d pay to see Adams in just about anything.