Halloween season is here, making it no better time for modern horror fans! Not only is there a constant flow of genre releases throughout the entire yearly movie schedule — on top of a never-ending flow of upcoming horror TV shows — but the ratio of “great to terrible” tends to swing in viewers’ favor. And now is the best time to dive into horror tiles. And the future is looking bright indeed, although it might just be the sun reflecting off of that masked psycho’s machete.
We’ve rounded up a mostly comprehensive list of all the slashers, serial killer thrillers, psychological chillers, creature features, sci-fi freakshows, and whatever else today’s horror filmmakers are throwing at us. Will any of the releases listed below eventually make our list of the best horror movies ever? Let’s take a look at all the worthy contenders on the way.
Terrifier 3 - October 11, 2024
Cast & Director: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliot Fullam, Samantha Scaffidi, Chris Jericho, Daniel Roebuck, Damien Leone (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Terrifier 3 About? Cult favorite ghoul Art the Clown is back to raise hell for the unwitting citizens of Miles County in the sequel Terrifier 3, with the horrors now set on Christmas Eve.
Why We’re Excited: The first two Terrifier movies (and the All Hallows’ Eve anthology) turned Art the Clown into one of the most memorable slasher villains of the modern era.
Watch While Waiting: The first two Terrifier movies, 1990s’ IT miniseries
Smile 2 - October 18, 2024
Cast & Director: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Drew Barrymore, Parker Finn (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Smile 2 About? A sequel to the hit 2022 film, Smile 2 shifts the story to follow pop star Skye Riley, who starts experiencing disturbing events just as she’s set to embark on a world tour, forcing her to confront her dark past in an attempt to get her life back in control.
Why We’re Excited: With certain story beats left intentionally unanswered for sequel purposes, Smile featured some truly unnerving moments (particularly involving the titular facial expression), and it’ll be interesting to see how things expand for the new movie.
Watch While Waiting: Happy Death Day, It Follows
Your Monster - October 25, 2024
Cast & Director: Melissa Barrera, Tommy Dewey, Meghann Fahy, Edmund Donovan, Kayla Foster
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Your Monster About? One of the rare romantic-comedy horrors to hit the big screen, Your Monster centers on an actress who discovers a horrifying-yet-endearing monster in her closet just as she’s dealing with a cancer diagnosis and a huge break-up.
Why We’re Excited: It’s Melissa Barrera’s latest horror movie, following Abigail and a pair of Scream movies — she was later fired from the franchise — and the idea of a troubled woman bonding with a closet monster sounds like a blast.
Watch While Waiting: Drop Dead Fred, Warm Bodies
Time Cut - October 30, 2024
Cast & Director: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry, Michael Shanks, Griffin Gluck, Rachael Crawford, Hannah MacPhee (Director)
How to see it: Netflix
What’s Time Cut About? Madison Bailey stars as a high school senior who finds a time machine and travels back to 2003, the same year her sister was murdered in a case that remains unsolved.
Why We’re Excited: Producer Christopher Landon has been behind some of the most fun horror movies in recent years, between Happy Death Day and Freaky. We’re excited to see this latest sci-fi infused concept.
Watch While Waiting: Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy, Totally Killer
Bambi: The Reckoning - October 31, 2024
Cast & Director: Roxanne McKee, Tom Mulheron, Samira Mighty, Nicola Wright, Russell Geoffrey Banks, Alex Cooke, Catherine Adams, Dan Allen (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Bambi: The Reckoning About? Part of the new wave of interconnected horrors based on public domain characters like Winnie the Pooh, this flick centers on a mother and son who get into a car wreck and are subsequently stalked by a mutated and still-grieving Bambi on a revenge-fueled rampage.
Why We’re Excited: The phrase “Bambi on a revenge-fueled rampage” is really all it takes to get us in the door for this one.
Watch While Waiting: Bambi, Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey
Heretic - November 15, 2024
Cast & Director: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (Directors)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Heretic About? Two Mormon missionaries knock on the door of Mr. Reed with the intent to convert him to their faith, but soon find themselves caught in a fraught game of cat and mouse in A24’s Heretic.
Why We’re Excited: Beck and Woods previously penned and EP’d on A Quiet Place, as well as the Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman, and this being an A24 production only helps. And it’ll be great to see Hugh Grant skewing nasty in a non-Paddington sequel.
Watch While Waiting: Knock at the Cabin, The Visit
Nightbitch - December 6, 2024
Cast & Director: Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Zoe Chao, Mary Holland, Ella Thomas, Arleigh Patrick Snowden, Emmett James Snowden, Jessica Harper, Marielle Heller (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Nightbitch About? Based on Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel, the movie version of Nightbitch follows a woman who puts her career on hold to be a stay-at-home mom, but her domestic lifestyle soon takes a horrifying turn.
Why We’re Excited: It’s Marielle Heller’s feature follow-up to the Mr. Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and it marks a return to genre cinema for the always A+ Amy Adams, whose comedy skills will also be on display. Check out CinemaBlend’s Nightbitch reaction after we caught the TIFF premiere.
Watch While Waiting: Ginger Snaps, Cat People
Y2K - December 6, 2024
Cast & Director: Jaeden Martell, Julian Dennison, Rachel Zegler, Daniel Zolghadri, Lachlan Watson, Eduardo Franco, Fred Durst, Mason Gooding, The Kid Laroi, Alicia Silverstone, Kyle Mooney (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Y2K About? Ever heard of the “year 2000 problem?” Well, there was a fear that when the 21st century began, it would cause a ton of computer errors across the globe that led to some people anticipating a computer-induced apocalypse. Y2K imagines this problem actually happening while two friends crash a high school party on New Year’s Eve 1999.
Why We’re Excited: Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney always brings some hilarious laughs to the sketches he’s been part of. We can’t wait to see what he brings to his directorial debut.
Watch While Waiting: Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Scream
Nosferatu - December 25, 2024
Cast & Director: Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Ineson, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney, Robert Eggers (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Nosferatu About? A remake of the seminal 1922 horror classic, the modern-day Nosferatu is described as a gothic tale of obsession between a terrifying bloodsucker and the young female at the heart of his infatuation.
Why We’re Excited: Nosferatu remains a classic for a reason, more than a century after its creation, and Eggers’ meticulous work on The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman make him an ideal filmmaker to take on such an ambitious reimagining.
Watch While Waiting: 1922’s Nosferatu, The Witch
Wolf Man - January 17, 2025
Cast & Director: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, Matilda Firth, Leigh Whannell (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Wolf Man About? 2025 will kick off with a new Universal Monster movie, Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, a remake of the 1941 classic with Lon Chaney Jr. The modern iteration centers on a man protecting himself and his loved ones from a dangerous werewolf during a full moon.
Why We’re Excited: It was Saw and Insidious screenwriter Leigh Whannell’s success with 2020’s The Invisible Man remake that sparked Universal to ditch half-formed plans for a connected monster-verse in order to focus on tighter standalone features. And if Julia Garner said yes to it, it’s definitely a winner. Check out the Wolf Man trailer to get hyped with us.
Watch While Waiting: 1941’s The Wolf Man, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Presence - January 24, 2025
Cast & Director: Lucy Liu, Julia Fox, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Steven Soderbergh (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Presence About? Presence follows a family who movies into a suburban house and becomes convinced there’s a presence among them. The movie premiered at Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of 2024 to rave reviews. It apparently had people walking out due to its intensity.
Why We’re Excited: Steven Soderbergh has an incredible reputation for making great movies in the past, from the Ocean’s movies, Contagion to Out Of Sight. We’re excited to see him join the current horror wave with this intriguing film, as if Lucy Liu in a horror film on its own isn’t exciting enough.
Watch While Waiting: Kimi, In A Violent Nature
The Monkey - February 21, 2025
Cast & Director: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Osgood Perkins (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s The Monkey About? An upcoming Stephen King adaptation of his same-named Skeleton Crew short story, The Monkey film centers on twin brothers who find a vintage toy monkey in their father’s attic, leading to a string of horrific deaths. The brothers agree to go their separate ways as a means of stopping the curse, only to come together years later when more people start dying.
Why We’re Excited: It’s impossible not to be excited about a new Stephen King adaptation, even knowing how poorly some of them turn out, and the fact that this is Osgood Perkins’ follow-up to 2024’s breakout Longlegs makes it all the more promising. To say nothing of Theo James playing twins opposite Orphan Black Tatiana Maslany.
Watch While Waiting: The Devil’s Gift, Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Untitled Ryan Coogler Horror Movie - March 7, 2025
Cast & Director: Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Hailee Steinfeld, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li, Lola Kirke, Ryan Coogler (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Ryan Coogler’s Untitled Horror About? Filmed under the working title of Grilled Cheese, the supernatural feature’s plotline has been kept completely under wraps since it was first reported on. Rumors have pointed to it being a vampire story with Southern Gothic vibes, possibly involving Jim Crow-era racial turmoil.
Why We’re Excited: From Creed to the Black Panther films, Ryan Coogler is a must-watch filmmaker at this point, and that goes double when Michael B. Jordan is front and center, so having him make the jump to horror is huge for genre fans.
Watch While Waiting: Lovecraft Country, Ganja & Hess
The Woman In The Yard - March 28, 2025
Cast & Director: Danielle Deadwyler, Russell Hornsby, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha, Jaume Collet-Serra (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s The Woman In The Yard About? This upcoming feature from Universal and Blumhouse is currently keeping its plotline buried beneath the titular yard, with producer Jason Blum describing it as “a film that’s ambitious in scope, but modest in budget,” per Deadline.
Why We’re Excited: Filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra is versed in both action films and horrors, having helmed the 2005 House of Wax remake, Orphan and The Shallows, and it’ll be his second feature with Station Eleven’s Danielle Deadwyler following Netflix’s upcoming airplane thriller Carry-On.
Watch While Waiting: The Woman in the Window, The Devil to Pay
28 Years Later - June 20, 2025
Cast & Director: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Cillian Murphy, Erin Kellyman, Edvin Ryding, Danny Boyle (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s 28 Years Later About? The third film set within this post-apocalyptic universe first crafted by Alex Garland, the long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later will show audiences where the world is at nearly three decades after the Rage virus helped eradicate much of the human population.
Why We’re Excited: 28 Days Later remains one of the most harrowing zombie-adjacent horror movies out there, and the sequel will be the first to bring back Boyle, Garland and Murphy.
Watch While Waiting: 28 Days Later, Sunshine
M3GAN 2.0 - June 25, 2025
Cast & Director: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Timm Sharp, Jemaine Clement, Aristotle Athari, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Gerard Johnstone (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s M3GAN 2.0 About? This sequel to 2022’s surprise smash M3GAN will once again see its titular A.I. companion making life hell for those foolish enough to believe in her benevolence, which will probably include Cady and her Aunt Gemma again. A detailed logline has not yet been revealed by producer James Wan and others.
Why We’re Excited: For a PG-13 movie that initially seemed like a cheesy Child’s Play knock-off, the first film proved to be a self-aware joy, and it’s likely M3GAN 2.0 will go bigger and better with the evil robotics.
Watch While Waiting: USA/Syfy’s Chucky, Ex Machina
Untitled I Know What You Did Last Summer Sequel - July 18, 2025
Cast & Director: Madelyn Cline, Camila Mendes, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Jonah Hauer-King, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prince Jr., Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s I Know What You Did Last Summer’s 2025 Sequel About? This long-gestating big screen sequel to the hit ‘90s slashers was confirmed to be happening in 2023, though a proper plotline has yet to be revealed. That said, Robinson has confirmed on X that at least the first two films are canon, and screenwriter Leah McKendrick confirmed that social media and the Internet will factor into the story.
Why We’re Excited: Though it’s only been a few years since Amazon’s attempt to turn IKWYDLS episodic, the upcoming feature sequel is worthy of hype due to the rumored returns of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., which would give the new take a Scream-esque approach.
Watch While Waiting: Do Revenge, the first two I Know What You Did Last Summer movies
Vicious - August 8, 2025
Cast & Director: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Devyn Nekoda, Klea Scott, Bryan Bertino (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Vicious About? Dakota Fanning’s character will be left a strange present by a late-night visitor, per Variety, that will lead her down a “disturbing rabbit hole contained inside the gift.”
Why We’re Excited: Director Bryan Bertino made a fun horror movie back in 2008 with The Strangers, and we’ve been excited for more opportunities for Dakota Fanning to star in horror after The Watchers bombed at the box office. And the premise seems intriguing.
Watch While Waiting: The Strangers, The Watchers
Thread: An Insidious Tale - August 29, 2025
Cast & Director: Mandy Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Jeremy Slater (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Insidious 6 About? Rather than the sixth Insidious movie being a continuation, this will be a spinoff. Per Deadline, Thread: An Insidious Tale follows a wife and husband (Moore and Nanjiani) who try to use a spell in order to travel back in time and prevent the death of their young daughter.
Why We’re Excited: Following 2018’s lackluster sequel subtitled The Last Key, franchise star Patrick Wilson got behind the camera for 2023’s somewhat better The Red Door. Despite the franchise’s dwindling creative results, Insidious taking a new direction here could be interesting.
Watch While Waiting: The first two Insidious movies, Ouija: Origin of Evil
The Conjuring: Last Rites - September 5, 2025
Cast & Director: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s The Conjuring: Last Rites About? The existence of this ninth Conjuring franchise film — the fourth of the mothership films — was first revealed back in October 2022, between the releases of 2021’s The Devil Made Me Do It and 2023’s The Nun II, whose director Michael Chaves has stated this fourth film will be the final Conjuring proper.
Why We’re Excited: James Wan’s Conjuring-verse is one of the most successful modern horror franchises, including its Annabelle and Nun spinoffs, so any new project is worth the anticipation. And the fact that Wan has already confirmed the returns of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, and that they will be around to conclude the main series, is icing on the presumably haunted cake.
Watch While Waiting: The Curse of La Llorona, Evil Dead Rise
Him - September 19, 2025
Cast & Director: Marlon Wayans, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, Guapdad 4000, Tierra Whack, Justin Tipping (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Him About? Him is about a burgeoning football star who is invited to train alongside a famed team’s beloved quarterback at a mysterious compound, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Why We’re Excited: Between Jordan Peele being producer behind Him and the horror flick being released in time for spooky season, we have more reason to anticipate it.
Watch While Waiting: Tusk, Scary Movie
Saw XI - September 26, 2025
Cast & Director: Kevin Greutert (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Saw XI About? While no details have been officially revealed for the latest Jigsaw-fueled sequel Saw XI, producer Oren Koules told SFX Magazine that the next movie will likely take place in the immediate aftermath of Saw X’s Mexico-set revenge story, hinting that the “doctor” Cecilia is still alive with Tobin Bell’s John and Shawnee Smith’s Amanda still below the border.
Why We’re Excited: Saw X marked an unexpected upswing in enjoyment within a franchise that many had long ago written off, thanks to much-needed changes in tone and location. Plus, we’re always eager to see where this bonkers timeline canon goes next.
Watch While Waiting: Saw, Beyond the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
The Bride! - September 26, 2025
Cast & Director: Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, Annette Bening, Julianne Hough, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Magaro, Jeannie Berlin, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s The Bride! About? Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second directorial feature effort (which she also scripted), The Bride! will be a non-Universal monster movie partially inspired by James Whale’s top-notch horror sequel Bride of Frankenstein. It follows the Monster traveling to Chicago to task the presumably mad doctor Dr. Euphronius with creating a female mate from the corpse of a murdered woman. Chaos ensues to the nth degree.
Why We’re Excited: With a zillion direct Frankenstein remakes already out there, we welcome anytime someone goes to bat for the Bride, and Maggie Gyllenhaal cast is a murderer’s row of talent that presumably wouldn’t have signed on if it seemed like a bad move.
Watch While Waiting: Bride of Frankenstein, Ed Wood’s Bride of the Monster
The Black Phone 2 - October 17, 2025
Cast & Director: Ethan Hawke, Madeleine McGraw, Mason Thames, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Jeremy Davies, Scott Derrickson (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s The Black Phone 2 About?: Currently, it’s unclear how the sequel will follow the events of the first film, but that the story likely came from an idea had by the short story’s author Joe Hill.
Why We’re Excited: Ethan Hawke entered the upper echelon of horror freaks as The Grabber, and we can’t imagine how the mask-adorning big bad will up the terror ante in the follow-up film.
Watch While Waiting: The Black Phone, Sinister
Blade - November 7, 2025
Cast & Director: Mahershala Ali
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Blade About? Ostensibly, the Marvel Comics iteration (initially a human and later a dhampir) will be the main influence for the MCU’s first Blade feature. However, in the five years since Kevin Feige announced Mahershala Ali as the film’s lead, it’s gone through a host of rewrites with at least five different writers (and two directors who were hired and then exited), without any specific story beats being confirmed.
Why We’re Excited: Wesley Snipes turned Blade into a household name starring in the New Line Cinema trilogy, so getting Ali into a role that pushes more horror storytelling in the MCU is a win-win. That said, Snipes’ return for Deadpool & Wolverine made it easy to hope for that version to return anew.
Watch While Waiting: Blade, Werewolf by Night
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 - December 5, 2025
Cast & Director: Unknown at the time of writing.
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 About? No story details have come out regarding the live-action Five Nights at Freddy’s sequel, though the first film’s director Emma Tammi told CinemaBlend in October 2023 that the end-credits message teased what’s to come, likely indicating the arrival of the second FNAF video game’s Puppet/Marionette. Scott Cawthon’s company Scott Games has also teased new theatrical animatronics such as Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica, but no details otherwise.
Why We’re Excited: Love or hate the first film’s story, everything involving the animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop looked amazing, and there’s enough gaming and book lore to keep this franchise alive for at least the next decade.
Watch While Waiting: Willy’s Wonderland, 2008’s The Rock-afire Explosion documentary
SOULM8TE - January 2, 2026
Cast & Director: Lily Sullivan, David Rysdahl, Claudia Doumit, Kate Dolan (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s SOULM8TE About? Put simply, Blumhouse’s SOULM8TE is an R-rated version of the movie it’s spinning out of, M3GAN, following a widower who aims to ease his grief with the help of an A.I. companion. But his efforts to create a fully sentient mate are thwarted when the android turns into a nightmare of a significant other.
Why We’re Excited: Based on a story idea from producer James Wan, SOULM8TE doesn’t need to do much beyond its goofily creepy premise to excel with theatergoers. We can just hear the awkward pin-drops during any hypothetical sex scenes.
Watch While Waiting: Weird Science, Westworld
Mike Flanagan’s Exorcist Movie - March 13, 2026
Cast & Director: Mike Flanagan (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Mike Flanagan’s The Exorcist Movie About? Rather than following in the footsteps of The Exorcist: Believer, Flanagan will be teaming with Blumhouse for the fourth time to craft what the studio calls a “radical new take” that will still be set within the franchise’s universe. Further details are yet to be revealed.
Why We’re Excited: With the underperformance of David Gordon Green’s legacy-quel imploding Blumhouse’s trilogy plans, the studios could have just bailed on the property for a while. Instead, one of Hollywood’s most consistently brilliant horror filmmakers stepped in. Mike Flanagan’s Exorcist movie could be half as good as the rest of his haunting filmography — from Absentia to The Fall of the House of Usher — and still probably slot in as the second-best exorcism movie of all time.
Watch While Waiting: Oculus, Prince of Darkness
Untitled Jordan Peele Movie - October 23, 2026
Cast & Director: Jordan Peele (Director)
How to see it: In Theaters
What’s Jordan Peele’s Untitled Movie About? One of the only things that’s publicly known about Jordan Peele’s follow-up to 2022’s Nope is his fourth film, and that its release date was pushed from Christmas Day 2024 to pre-Halloween 2026. It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that we won’t know what it’s actually about until its world premiere.
Why We’re Excited: Peele knows that his loyal fanbase doesn’t need or particularly want an endless deluge of plot details and casting news across the course of a production, and thus keeps things close to his unsettling vest for as long as possible. And it works like a charm.
Watch While Waiting: All 5 seasons of Key & Peele, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster
Upcoming Horror Movies Without A Release Date Set
Despite all the upcoming horrors that already have release dates, there are still plenty of impending projects that haven't yet locked one down. Here's a rundown of the high-profile frightfests that will hopefully get slotted onto the calendar soon.
- Death of a Unicorn
- Dust Bunny
- Fear Street: Prom Queen
- Final Destination: Bloodlines
- Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein
- Hell Of A Summer
- Please Don’t Feed the Children
- Rabbit Trap
- Return to Silent Hill
- Scream 7
- They Follow
- The Haunting in Wicker Park
- Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 3
- Witchboard
So many horror movies to be excited for in 2024, 2025, and years after! We’ll keep you in the loop on news and updates on these coming titles as the months go by.
