Spooky Season Streaming Guide: Horror Movies for Every Comfort Level

Comfort level: zero fear, just here for the popcorn. The library ghost in the opening is the only real jolt, and it's over before you can set your drink down. The rest is Bill Murray covered in green goo, four guys in jumpsuits arguing with a city bureaucrat and a 100-foot marshmallow man walking up Central Park West.

Comfort level: zero fear, just here for the popcorn. The faces stretch, the sandworms turn up and a guy wanders by holding his own shrunken head but that's as scary as it gets. Michael Keaton spends his manic 17 minutes filthy, loud and trying to talk a dead couple into hiring him.

Comfort level: dread over gore. Three film students get lost in the woods for five days and you never see a single thing chasing them. The whole movie is shaky camcorder footage and arguing about the map, right up until somebody is standing in the corner facing the wall. Trust me, it’s creepier than it sounds and you will google whether it's a true story.

Comfort level: dread over gore. A kid sees dead people and they turn up in his kitchen, his school and under his blanket fort. The ending set the bar for every movie twist that came after it, and if somebody spoiled it for you, it's understandable if you still haven't forgiven them.

Comfort level: real scares, light on blood. A curse passes from person to person, and everyone carrying it wears the same creepy smile right before things go very, very badly. It's jump scares roughly every six minutes, so put the popcorn bowl on the table before you start, not in your lap.

Comfort level: real scares, light on blood. This one might be tamer on screen than you remember, but earns its place for doing permanent damage to a whole generation of kids. The clown under the bed is the reason half of us make sure our feet are tucked under the covers.

Comfort level: bloody. A film crew rents a Texas farmhouse in 1979 and the elderly couple who own the place start picking them off one at a time. There's a pitchfork, a shotgun and an alligator in the pond, and they get creative with all three.

Comfort level: bloody. The granddaddy of the ‘90s slasher revival. The opening 12 minutes with Drew Barrymore and a ringing phone are still the best cold open in the genre. Fair warning: you’re guaranteed to get at least three phone calls in the following weeks where somebody asks what your favorite scary movie is.

Comfort level: blankets up. It's a 1971 farmhouse, a dark basement and a game the kids made up. Doesn’t sound like it should be slapped with an R rating but by the time a voice in the dark invites the mother to join in on a game of hide-and-clap, you'll have pulled your knees up to your chest while you peek between your fingers.

Comfort level: blankets up. No list like this is complete without it, because it's the one every other possession movie has been chasing since 1973. A 12-year-old girl gets taken over and two priests show up to fight for her. The head turning, the stairs and the crucifix scene are why people still won't watch this alone.