Hollywood Fails Horror Fans: No New Releases This Halloween

by

With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the perfect time for horror movie fans to indulge in their favorite scary films! Whether you want to revisit timeless classics, enjoy newer hits, participate in a horror movie challenge, or even get costume inspiration from the genre, there’s plenty to celebrate this spooky season.

There are many ways to celebrate Halloween with a love for movies, particularly horror. You could also check out a brand new film, either in cinemas or at home on a streaming service.

2025 was a great year for horror fans! New original movies like Sinners and Weapons were big successes in theaters, and films such as Bring Her Back, Companion, Together, and The Monkey gained a dedicated following. Beloved franchises also made a comeback, with new installments of Final Destination, The Conjuring, I Know What You Did Last Summer, 28 Days Later, and Black Phone all being released.

2025 looks like a fantastic year for horror fans, with many exciting movies coming out around Halloween. However, Hollywood hasn’t delivered much genuinely new content for those looking for a fresh experience this Halloween weekend.

No New Horror Movies Are Coming Out On Halloween

Given that Halloween lands on a Friday this year, many expected movie studios to release a new horror film – either in cinemas or for streaming – to match the spooky mood. Surprisingly, Hollywood didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, and there are no new horror releases next weekend.

Okay, so the big news this week is Emma Stone’s quirky sci-fi comedy, Bugonia. It’s really the only major release, aside from the Indian action epic Baahubali: The Epic. A few smaller films are trickling into theaters, but they’re all pretty serious – think thrillers and dramas. And honestly, if you’re hoping for a scare from the comfort of your couch, you’re out of luck – there aren’t any big horror releases hitting streaming next weekend.

Hollywood decided to release most of its horror movies before Halloween this year, instead of during the holiday itself. For example, Blumhouse released Black Phone 2 and Neon released Shelby Oaks ahead of October 31st. Other horror films, like Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Osgood Perkins’ Keeper, will premiere in November.

It’s a long-standing trend that Hollywood avoids releasing new horror films the weekend of Halloween. Surprisingly, new horror movies rarely come out during that specific, spooky time.

It’s become common for horror movies to come out the week before Halloween. This gives them a chance to earn a lot of money in theaters before Halloween activities like trick-or-treating and parties take over. Blumhouse successfully used this strategy with Five Nights at Freddy’s in 2023 and Halloween in 2018, and Lionsgate did it with Spiral in 2017. In each case, the movie was the top earner at the box office that weekend.

And even that isn’t really happening this year. Neon’s release of Shelby Oaks this weekend is small-scale. Although it will be in theaters on Halloween, it doesn’t have enough buzz to become a major hit for horror fans looking for a spooky movie next weekend.

Hollywood is finally recognizing that horror fans deserve fresh options for Halloween. Warner Bros. announced that Ryan Coogler’s vampire film, Sinners, will be back in IMAX theaters starting October 30th, making it the must-see horror movie this Halloween.

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

This decision shows Hollywood didn’t anticipate the current movie landscape. If a major horror film was already scheduled for release next week, this re-release probably wouldn’t have happened. Right now, though, Sinners is expected to be the clear frontrunner for the biggest horror movie in theaters on Halloween, facing very little competition.

It’s unexpected that the horror film Sinners is currently leading the Halloween movie releases, considering another potentially bigger film is still scheduled for later this year. Blumhouse and Universal decided to release Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December instead of earlier, missing the opportunity to make it the major Halloween hit.

I’m confident Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 would be a huge box office success if released now. The first movie earned $80 million in its opening weekend, which was right before Halloween, despite also being available to stream at the same time.

While Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is expected to do well in December, releasing a major horror film this far from Halloween is unusual, particularly with no other big horror releases at that time. The most likely reason for the December date is that Blumhouse wanted to avoid it competing directly with Black Phone 2.

While a good start for Black Phone 2 at the box office is encouraging, and it’s likely to perform well through Halloween, the release strategy feels off. It would have made more sense to release either Black Phone 2 or Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 on Halloween itself, instead of spacing them out so much – one came out two weeks early, and the other over a month before.

I really think some great horror movies are getting overlooked when it comes to Halloween. Look, I know a weekend release isn’t a guaranteed hit, but if the re-release of Sinners does well, it’ll prove people want to go to the movies to get scared during Halloween season. It would show studios there’s an audience for horror in theaters at this time of year!

Read More

2025-10-22 18:12