Best Classic Halloween Movies on TV This Week: October 27- November 2

Hallo-week has finally arrived! And while streaming platforms all have their own spooky movie selections, tons of horror classics are airing on basic and premium cable every day this week. Our guide will give you a quick day-by-day overview of what’s playing on primetime across your cable package, so you can plan your viewing, and not miss a second of your frightful favorites.

This week offers many chances to catch more modern classics like Child’s Play, The Sixth Sense, Hocus Pocus and the Halloween franchise, but also plenty of opportunity to take in 1930s, ’40, ’50s and ’60s classics, largely due to TCM’s two-day scary movie marathon on October 30 and October 31. No matter what your taste, you’re sure to find something to scare your pants off.

Start your week off with some more turn-of-the-millennium hits, like The Sixth Sense, the film that birthed a second of twist-ending imitators; American Psycho, the dark comedy about a homicidal ’80s yuppie that made Christian Bale a star; or Resident Evil, the horror-action franchise that dominated the ’00s with its tales of an evil corporation causing zombie mayhem.

But if the classics are more your thing, you can check in with the original Vincent Price version of The Fly, or Spencer Tracy’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

5pm Child’s Play (1988, Horror) Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon AMC
5pm Hocus Pocus (1993, Family) Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker FREEFORM
5pm The Craft (1996, Horror) Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk BBCA
5:55pm The Fly (1958, Horror) Al Hedison, Patricia Owens MOVIES
6:35pm Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? (2005, Children) Frank Welker, Casey Kasem FAMZ
7pm The Lost Boys (1987, Horror) Jason Patric, Corey Haim BBCA

7pm Tremors (1990, Horror) Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward AMC
8pm The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945, Horror) George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield MOVIES
8pm The Sixth Sense (1999, Suspense) Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment FX
9pm An American Werewolf in London (1981, Horror) David Naughton, Jenny Agutter BBCA
9pm Lake Placid (1999, Horror) Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda AMC
9pm The Sixth Sense (1999, Suspense) Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment HBO

10:20pm Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, Horror) Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman MOVIES
10:35pm Resident Evil (2002, Horror) Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez STARZ
11pm Jeepers Creepers (2001, Horror) Gina Philips, Justin Long AMC
11:30pm Red Eye (2005, Suspense) Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy WOMEN
11:45pm American Psycho (2000, Comedy) Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe SHOWXHD

TCM begins their Halloween programming with a 12-hour mini marathon of classic Gothic horror. Everything from the silent 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame with Lon Chaney Sr. to House of Dark Shadows, the cinematic spinoff of the beloved vampire soap opera, will be on offer from 7am through 7pm. Later in the night, you can also catch the witchy 1943 classic The Seventh Victim, on MOVIES

It’s also a great night for family fare, with both Addams Family feature films, Hocus Pocus, Eddie Murphy’s The Haunted Mansion and the 2004 dark comedy version of The Stepford Wives airing.

12:15pm: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941, Horror) TCM

5pm Mark of the Vampire (1935, Horror) Lionel Barrymore, Bela Lugosi TCM
5:45pm The Addams Family (1991, Comedy) Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia FAMZ
6pm Trick ‘r Treat (2007, Horror) Anna Paquin, Brian Cox AMC
6:15pm House of Dark Shadows (1970, Horror) Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett TCM
6:25pm The Stepford Wives (2004, Comedy) Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick MGM
7pm Ghost Ship (2002, Horror) Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard BBCA

7pm The Haunted Mansion (2003, Family) Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp FREEFORM
7:25pm Addams Family Values (1993, Comedy) Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia FAMZ
8pm American Psycho (2000, Comedy) Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe SHO
8pm Two on a Guillotine (1965, Horror) Connie Stevens, Dean Jones MOVIES
8:55pm Scarecrows (1988, Horror) Ted Vernon, Michael Simms SYFY
9pm Hocus Pocus (1993, Family) Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker FREEFORM
9pm Thirteen Ghosts (2001, Horror) Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz BBCA
9:34pm The Minus Man (1999, Drama) Owen Wilson, Brian Cox INDIE
10:20pm The Seventh Victim (1943, Horror) Tom Conway, Kim Hunter MOVIES
11:35pm Primal Fear (1996, Crime drama) Richard Gere, Laura Linney SHOWXHD
11:55pm The Leopard Man (1943, Horror) Dennis O’Keefe, MOVIES

Scary Movies on Wednesday, October 29

THE NIGHT STALKER, Darren McGavin, 1972

If you’re an X-Files fan, today, you have the rare chance to see two of the TV movies that inspired it all: The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler. X-Files creator Chris Carter frequently noted that the adventures of Mulder and Scully were inspired by this 1970s TV-movie-turned-series about newspaperman Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), who found journalism to be a very dangerous business — one filled with vampires, demons, and other ghoulish baddies.

You can also catch up on some ’00s horror with Cursed, remakes of House of Wax and House on Haunted Hill, and 2001’s Silence of the Lambs sequel Hannibal, with Julianne Moore filling in for Jodi Foster.

4:15pm: The Night Stalker (1972) MOVIES

5:55pm The Night Strangler (1973, Horror) Darren McGavin, Jo Ann Pflug MOVIES
6pm Scream (1996, Horror) Neve Campbell, David Arquette SHOCSE
6:30pm House of Wax (2005, Horror) Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray BBCA
6:30pm Monsters, Inc. (2001, Children) John Goodman, Billy Crystal FREEFORM
7pm A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985, Horror) Mark Patton, Kim Myers AMC
7:15pm Cursed (2005, Horror) Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson NEXT
8pm House of Dark Shadows (1970, Horror) Jonathan Frid, Joan Bennett MOVIES
8pm Scream 2 (1997, Horror) David Arquette, Neve Campbell SHOCSE
9pm House on Haunted Hill (1999, Horror) Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen BBCA
9pm Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Horror) Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes WOMEN
9pm The Faculty (1998, Horror) Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall NEXT

ROSEMARY’S BABY, Mia Farrow relaxing on set, 1968

9pm The Gift (2000, Suspense) Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi TMCX
10pm Scream 3 (2000, Horror) David Arquette, Neve Campbell SHOCSE
10pm Voyage of the Damned (1976, Drama) Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow TCM
10:05pm Night of Dark Shadows (1971, Horror) David Selby, Lara Parker MOVIES
10:58pm Hannibal (2001, Suspense) Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore HBOZ

Scary Movies on Thursday, October 30

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, 1962

Everett Collection

On Thursday, TCM gets serious about being scary — their scary movie marathon begins at 4am, and lasts until midnight on Halloween night, airing classics like Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Tod Browning’s Freaks.

And beginning at 2pm, AMC begins their Halloween marathon. Watch The Shape terrorize the unlucky through the decades, with a marathon that begins with Halloween III: Season of the Witch; if you want the full Halloween experience, from start to finish, begin watching at 10:30pm for the original 1978 Halloween, with all four sequels playing late into the night.

8am: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) TCM

10:15am: Spider Baby (1967) TCM

11:45am: Freaks (1932) TCM

1pm: Horror of Dracula (1958) TCM

2 pm: Halloween III: Season of the Witch, AMC

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, 1982

2:30pm: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) TCM

4pm: The Leopard Man (1943) TCM

4 pm: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers AMC

5:10pm Signs (2002, Suspense) Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix FXM
5:15pm I Walked With a Zombie (1943, Horror) James Ellison, Frances Dee TCM
5:30pm Creepshow (1982, Horror) Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau BBCA
5:35pm Phantoms (1998, Horror) Peter O’Toole, Rose McGowan TMCX
6pm Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989, Horror) Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris AMC
6:10pm Species (1995, Science fiction) Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen MGM
6:30pm Cat People (1942, Horror) Simone Simon, Kent Smith TCM
7:05pm Donnie Darko (2001, Drama) Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone HDNETMV
8pm Carrie (1976, Horror) Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie MGM8pm Nightmare (1963, Horror) David Knight, Moira Redmond TCM
8:30pm Poltergeist (1982, Horror) Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams BBCA
8:35pm Casper (1995, Children) Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman FREEFORM
9:10pm The Sixth Sense (1999, Suspense) Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment FXM
9:40pm Child’s Play (1988, Horror) Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon MGM
9:45pm Curse of the Demon (1957, Horror) Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins TCM
10pm Single White Female (1992, Suspense) Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh FLIX
10:15pm Black Christmas (1974, Horror) Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder HDNETMV

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, Alan Arkin, Johnny Depp, 1990,

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection

10:30pm Edward Scissorhands (1990, Fantasy) Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder FX
10:30pm Halloween (1978, Horror) Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis AMC
10:36pm Fear (1996, Suspense) Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon STZENC
10:45pm The Haunting (1999, Horror) Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones NEXT
11:10pm The Haunting (1999, Horror) Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones MGM
11:15pm Burn, Witch, Burn! (1962, Horror) Janet Blair, Peter Wyngarde TCM
11:36pm Terror by Night (1946, Mystery) Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce RETRO
11:55pm Fatal Attraction (1987, Suspense) Michael Douglas, Glenn Close FLIX

12:30 am: Halloween II (1981) AMC
2:30 am: Halloween III: Season of the Witch AMC
4:30 am: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers AMC

Scary Movies on Friday, October 31

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, l-r: Duane Jones, Judith Ridley on title card, 1968.

Everett Collection

The big day has finally arrived! You have spooky movie options from the moment you wake up until the moment you flop into bed, face smeared with candy corn residue. AMC’s Halloween marathon marches on today, as does TCM’s salute to classic scares, including classic Universal shockers The Invisible Man, Dracula and Frankenstein.

In the evening, you can choose from more modern hits like Christine, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or the Jeff Goldblum version of The Fly. But if you’re looking for something that won’t give the kids nightmares, tonight has family-friendly films galore: Teen Wolf , Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family, Ghostbusters and Men in Black will air in primetime.

6:30 am: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers AMC

8:15am: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) TCM

8:30 am: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers AMC

10am: House of Wax (1953) TCM

10:30 am: Halloween (1978) AMC

11:30am: The Bat (1959) TCM

12:30 pm: Halloween II (1981) AMC

1pm: The Invisible Man (1933) TCM

2:15pm: Dracula (1931) TCM

2:30 pm: Halloween III: Season of the Witch AMC

3:45pm: The Mummy (1932) TCM

4:30 pm: Halloween (2007) AMC

DRACULA, Bela Lugosi, 1931

5pm Alien vs. Predator (2004, Science fiction) Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova FX
5:15pm Frankenstein (1931, Horror) Colin Clive, Mae Clarke TCM
5:20pm Edward Scissorhands (1990, Fantasy) Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder HBOC
5:30pm Ghostbusters II (1989, Comedy) Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd BRAVO
5:45pm Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982, Horror) Dana Kimmell, Paul Kratka IFC
5:45pm I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997, Horror) Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar WE

CHRISTINE, Alexandra Paul, Keith Gordon, 1983,

Columbia/Courtesy Everett Collection

6pm Christine (1983, Horror) Keith Gordon, John Stockwell BBCA
6pm Fatal Attraction (1987, Suspense) Michael Douglas, Glenn Close WOMEN
6:10pm Horror of Dracula (1958, Horror) Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee MOVIES
6:23pm Night of the Living Dead (1968, Horror) Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea RETRO
6:25pm Teen Wolf (1985, Comedy) Michael J. Fox, James Hampton FLIX
6:30pm Bride of Frankenstein (1935, Horror) Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester TCM
6:30pm Hocus Pocus (1993, Family) Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker FREEFORM
7pm Halloween (1978, Horror) Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis AMC
7pm Scream (1996, Horror) Neve Campbell, David Arquette MTV
7pm The Addams Family (1991, Comedy) Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia FAMZ
7:21pm Seven (1995, Suspense) Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman HBOZ
7:45pm Friday the 13th (1980, Horror) Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King IFC
8pm Ghostbusters (1984, Comedy) Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd BRAVO

GHOSTBUSTERS, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, 1984, (c)

Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection

8pm Night of the Living Dead (1968, Horror) Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea RETRO
8pm Silver Bullet (1985, Horror) Gary Busey, Corey Haim BBCA
8pm Single White Female (1992, Suspense) Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh WOMEN
8pm The Fly (1986, Horror) Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis FLIX
8pm The Haunting (1963, Horror) Julie Harris, Claire Bloom MOVIES
8:40pm Addams Family Values (1993, Comedy) Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia FAMZ
9pm Halloween II (1981, Horror) Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence AMC
9pm Men in Black (1997, Action) Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith SHO
9:30pm Scream 2 (1997, Horror) David Arquette, Neve Campbell MTV
9:37pm Night of the Living Dead (1968, Horror) Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea RETRO
9:40pm The Ring Two (2005, Horror) Naomi Watts, Simon Baker MGM
10pm Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981, Horror) Amy Steel, John Furey IFC
10pm Pet Sematary (1989, Horror) Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne BBCA
10pm The Babysitter (1995, Suspense) Alicia Silverstone, Jeremy London WOMEN

TEEN WOLF, Michael J. Fox, 1985, ©MGM/courtesy Everett Collection

10:15pm Teen Wolf (1985, Comedy) Michael J. Fox, James Hampton FAMZ
10:25pm The Fog (1980, Horror) Adrienne Barbeau, Hal Holbrook MOVIES
10:30pm Ghostbusters II (1989, Comedy) Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd BRAVO
10:30pm Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965, Crime drama) Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse TCM
10:40pm Men in Black II (2002, Action) Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith SHO
11pm Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988, Horror) Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell AMC
11:10pm Black Christmas (1974, Horror) Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder HDNETMV
11:14pm Night of the Living Dead (1968, Horror) Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea RETRO

12:30am: Night of the Living Dead (1968) TCM

2:15am: Carnival of Souls (1962) TCM