What to watch for Halloween: ‘Teacup’ to ‘What We Do in the Shadows’

Candy corn isn’t the only thing you can binge this Halloween.
From the return of a witchy Selena Gomez sitcom to the spooky season adventures of Charlie Brown, “The Simpsons” and the “Family Guy” crew, a cornucopia of fall TV fare is perfect for Halloween streaming, joining the likes of “Agatha All Along” and “Grotesquerie.” New seasons, fresh shows and holiday specials alike arrive this month to get you psyched, with some scary stuff but more that’s fun and family-friendly. (If you’re more of a hardcore horror fiend, you might want to pick out a freaky movie at the cinema or at home.)
Here are 15 things (including one cartoon classic) you should watch to get in the Halloween spirit:
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The seasonal spinoff from the 2022 animated comedy follows Wolf and his animal crew as they embark on a high-stakes Halloween robbery to jack a priceless amulet from the haunted mansion of old crook Reginald B. Scary. Things don’t go as planned, and the gang encounters ghosts as well as a knight in shining armor.
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Where to watch: Netflix
The animated adventure series follows the Vanderhouven family, cursed because of their ancestors’ looting of ancient artifacts. The second season sees them continuing to return items and make things right, taking on old cowboy spirits in New Mexico and investigating malevolent marionettes in India.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
The second season of the animated series, a prequel to the 1984 horror comedy “Gremlins,” finds the adorable Gizmo traveling from Shanghai to San Francisco alongside human pals Sam and Elle, where he tracks a new brood of evil Mogwai into the American West and makes friends (and supernatural enemies).
Where to watch:Max
For those who love true crime and the otherworldly, this docuseries delves into eight cases involving paranormal activity, including a 6-year-old boy in the Smoky Mountains nabbed by a strange ape-like creature, lonely Chinatown ghosts, a UFO over Long Island and satanic witches implicated in a New Jersey murder.
Where to watch:Hulu
Produced by “The Conjuring” main man James Wan, this eight-episode thriller stars Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman as a Georgia farmer couple who become trapped by an unseen force on their land alongside neighbors and loved ones. They face strange goings-on and mysterious visitors (including one in a kooky gas mask).
Where to watch: Peacock
The rebooted version of NBC’s 1980s mystery show unleashes four new freaky tales about two friends shot dead at a busy Cleveland park that no one witnessed, a paranormal researcher with an entity that speaks only to him, strange cattle mutilations that could be cult-related and continuing oddities around the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.
Where to watch:Netflix
“Treehouse of Horror” specials have been a Halloween staple for fans of “The Simpsons” since the 1990s. Time for a new addition to that particular witch’s brew: The villainous Sideshow Bob gets the spotlight in this new animated short as he teams up with other Disney+ baddies to explore the “true meaning” of the season.
Where to watch: Disney+
Glen Powell continues to conquer all pop culture by guesting in this animated “Family Guy” outing as Patrick McCloskey, the reigning champion in Quahog’s annual Pumpkin Contest and the guy Peter Griffin and his friends want to take down this Halloween.
Where to watch: Hulu
The “American Horror Story” anthology spinoff delivers five more tales with a Halloween-ready bent ― from a black-and-white episode set at an asylum to stories of witches, traveling freak shows, haunted hotels and, yes, the apocalypse ― with stars including Michael Imperioli, Henry Winkler, Victor Garber and June Squibb.
Where to watch:Hulu
“Evil Dead” icon Bruce Campbell stars in this thriller series that harkens back to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Teens in a small-town metal band decide to capitalize on the interest in the occult when the star high school quarterback goes missing, leading to them getting blamed for a rash of murders, kidnappings and assorted strange goings-on.
Where to watch: Peacock
Apple TV+ subscribers can watch this 1966 Halloween classic anytime, but the service is allowing everyone to stream it for free Oct. 19 and 20, introducing new fans to the beloved special in which Linus awaits the coming of the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is invited to a cool shindig and Snoopy awaits an encounter with the Red Baron.
Where to watch:Apple TV+
The sixth and final season of FX’s fan-favorite mockumentary (Mondays, 10 EDT/PDT on FX; streams next day on Hulu) finds vampires Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) unearthing an old pal who overslept and getting involved when Nandor’s longtime human “familiar,” Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), gets a new job.
Where to watch: FX, Hulu
While you wait for the return of “Squid Game,” immerse yourself in this dark Korean fantasy in which supernatural creatures condemn people to hell. The second season finds Jeong Jin-soo (Kim Sung-cheol), founder of a religious cult, as one of many back on Earth after a hellish trip, dealing with the ramifications of resurrection.
Where to watch:Netflix
The psychological thriller miniseries focuses on a Spanish musician (Javier Rey) who hightails it to a coastal village to finish his latest composition. But an accident in a storm leads to troubling headaches and, worse, nightmarish visions of the future.
Where to watch: Netflix
Twelve years after ending, Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” gets a reboot with this new sitcom featuring returning co-stars Selena Gomez and David Henrie. Alex Russo (Gomez) coaxes older brother Justin (Henrie) out of his magical retirement to coach Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown), a powerful young wizard-in-training.
Where to watch: Disney+