Spooky season is upon us, but this week’s streaming selection isn’t as packed with terrifying movies and scary shows as we’d expect for this time of year.
However, there are a few new gruesome series to keep you awake at night, including a horror offering from Mike Flanagan on Netflix, which is this week’s top streaming content. If you don’t want to spend your weekend hiding behind a pillow, there are also some fascinating movies and TV shows to watch on Prime Video and Max.
So, from new movies to the latest seasons of criminally underrated TV shows, these are the seven things worth watching this weekend.
The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
The latest Netflix project from horror icon Mike Flanagan (he recently signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios), The Fall of the House of Usher looks like a horror-tinged version of the popular Max series Succession – and that’s a gothic description to convince us it’s worth watching.
Flanagan’s frequent collaborators Carla Gugino and Rahul Kohli lead an all-star cast that also includes: Star Wars legend Mark Hamill in a series based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name. In this TV adaptation, the CEO (Bruce Greenwood) of a corrupt pharmaceutical company is forced to confront his questionable past when a mysterious woman (Gugino) seemingly begins brutally murdering his family.
Many of Flanagan’s previous works for the world’s best streaming service made it onto our list of the best Netflix shows, and The Fall of the House of Usher should follow suit. Early reviews called it a “masterpiece”, “catchy”, “downright entertaining” and “terrible fun”. Register us.
The Fall of the House of Usher is now available to stream in full.
The Funeral (Prime Video)
Jamie Foxx (Spider-Man: No way home) and Tommy Lee Jones (Men in black) stars in one of the new Prime Video movies of 2023 that looks as fun as it is dramatic.
Based on true events, The funeral tells the story of unconventional personal injury attorney Willie E. Gary, who handles the case of Jeremiah O’Keeffe, a funeral home owner involved in a messy contractual dispute with the Loewen Group. Jurne Smollett (Birds of prey), Mamoudou Athie (Elementary), and Bill Camp (Lincoln) also star.
Reviews for this legal comedy-drama have been mostly positive, so expect it to appear in our best Prime Video movie article soon.
Now available to watch on Prime Video.
Doom Patrol season 4 part 2 (Max)
Everyone’s favorite dysfunctional superhero family (apart from Netflix’s). The Umbrella Academyanyway) is back for his final appearance on Max.
That’s right, Doom Patrol season 4 part 2 is finally out on Warner Bros.’ flagship streaming platform. Discovery. After the mid-season break, the final entries of the hit superhero show see the reluctant heroes “meet old friends and enemies as they race to defeat Immortus and regain their longevity.”
It’s not on our list of the best Max shows, but we’re going to rectify that now Doom Patrol is back on our screens. With a hugely underrated, but no less star cast, including Brendan Fraser (The whale) and Michelle Gomez (Doctor who), plus its utterly bizarre tone and atmosphere, this is a series that wasn’t *ahem* doomed to failure.
The first two episodes of season 4 part 2 are now available at Max. New episodes will air weekly until the finale on November 9.
Goosebumps (Disney Plus/Hulu)
After the mixed reception to Sony’s film adaptations of R.L. Stine’s famous teen-oriented horror works, Disney is trying its best to Goosebumps to a more entertaining series (in partnership with Sony’s TV division, mind you) for its Disney Plus and Hulu streaming services.
The ten-part TV show follows “a group of five high school students who embark on a shadowy and twisted journey to investigate the tragic death three decades earlier of a teenager named Harold Biddle – while also uncovering dark secrets from their parents’ pasts” . Justin Long, Ana Yi Puig, Miles McKenna, Will Price and Zack Morris star.
Goosebumpswhich has been described as a lighter version of Stranger things, has been positively received by critics ahead of its release, so if all goes well, it could make its way into our Best Disney Plus Shows and/or Best Hulu Show Guides. Or, you know, if Slappy the Dummy forces us to add it.
The first five episodes of Goosebumps are now available to stream. New episodes air weekly.
Chemistry Lessons (Apple TV Plus)
Before she returns to the MCU for The miraclesthe sequel to that of 2019 Captain MarvelBrie Larson stars in this critically acclaimed Apple TV Plus miniseries.
Set in the 1950s and 1960s, Larson plays Elizabeth Zott, a female scientist who becomes the wildly popular host of a new TV cooking show – “Supper at Six” – after being fired from her previous job. Zott is initially hesitant about her newfound fame, but soon puts her background to use as she begins teaching housewives about science-based topics. Lewis Pullman, Kevin Sussman and Aja Naomi King are among the supporting cast.
Lessons in chemistry it looks like it’ll be a shoo-in for our best Apple TV Plus show guide once it’s released, so don’t sleep on it.
The first two episodes of Lessons in Chemistry are out now, with new entries added weekly.
John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams (Peacock)
From the mind of legendary horror writer, director and producer John Carpenter, this Peacock anthology series takes a terrifying journey into the bowels of America to discover some truly chilling true stories.
Over the course of six weeks, each episode features first-hand accounts from real people who experienced various spooky scenarios in a number of seemingly picture-perfect American hometowns. According to Peacock, the documented cases will be accompanied by “premium cinematic scene work, news clips, home photos and archival footage,” which the streamer says will add to the disturbing nature of each of the events. The screams in the suburbs‘ stories.
All six episodes of John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams are available now.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul (Netflix)
Rounding out this week’s streaming selection is Great vaporNetflix’s latest documentary that explores the dark goings on at a major startup company.
Based on TIME correspondent Jamie Ducharme’s book “Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul,” the four-part docuseries charts the remarkable rise and fall of the fastest-growing e-cigarette company in the U.S. in the mid-2010s. With first-hand accounts of what happened within the start-up, Great vapor aims to shed light on the enormous success Juul experienced before it imploded as quickly as it rose to prominence. One to add to our best Netflix documentary guide in the near future.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul is now fully available.
For more streaming-based coverage, check out our new Netflix movies, new Max movies, and new Disney Plus movie guides.