Theme Park Scope

I am a person who loves the idea of horror movies and then watches approximately eleven minutes of them before pausing to check whether my doors are locked…

…so you can imagine how much I appreciate that Disney+ organized its entire Huluween collection by how scared you are going to be.

Huluween, Hulu’s annual Halloween programming event, now lives right inside the Disney+ app, and the collection page is sorted into a genuine scare scale. Instead of scrolling for forty-five minutes and then rewatching Hocus Pocus again, you can pick your tier and commit. Let’s walk through it, because there is a lot here.

The featured lineup at the top of the page includes Heretic, Nosferatu, the new AI thriller Soulm8te, X, MaXXXine, Pearl, Ready or Not 2 Here I Come, Coraline, and American Horror Story. If you only click one section and nothing else, it is this one.

This is the safe zone, and I say that with affection. Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2 are here, along with Blippi’s Trick-or-Treat Halloween Adventure, Blippi’s Spooky Spell Halloween, Scarygirl, Reginald the Vampire, Over the Garden Wall, Monster Family 2 Nobody’s Perfect, Meekah’s Pumpkin-Tastic Halloween, and Madagascar A Little Wild A Fang-Tastic Halloween. If you have young kids, or you are simply a coward like me, start here.

Now we are dipping a toe in. Scream Queens, What We Do in the Shadows, Only Murders in the Building, Little Monsters, Hell of a Summer, Bad Hair, Mr. Crocket, I Don’t Understand You, The Man in My Basement, and Reginald the Vampire all live in this tier. It is the spooky-but-you-can-still-sleep zone.

Here is where I start negotiating with myself. Prey, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The Rule of Jenny Pen, Werewolves, The Sixth Sense, Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, The Fly, and Umma. Yes, the entire original Scream trilogy is here. No, I will not be watching alone.

The top of the scale. Longlegs, The Man in My Basement, Books of Blood, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Carved, American Horror Stories, American Horror Story, and Cuckoo. If you finish this tier without leaving a light on, I salute you.

Beyond the scare scale, Disney+ also built out themed sections for different moods: Animayhem Horror collects the Halloween episodes of Family Guy, Solar Opposites, and Bob’s Burgers, including Bob’s Burgers favorites like Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street and Heartbreak Hotel-Oween.

Scary Funny Episodes is my personal favorite: spooky-season episodes from Abbott Elementary (Costume Contest), The Mindy Project, Superstore, You’re the Worst, Better Things, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, New Girl, Schitt’s Creek, and Home Economics.

Hauntings and Paranormal includes The Pope’s Exorcist, Sinister, The Empty Man, The Monkey, The Boogeyman, Lullaby, and Pure.

Psychological Horror and Thrillers includes Longlegs, Signs, Stay, Skincare, Little Bites, Deliver Us, and Insidious: The Red Door. Humorous Horror includes Jennifer’s Body, Vampires Suck, Ghostbusters, Bloody Axe Wound, Get Away, and Slotherhouse.

A handful of new releases land throughout the month. American Horror Story 13 premieres October 1 with three episodes, then rolls out weekly until its finale on October 29. Soulm8te and Barbarian both arrived October 1, followed by The Substance on October 2, Hereditary and Midsommar on October 3, Hokum on October 10, Companion and Wolf Man on October 18, and Last Breath on October 25.

For the lighter side, a new witch series called Coven Academy dropped October 2 with all episodes streaming, Family Guy’s Happy Hell-o-ween special arrives October 5, and Halloween specials for Kiff and Phineas and Ferb premiere October 7.

One small detail I found interesting: Disney did not put out a standalone Huluween press release this year, unlike last year. Instead, the lineup was folded into the regular monthly schedule of what’s coming to Disney+ and Hulu, which is a quieter rollout than usual for a collection this large.

If you want to skip the scrolling entirely, Disney+ also has a Playlists feature with ready-made Huluween playlists, including Huluween Movies, Huluween Episodes, Halloween Movies, and The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror, so you can press play once and let the night happen.

My plan is to start in the middle of the scale, panic by the first jump scare, and retreat to Scary Funny Episodes with a blanket. That is not a strategy, that is just self-awareness.

We will keep sharing the best Halloween watch picks all October, so check back with Theme Park Scope before you build your spooky season queue.