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Six places to watch your favorite scary movies online

Back in the day, kicking off a horror movie binge would require spending two hours and $30 at Blockbuster. But no more!

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William Hong/Reuters
Children watch a 3D war movie at a community theatre in Hefei, Anhui province in China in 2015.

It's that time of year again. Leaves are falling, the air is crisp and cool, and creepy clowns are popping up in graveyards, threatening Facebook posts and street corners worldwide. Yup, Halloween is coming, which means it's time to bunker down, build a clown-proof fortress, and marathon all your favorite scary movies. 

Back in the day, kicking off a horror movie binge would require spending two hours and $30 at Blockbuster. But no more! The days of paying top dollar for a spooky night in are dunzo, and the golden age of streaming is upon us. We've written before about our favorite sites for watching movies and TV shows online for free or cheap, and in the spirit of the season, we decided to round up all the (legal) sites that currently have a good library of horror films. Keep in mind that most streaming sites offer a rotating selection of titles, so this list is subject to change next month.

For now, stock up on Halloween candy and get ready for some serious scares. Here are our six favorite places to stream horror content:

The best place for modern horror classics: Hulu

Cost: $7.99/month (+free one-week trial)

My boyfriend and I have been using his sister's Hulu account to catch up on our favorite TV shows for a few months, but we only recently discovered the site's treasure trove of creepy flicks that haunted our childhoods. I was practically giddy to find so many modern classics from the '80s, '90s and early '00s to choose from, and pretty much every night since, we've been binging on all our old favorites.

Our picks for best horror films on Hulu:

  • The Silence of the Lambs
  • American Psycho
  • The Others
  • The Amityville Horror
  • The Blair Witch Project
  • Cloverfield
  • Carrie
  • Heathers
  • Child's Play

The best place for new and critically-acclaimed horror: Netflix

Cost: $9.99/month (+free 30-day trial)

Netflix has been killing it (no pun intended) lately with its original content, some of which (think this summer's smash hit Stranger Things) is creepy in its own right. Original productions aside, there is a lot of horror content available on Netflix, but the site really stands out for fans of contemporary and critically acclaimed horror films. If you want to see some the best, highest-reviewed scary movies from the past few years, Netflix has you covered.

Our picks for best horror films on Netflix:

  • The Babadook
  • Troll Hunter
  • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
  • The Nightmare
  • The Awakening
  • Extraordinary Tales
  • Event Horizon
  • The Invitation

The best place for mid-century horror classics: VUDU

Cost: ~ $2.99/rental

If you're a fan of Hitchcock and Boris Karloff, head over to VUDU right now, because the streaming site has an amazing selection of super-classic horror films from Hollywood's golden age and beyond. Most of these movies have been remade to the point of exhaustion, but the originals are well worth a peek.

Our picks for best horror films on VUDU:

  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • Psycho
  • The Birds
  • Rosemary's Baby
  • The Mummy
  • Frankenstien
  • The Invisible Man
  • Village of the Damned
  • Night of the Living Dead

The best place for terrifying, unknown horror shorts: YouTube

Cost: Free!

I don't think horror shorts don't get the attention they deserve. Some of the scariest movies I've ever seen, the ones that still haunt my worst nightmares, the ones pop up in my mind whenever I'm at home alone at night, were less than 30 minutes long. There's something extra spooky about a short film. Maybe it's just that keeping the length tight stops these from falling into the tired old horror movie traps and stereotypes, but I dare you to spend an hour marathoning short horror flicks without totally losing it. YouTube is bursting at the seams with great horror shorts, but you have to know where to look. If you want more like the ones we called out below, BuzzFeed just published a great list of short horror films, which are all available on YouTube.

Our picks for best short horror films on YouTube:

The best place for melodramatic horror: Amazon Prime Video

Cost: Free with Prime Membership ($99/year).

I've written before about how much I love my Prime account, and Prime Video's selection of melodramatic, '80s and '90s horror films only made me love it more. Some of these movies are so bad they're good, some of them are just plain good, and all of them have over the top drama, romance, and some kind of paranormal intrigue to keep you hooked.

Our picks for best horror films on Amazon Prime Video:

  • Misery
  • The Gift
  • Gremlins
  • Tremors
  • Interview With the Vampire
  • Stigmata
  • 1408
  • The Woman in Black
  • Final Destination

The best place for campy horror: Screambox

Cost: $4.99/month

Sometimes all you want is a campy, gory, trope-y B movie horror flick. When that craving hits, Screambox has you covered. This streaming app is available on Android, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Roku and Apple TV for a low monthly fee. While most of the movies on Screambox look a little too hardcore for me (I'm more into supernatural thrillers and creepy short films), if you're a fan of classic horror, you'll have ample options to choose from here.

Our picks for best horror films on Screambox:

  • The Hills Have Eyes
  • All Hallows Eve
  • Elvira's Movie Macabre: Killer Shrews
  • Paranormal Entity
  • The House by the Cemetery
  • Five Across the Eyes
  • Grace
  • Dark Souls

This story originally appeared on Brad's Deals.

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