October is not the only month when people like immersing themselves into horror. As a genre, horror perhaps has the most fan-following besides rom-coms. Staying true to its model of always providing its users with the best experience, Netflix keeps adding horror titles in the forms of shows, films and documentaries throughout the year.
Perhaps the most sought-after and coveted of all the film genres, horror and its various other sub-genres have found a comfortable home in streaming platforms like Netflix, whose wide array of horror films and series is enough to satiate the regular horror aficionado.
After producing some top-notch Original content like All of Us is Dead, Squid Game, Mindhunter, Dahmer etc., Netflix has added some brilliant titles in 2023, including Tim Burton’s Wednesday and the adaptation of Junji Ito’s horrifying manga.
The streamer has reduced its prices in several countries and is trying to maintain its relevance by adding more content on the daily that attracts users.
The best horror titles to enjoy on Netflix this month:
5. Junji Ito’s Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Shinobu Tagashira, 2023)
When Netflix announced a Junji Ito adaptation, fans were both delighted and sceptical. While Ito is considered one of the greatest horror mangakas of all time due to his masterful command over the grotesque and the uncanny, it is very difficult to translate the eeriness of his work into film/ series.
Longtime collaborator Tagashira teamed up with Netflix to produce a creepy episodic version of his work. While the episodes were quite unsettling, they failed to live up to the expectations set by the original source materials. While Netflix did not quite manage to lift the Ito curse of failed adaptations, they produced a somewhat decent animated version that will still strike a chord with horror fans. Read our review here.
4. Red Rose (Michael Clarkson, Paul Clarkson, 2023)
A classic story of technological horror, the series sees a group of British young adults encounter a summer of horror right after school when they download the titular app, which begins to give them instructions. What starts out as a game of innocent fun soon takes a deadly turn and has morbid consequences.
With a lot of teen drama and a socio-economic commentary on the working class of London, the series has a tragic and horrifying twist. A sophisticated cyber horror drama, the actors are absolutely brilliant, especially Amelia Clarkson and Isis Hainsworth.
3. 47 Metres Down: Uncaged (Johannes Roberts, 2019)
Added to Netflix in 2023, this survival horror drama has begun terrifying Netflix viewers. With a group of killer sharks as the main antagonists, the film sees a group of teenagers get trapped while scuba diving where these sharks pursue them.
Jaws fans will enjoy yet another shark peril thriller that delves into the horrors that reside within the ocean’s depths. Given its oppressive and horrifying premise where there is essentially no escape, Uncaged is a great watch for horror fans.
2. Detention: The Series (I-Hsuan Su, Shiang-An Chuang, Yi Liu, 2020)
This eight-episode Taiwanese series is based on the eponymous 2017 Red Candles game. Set between 1949 and 1987, which is also known as the white terror period in Taiwan; the series upholds the oppressive socio-political tension amidst martial law when a transfer student sets foot into a forbidden area and encounters a ghost, uncovering years of trauma and abuse.
Haunting and eerie, this series deserves to be watched over and over again. A cathartic story of vengeance with a dollop of paranormal, Detention: The Series is definitely one of the most intriguing horror titles on Netflix.
1. Wednesday (Tim Burton, 2023)
Starring Jenna Ortega, Christina Ricci, Gwendoline Christie, Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among others, the newest live-action adaptation of the Addams Family universe is delightfully suspenseful. It deals with the misadventures of a teen Wednesday Addams at Nevermore Academy as she grapples with teen problems, angst, romance, friendships and mommy issues while trying to resolve a murder mystery.
Extremely popular among fans, the series has a brilliant character arc in terms of Wednesday’s growth which only a filmmaker of Burton’s stature could achieve. Well-received by fans, the series will most likely get a second season given its popularity among fans. Ortega, in particular, as Wednesday, was a revelation and brought a new dimension to the beloved titular character.
