In Case 2025 Wasn’t Scary Enough, IT Was a Great Year for Horror, Too

New Releases in Horror: A Ghoulish Year for 2025

In case 2025 wasn’t scary enough, it was a great year for horror, too. The genre saw several new releases that continue to explore the boundaries of fear and suspense. From suburban mysteries to supernatural phenomena, these films offer audiences a thrilling experience this Halloween season.

Weapons

The film Weapons, available on HBO Max, begins with something that seems impossible: One night in the suburb of Maybrook, every student (save one) from Justine Gandy’s third-grade classroom gets up at 2:17 a.m., goes downstairs, walks out of the house, and silently runs off into the night. They are gone, 17 of them. Suspicion falls on Justine (played by Julia Garner), for the simple reason that nobody can figure out how these kids could disappear unless something was happening in that classroom, on her watch. The film is a community recovery story inspired by HBO’s The Leftovers, focusing on an inexplicable trauma.

Good Boy

Good Boy, available to rent on demand, offers a unique take on the horror genre. The film follows a dog named Indy who seems to have a heightened sense of a presence humans can’t detect. The movie features indie horror auteur Larry Fessenden in a surprise supporting role and is part of his lineage of scary movies that explore humanity’s relationship with nature.

Sinners

In Sinners, it’s 1932 in Clarksdale, Miss., where enterprising twin brothers Smoke (Michael B. Jordan) and Stack have returned to town after some years away in Chicago. The film is set against the backdrop of vampires and explores a metaphor for how Black culture has been co-opted by whiteness. The raucous pleasures and sonic beauty of the juke joint attract the interest of a trio of demons led by Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who wish to literally leech off of the talents and energy of Black folks.

Presence

Presence, available on Hulu, is a haunted-house thriller with a formal conceit that conveys empathy through director Steven Soderbergh’s delicate and expressive camera movements. The ghost in the story cannot leave the house and neither does the movie, following its point of view entirely. This unique approach makes for a compelling watch as the film tries to warn the family from within.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro, captures the tone and spirit of the original novel in all its breathless zeal. The film has made several narrative tweaks that some find work well while others might not. It’s a soulful, swoony, feverish film about grotesque-looking creatures who prove themselves more deeply human than the humans who reject them.

28 Years Later

28 Years Later, available on Netflix, takes place in the same world as the 2002 film 28 Days Later. The film picks up almost three decades later on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway, where a group of survivors eke out a modest existence. A desperate expedition to the mainland reveals new allies and new horrors because the infected have evolved.

The year 2025 has brought a plethora of horror films that are sure to keep audiences on edge this Halloween season.

From the mystery surrounding Weapons in suburban Maybrook, to the eerie experiences captured by Good Boy, and the co-optation narrative explored through vampires in Sinners, these films offer a diverse and thrilling selection for horror enthusiasts.

As Halloween approaches, audiences can choose from various streaming services and movie theaters to enjoy these spine-chilling experiences. Whether it’s the haunted house perspective of Presence, or the classic horror tropes in Frankenstein and 28 Years Later, there’s something for everyone this October.