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The Watcher, The Midnight Club and a Cabinet Of Curiosities. Five spooky miniseries to watch this Halloween

We're deep into October which means Halloween season is in full swing!

Filmmakers have been filling up the cineplex with Halloween remakes (Hellraiser), reboots (Halloween Ends) and even a couple originals (counting down the days till Australians can finally discover Barbarian's big twist).

But if 90 minutes of spooks just isn't enough for you, then don't stress because streaming services have unleashed a monstrous mountain of Halloween content to keep you jumping well into November.

Here's what you should be watching.

The Midnight Club

What's it about? The Midnight Club opens on high-school high achiever Ilonka as she's told that instead of heading off to collage she'll be staying home to treat an aggressive form of thyroid cancer.

After her situation turns terminal, Ilonka jumps on her nearest library computer (did I mention this is set in 1994?) and finds Brightcliffe manor, a palliative care home for sick teenagers.

Here she meets a group of similarly doomed teens who gather in the manor's opulent library every night at midnight to tell spooky stories.

But Ilonka didn't come to Brightcliffe to make friends. She wants to find out why, 30 years ago, a girl arrived at Brightcliffe with terminal cancer, disappeared for a week and returned completely healthy…

Watch it if you like…any of co-creator Mike Flanagan's previous Netflix shows (Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass).

Flanagan has a knack of creating otherworldly horror firmly grounded in real life traumas, you might even shed a tear for some of our doomed teenagers.

Where can I watch it? The Midnight Club currently streaming in full on Netflix.

Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

What's it about? It's an anthology, baby!

Master of grotesquerie Guillermo Del Toro will take on a sort of Rod Sterling figure as he welcomes viewers into his cabinet of curiosities.

There's eight episodes all up, each with a different story and director. Del Toro pens two tales of terror, including one helmed by Australian director Jennifer Kent.

Horror fans might recognise Kent for her critically acclaimed directorial debut The Babadook, her Cabinet of Curiosities contribution will also feature Babadook star and fellow Aussie, Essie Davis.

Be prepared for some disgusting beasts with not one but two episodes based on H.P Lovecraft stories and another episode based on The Graveyard Rats by Henry Knutter — who also ran in Lovecraft's literary circles and contributed several stories to the Cthulhu Mythos.

Other entries include The Outside, directed by A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night's Ana Lily Amirpour and The Viewing, written by Mandy scribe Panos Cosmatos.

You should watch if… you had a crush on the fishman from The Shape of Water, or you've ever drawn eyes on your hands and pretended to be the Pale Man.

Where can I watch it? Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities will premiere from October 25-28 on Netflix.

Queer For Fear: The History Of Queer Horror

What's it about? For those who want a little learning with their screams look no further than Queer For Fear, a multi-part documentary on how the LGBTQIA+ community has shaped the horror we know and love.

The series has Bryan Fuller as an executive producer, who terrified audiences for three years as the creator and writer of the TV series Hannibal.

Each episode explores LGBTQIA+ representation and queer coding in horror throughout history from gothic fiction like Frankenstein to how the "lavender scare" of the mid-20th century impacted horror to 1980's vampire films that were inspired by the AIDS epidemic.

Watch it if… you're a horror fanatic that's just as interested in the politics behind the camera as the bloodbath in front of it.

Where can I watch it? Queer For Fear: The History of Queer Horror is streaming in full on Shudder.

Interview With A Vampire

What's it about? Remember in 1994 when everyone swooned over Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in vampire fangs? It's that, but for TV!

But a swap for a smaller screen isn't the only change that's been made to Anne Rice's seminal gothic story to transform it into a television series.

The story's protagonist Louis de Pointe du Lac, the vampire who is giving the titular interview of love, loss and the perils of immortality to human reporter Daniel Molloy, was a plantation owner in the Antebellum US south and a white man in the novel and 1994 film.

In 2022, Louis is played by black British actor Jacob Anderson and so Louis' story is updated so that he obtained his wealth through a chain of brothels in New Orleans.

The series will also lean more heavily into the queer subtext of Rice's original novel. Louis is shown as a closeted gay man who shares a relationship with his vampire maker Lestat de Lioncourt.

Watch it if... you like Anne Rice, vampires, vampires in love, gory "feeding" or period costumes.

Where can I watch it? Interview With A Vampire is currently streaming on Paramount Plus.

The Watcher

What's it about?

A young family move into the house of their dreams – 657 Boulevard — only to receive a number of increasingly disturbing notes from someone that only identifies themselves as The Watcher.

The Watcher declares himself the guardian of the house, targeting the couple's children and accusing them of ruining the integrity of the house.

The couple go on a frightening journey to find out who is terrorising them or to get out of the house – whichever comes first.

Seems a bit normy? Well, the story of 657 Boulevard actually happened to Derrick and Maria Broaddus in 2014. Fans of a definitive ending won't find comfort here though because the real life Watcher was never found.

Watch it if…you simply cannot get enough true(ish) crime or Ryan Murphy-esq horror drama.

Where can I watch it? The Watcher is currently streaming on Netflix.

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