The best scares you can stream

It’s Halloween time, but you forgot to buy tickets for the Howl and you seem to be a little old for trick-or-treating, so what are you to do with yourself? Fortunately for you, Netflix and Amazon Prime have you covered.

Let’s start with a few of the classics.

“The Omen” (1976): One of the scariest movies ever made, “The Omen” almost always ranks up there with “The Shining” and “The Exorcist” on lists of all-time-best horror films. An examination of how people respond when confronted with absolute evil, “The Omen” is smart, deep and scary as hell. Literally. (Netflix and Amazon Prime)

“Rosemary’s Baby” (1968): This often overlooked classic will emotionally scar young parents forever. Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband move to a quiet new town to start a family. When she becomes pregnant, the couple find themselves at the center of a series of unnerving and unnatural events that begin to take their toll on their sanity. (Netflix)

“Nosferatu” (1922): Is this movie a blatant rip-off of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula?” Yes. Does that make it make it any less creepy? No, no it does not. Has this movie aged well? Probably better than just about any other silent film. Do yourself a favor and check this one out. (Amazon Prime)

“Night of the Living Dead” (1968): George Romero’s classic basically invented the modern concept of a zombie outbreak and almost everything that has come since. From “The Walking Dead” to “Zombieland,” the zombie genre owes its existence to this movie. (Amazon Prime)

“The Fly” (1958): While arguably not as good as its 1986 David Cronenburg remake, “The Fly” is still an incredible example of early body-horror that’s pretty unnerving to watch even to this day. (Amazon Prime and Netflix)

Now let’s look at some recent masterpieces.

“The Babadook” (2014): One of the scariest things in life is seeing twisted versions of our childhood touchstones. “The Babadook” takes this concept to the extreme by having the unspeakably evil monster emerge directly from a child’s popup book. Prepare to not sleep for weeks. (Amazon Prime and Netflix)

“The Mist” (2007): Is every Steven King story great? Not by a long shot, but when he’s at his best there’s no one better and “The Mist” is a great adaptation of one of his best books. “The Mist” is horrifying, dark and kind of bold in a way most movies simply aren’t allowed to be. And that ending… Oh man, that ending. (Amazon Prime)

“The ABCs of Death” (2012): A horror anthology brought to you by Mr. Terry Gilliam, (the guy who did all of the animated bits of Monty Python) it’s weird, it’s scary, it’s incredibly gory and weirdly funny. If nothing else, you’ve probably never seen anything like it. (Netflix and Amazon Prime)

“You’re Next” (2014): There’s not a big secret to this movie. “You’re Next” is simply a perfect version of exactly what it wants to be — a tense, fast-paced, smartly written slasher-pic. (Amazon Prime)

“The Sixth Sense” (1999): If you’ve somehow have made it to college without having had this film spoiled for you, you really need this in your Netflix queue this instant. Director M. Night Shyamalan may have produced nothing but mediocre films in recent years, but there’s a good reason this film remains cultural shorthand for great suspense and horror filmmaking. (Netflix)

And for you hipsters out there, here are some great horror pics from overseas.

“Let the Right One In” (2008): When a young, bullied boy meets a vampire without any friends, the result is a heartwarming tale of two serial murderers killing everyone they can. “Let the Right One In” is dark, twisted and extremely uncomfortable to watch, but you’ll be glad you did.

“Troll Hunter” (2010): I’m not sure how to sell this one beside saying that this is easily the best movie about trolls ever made. The Norwegians seem to have as many rules for surviving trolls as we do for surviving zombies and this movie knows how to have a fun time playing with all of them. (Netflix and Amazon Prime)

“The Host” (2006): No, I’m not talking about that Stephanie Meyer book that isn’t “Twilight.” “The Host” is a strange, almost explainable piece cinema that comes to us courtesy of Joon-Ho Boon, one of South Korea’s best living directors. Is it a horror flick? A familial slice of life piece? A comedy maybe? I’m not certain, but it sure is freaky and it’s very, very fun. (Netflix and Amazon Prime)

— George Austin LaBonty is a freshman student of Political Science and Philosophy. He attended Bingham High School and has been involved with everything from marching band to academic decathlon. He also runs a podcast on film theory with Aggie Radio. Follow him on Twitter @GALaBonty.