By: Thapelo Ramorobi.

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 1

Forget pumpkin spice and costume parties — the real Halloween feast this year is streaming. Between haunted toys, bloodthirsty ballerinas, and suburban vampires with moral hangovers, DStv and Showmax have unleashed a monster lineup that’s equal parts creepy, clever, and cinematic.

Here’s what’s stalking your screen this spooky season:

The Monkey

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 2

Stephen King’s back — and so is that terrifying cymbal-banging toy monkey. Theo James stars as a man who learns that some childhood nightmares never die, no matter how deep you bury them. Darkly funny and deeply unsettling, The Monkey is a masterclass in cursed nostalgia.

Nosferatu

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 3

Bill Skarsgård — yes, Pennywise himself — trades his clown paint for fangs in this gothic fever dream. Nosferatu is the kind of horror that seeps into your bones, with Lily-Rose Depp’s haunted beauty and Nicholas Hoult’s terror grounding the madness. Every shot looks painted in moonlight and blood.

The Curse of the Necklace

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 4

A stolen necklace, a vengeful spirit, and a family on the edge — The Curse of the Necklace is a grim domestic haunting that drips with ‘60s tension. It’s got the old-school chills of The Conjuring with a twisted emotional core.

The Radleys

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 5

Imagine trying to live a normal suburban life — except your whole family are vampires pretending to be vegetarian. The Radleys turns family drama into delicious dark comedy, proving horror doesn’t always need to draw blood to bite.

Abigail

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 6

What happens when kidnappers snatch the wrong little girl? You get Abigail — a blood-soaked ballet of chaos and revenge. Stylish, savage, and delightfully unhinged, it’s the kind of film that makes you root for the monster.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 7

Dracula goes nautical. This eerie adaptation of a single chapter from Bram Stoker’s Dracula traps viewers on a ship where daylight is the only safe hour. Think Alien at sea — slow, shadowy, and terrifyingly claustrophobic.

The Crow

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 8

Bill Skarsgård again — this time resurrected and vengeful in a reboot that embraces the gothic grunge of the 1989 classic. It’s moody, stylish, and soaked in loss and rage.

Sting

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 9

A kid raises what she thinks is a cute spider. Spoiler: it’s not. Sting is the creature feature we didn’t know we needed — equal parts absurd and horrifying, proving that arachnophobia is alive and well.

Scream 1, 2, and 3

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 10

Return to Woodsboro, where the phone rings and no one’s safe. Wes Craven’s iconic trilogy still slices deep — meta, murderous, and magnificently self-aware.

Beetlejuice & Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 11

Michael Keaton’s slime-covered chaos demon remains iconic — and the sequel doubles the mischief. Between bureaucratic afterlife blues and ghoulish comedy, this is the ultimate antidote to jump-scare fatigue.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

From the IT prequel to letting all the monsters out, this Halloween HBO and Showmax are all about trick or treating — but mostly the tricks. — image 12

A claymation horror parody that’s both charming and oddly disturbing. Wallace and Gromit versus a mutant rabbit shouldn’t work — but it does, beautifully.

Whether you’re in the mood for blood, laughs, or both, this year’s Halloween lineup proves that the monsters are very much out — and they’re streaming in HD.