What to Watch in October 2026
October is nearly here, and while yes, it’s spooky season, it’s also time for a whole new batch of TV shows to sink your teeth into. Horror fans in particular have plenty to look forward to this month, with four new series bringing everything from supernatural terror and classic slashers to sea monsters and ancient magic.
Prime Video is taking another stab at Stephen King’s Carrie, Mike Flanagan is putting his own spin on the story, Peacock is heading back to the origins of Friday the 13th with Crystal Lake, Netflix is unleashing the mysterious creature horror of Below, and Canadian folk mystery horror YAGA promises a darker kind of small-town mystery.
But October isn’t all blood and things that go bump in the night. There’s something for just about every kind viewer. Here are 9 new shows you’ll want to see in October 2026.
East of Eden – October 1 (Netflix)
Genre: Period Drama (Miniseries)
Cast: Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Ciaran Hinds, Martha Plimpton, Joseph Zada, Joe Anders
Synopsis: In the early 1900s, a fiercely independent woman drives a rift between two brothers, igniting a saga that unfolds across two generations.
War – October 1 (HBO Max)
Genre: Legal Drama
Cast: Sienna Miller, Dominic West, Archie Renaux, Phoebe Fox, James McArdle, Nick Mohammed, Nina Sosanya, Pip Torrens, Celia Imrie, Emma Laird, Aran Murphy, Archie Panjabi, Adrian Scarborough, Shaheen Jafargholi, Akiya Henry, Honor Swinton Byrne, Miles Jupp, Kartanya Maynard, Alexandra Mardell, Dylan Edwards, Mark Quartley, Steve Furst
Synopsis: “WAR is a high-stakes, legal drama following the lives of London’s most powerful lawyers as firms Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne clash over a headline-grabbing legal battle, drawing ambitious young lawyer Jonathan “Johnny” Warren (Renaux) into a ruthless world where ambition is currency, betrayal is strategy, and winning is everything. Season one follows the explosive divorce of British tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson (West) and international film star Carla Duval (Miller), as Cathcarts & Sons and Taylor & Byrne stop at nothing to secure victory for their clients.”
Carrie – October 7 (Prime Video)
Genre: Supernatural Horror
Cast: Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Josie Totah, Arthur Conti, Thalia Dudek, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard
Synopsis: “Misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.”
Below – October 8 (Netflix)
Genre: Thriller Horror (Miniseries)
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, Willow Kean, Ruby Stokes, Kaleb Horn, Rohan Campbell, Natasha Henstridge, Mary Walsh
Synopsis: When a mysterious sea creature starts terrorizing a coastal town, a fisherman must fight to protect his family and his community’s vanishing way of life.
VisionQuest – October 14 (Disney+)
Genre: Superhero Sci-Fi Drama (Miniseries)
Cast: Paul Bettany, James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, T’Nia Miller, Lauren Morais, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Polly Frame, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Emily Hampshire, James D’Arcy
Synopsis: “Vision, rebooted and having escaped from those who sought to weaponize him, has been in hiding. Searching for new meaning, he consults the AI personas embedded in his programming, including F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., J.A.R.V.I.S., and the infamous Ultron. His discreet existence ends when a bounty placed on his head thrusts him on the run with Thomas Shepard, a mysterious boy who may be Vision’s son, reincarnate. As Vision evades capture, he must confront his nature, resist Ultron’s influence, and unravel the enigma that is his young companion if he’s to survive.”
Crystal Lake – October 15 (Peacock)
Genre: Slasher Horror
Cast: Linda Cardellini, William Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, Gwendolyn Sundstrom, Callum Vinson, Nick Cordileone, Joy Suprano, Danielle Kotch, Phoenix Parnevik
Synopsis: “A prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise, the series follows single mother Pam Voorhees who has been unable to shake her grief after her young, sickly son Jason tragically drowned in the town lake almost a year before. When two strangers arrive at Pam’s door digging into her past, a disturbing chain of events are set into motion, leaving the townspeople of Crystal Lake wondering: just who is Pam Voorhees?”
Phony – October 20 (Hulu/Disney+)
Genre: Comedy Mystery
Cast: Connie Britton, Sam Nivola, Meera Syal, Grace Brennan, Mahaela Park , Maliq Johnson, Colter Lee
Synopsis: “Phony is a coming-of-age mystery about a teenager who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident to discover his mom – his only parent and his best friend – appears to have been replaced by an impostor.”
YAGA – October 23 (Crave/AMC+)
Genre: Supernatural Mystery Horror (Miniseries)
Cast: Noah Reid, Clark Backo, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hudson Williams, Ezra Franky, Patrick Gilmore, Sheila McCarthy, Megan Follows
Synopsis: “YAGA follows Rapp (Noah Reid), a private investigator who arrives in a small coastal town to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery, Henry Park (Hudson Williams). He finds himself at odds with an apprehensive local detective, Carson (Clark Backo), a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men, Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), and a labyrinth of enigmatic suspects, secret lives, and ancient magic.”
Nocturne – October 30 (Apple TV)
Genre: Crime Drama
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Stephen Graham, Bill Camp, Rory Culkin, Chrissy Metz, Poorna Jagannathan, Gary Carr
Synopsis: “Nocturne tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his surrogate daughter FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?”
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