The Spartan Times

A horror movie a night for the lead-up to Halloween

By Mathew Meyers

SANFORD — Imagine it’s late, less than a week until Halloween, and you’re sitting in the dark, bored. You have nothing to watch. Well, fortunately for you, you have one less thing to be afraid of now. Brought to you by the Spartan Times, the ultimate day-by-day scary movie marathon.

Sunday, October 25: Scream (1996)

The first movie in our marathon, Scream, is iconic. Everyone knows the Ghost Face mask, but a shocking few have seen the movie that made it famous. If you haven’t, it’s available to stream on most platforms, including for free on Tubi.

Monday, October 26: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

The second movie on the list stars the face of the slasher genre himself, Jason Voorhees. Thanks to the aforementioned Scream, it’s fairly well known by now that his mother is the killer in the first Friday the 13th, but even then, Part 2 requires some knowledge of the previous movie to properly grasp the plot. An alternative for those who aren’t familiar would be Friday the 13th (2009), which has no larger universe to learn; purely good ol’ slasher fun. Part 2 is once again available on most platforms, while ‘09 is available on HBO Max, Prime Video and Hulu.

Tuesday, October 27: Backrooms (2026)

The culmination of Kane Parsons’ efforts on YouTube, Backrooms is an addition to the iconic A-Sync Backrooms lore, ready for the big screen, and now, your scary movie marathon. While not a contemporary slasher, Backrooms delivers an eerie vibe and some solid scares closer to the end. As a standalone movie, it performs well, but you’ll get more out of it the more you know about Kane’s Backrooms universe. He was only 20 years old when he directed the movie, you know. Backrooms is streaming primarily on HBO Max, but is also available on Prime Video.

Wednesday, October 28: Obsession (2026)

Obsession, as of this writing, is the highest-performing horror movie of 2026. The movie received critical and audience praise for Inde Navarrette’s performance as Nicki, as well as the film’s themes of female autonomy and male selfishness. The movie acts as a cautionary tale about the toxic, often dangerous nature of emotionally closed-off men and how that can lead to them harming others around them, especially women whom they believe owe them something. The movie is available primarily on Prime Video and Peacock.

Thursday, October 29: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Returning to the iconic slashers of the ‘80s and ‘90s, you’ve most certainly seen Freddy Krueger before. The original Nightmare on Elm Street, created by Wes Craven, who would later go on to create the first four Scream movies, is about a serial child murderer coming back from the dead as a dream demon, seeking revenge on those who burned him alive by killing their kids in their sleep. The movie is currently streaming on HBO Max, Tubi and Prime Video.

Friday, October 30: Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)

Arguably the least scary movie on this list, Five Nights at Freddy’s still provides a fun time while loosely adapting the 2014 game of the same name, in which Mike Schmidt takes up the security night shift at the now-closed down Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. The movie stars Matthew Lillard of Scream and Scooby-Doo fame, Josh Hutcherson, formerly Peeta in the Hunger Games trilogy and Jesse in Bridge to Terabithia, and child actress Piper Rubio, all of whom deliver outstanding performances. The animatronics are all real, designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (yes, the Muppet people), bringing almost one-to-one recreations of the game designs into reality. The movie is available on Peacock for free.

Saturday, October 31: Halloween (1978)

Last but absolutely not least, for the day itself, John Carpenter’s Halloween. We already covered this in our staff’s favorite scary movies article, but it’s too iconic not to include. Whether before or after your nightly activities, Halloween is a fantastic way to end the season. The small-town setting is rather similar to Sanford, which, for those who like to be immersed, could add a whole new layer of horror. The movie is streaming on Apple TV and Prime Video.