6 Spooky Fall Horror Movies (That Aren’t About Halloween)

Ah fall, my favorite season! Football. Colored leaves. Crisp air. Pumpkin, well, everything. And, of course, Halloween. The best fall horror movies vividly capture the atmosphere of this time of year.

I’m lucky enough to live in an area that has a true fall season, when the blazing sun fades into misty twilight, the trees transform into vibrant hues of gold, orange, and red, and you can hear the crackle of leaves under your feet as you walk down the sidewalk.

This article completes my seasonal horror movies series. It ends with the grand finale, the greatest horror season of ’em all!

More seasonal horror:

4 Outrageous Springtime Horror Movies

5 Winter Horror Movies That Chill Me to the Bone 

6 Sizzling Summer Horror Movies

Making a list of Autumn horror movies is surprisingly tricky. Why? Because fall season movies are usually Halloween films. That makes perfect sense, of course. But what about horror movies with Autumn vibes that have nothing to do with the holiday? Are they out there? Yes indeed! But they’re rare.

Here are six spooky fall horror movies that aren’t about Halloween. Curl up on the couch, grab a pumpkin spice latte, and let’s get started.

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The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Heather (Heather Donahue), Mike (Michael C. Williams), and Josh (Joshua Leonard) are journeying deep into the Maryland woods. It’s October 1994, and they’re filming a documentary about an eerie local legend, the Blair Witch. The young trio thinks they’re exploring harmless folklore.

Instead, a series of bizarre and terrifying incidents convince them that the witch is real. Their collective sanity begins to slip away as they become increasingly lost inside the forest.

The Blair Witch Project was the first found footage movie to gain mainstream popularity. It was boosted by one of the first internet viral marketing campaigns. The ads claimed that the film was a real documentary, and that Heather, Mike, and Josh were missing and presumed dead. Many people believed it. 

Blair Witch didn’t have the budget for fancy special effects or even a convincing witch costume (the film’s villain is wisely kept offscreen, where she’s far scarier), but it’s a gripping and creepy psychological horror film that holds up better than many other found footage movies. The spooky Autumn forest setting is a major reason for the film’s effectiveness.

Where to watch:

The Hallow (2015)

The Hallow is an Irish folk horror film that is steeped in the country’s legends and folklore. Adam (Joseph Mawle), a conservationist, moves to a remote village with his wife, Claire (Bojana Novakovic), and infant son, Finn.

The locals warn them that a group of fairies inhabit the woods. The beings are displeased by the logging and deforestation that is occurring in the area. Adam dismisses this as silly superstition, but the family is soon under siege by the grotesque baby-stealing creatures.

Adam believes that the fairies have stolen Finn and replaced him with an imposter. Claire thinks he’s nuts. Who’s right, and can they figure out the truth before it’s too late?

The Hallow makes great use of its atmospheric setting. The lush, thick Irish forests are perfect places for fall horror movies.

Fairies are underrated horror villains. Like unicorns and mermaids, these creatures were often portrayed as sinister before being Disney-fied in modern times. These fairies ain’t Tinkerbell. They’re pissed off and ready to fight!

Where to watch:

The House of the Devil  (2009)

Desperate for tuition money, a beautiful but hopelessly naive college student agrees to a weird house sitting gig at a foreboding estate. Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) disregards numerous red flags and settles in for what she thinks will be an easy night of eating pizza and watching television.

Unfortunately, sinister forces are lurking inside. Samantha hears strange noises and goes to investigate – always a bad move in horror movies! Nobody else is supposed to be in the house other than an elderly woman who is confined to an upstairs bedroom. So where the hell are all these creepy sounds coming from?

The House of the Devil is filmed in 16 mm to emulate the appearance of movies from the ’80s. The Autumn setting is ideal for the movie’s dark themes about satanic panic and the loss of innocence.

Casting Jocelin Donahue, who barely had any acting experience at the time, was a brilliant move by director Ti West. It’s not often that an actress looks like a professional supermodel and yet also exudes an authentic “girl next door” vibe.

House of the Devil’s best moments are almost unbearably creepy, and its slow burn pacing adds to the palpable tension. It’s one of Ti West’s most effective films.

Where to watch:

The Invitation (2022)

Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) is a New York City artist who is barely making ends meet. She discovers that she’s distantly related to an aristocratic British family. Evie is invited to a wedding at the family’s castle and travels to the United Kingdom to meet her relatives.

She’s a fish out of water there. Not only is she a foreigner, she’s also the only Black person in the group. Evie meets Walter (Thomas Doherty), the tall and handsome lord of the manor.

Mutual attraction quickly develops, but the castle is filled with dark secrets, and Evie eventually learns the horrifying truth about the family. The Invitation uses a common type of horror movie monster (I won’t spoil what kind) as an allegory for racial and cultural divides.

Nathalie Emmanuel delivers a strong performance. She’s a British actress playing an American visiting England. Weird casting choices aside, Emmanuel does a nice job imitating a U.S. accent. She’s incredibly beautiful, just like she was in Game of Thrones. Evie is very blunt, direct, and outspoken, which I think is how Americans are typically perceived by British folks.

This is the least fall-ish movie in this list, but the British wedding season is typically in late summer/early fall, so I’m including it. It’s a fun movie to watch at the beginning of the Autumn season.

Where to watch:

Pyewacket (2017)

This isn’t a ranked list, but if had to recommend only one of these fall horror movies, it would be Pyewacket. It’s a haunting and heartfelt, but mercilessly bleak Canadian film about a troubled teen girl who is fascinated by dark magic.

Leah (Nicole Munoz) has recently lost her father. Her mom (played by Laurie Holden) spends many of her days in a drunken haze, unable to cope with her husband’s demise.

Not surprisingly, their relationship becomes strained. After a particularly intense argument, Leah storms out into the woods and performs a ritual sacrifice, begging a demon named Pyewacket to kill her mother.

Leah soon changes her mind and deeply regrets her wish, but Pyewacket doesn’t accept takebacks. The angry demon unleashes terror against Leah, her mom, and her friends.

I’ve watched this film several times and consider it one of the most underrated horror movies of the past decade. Munoz and Holden are both great, and the evocative Autumn setting is absolutely perfect.

Where to watch:

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

The headless horseman is terrorizing the misty, dark woods that surround the town of Sleepy Hollow. He’s decapitating people left and right! The horseman doesn’t have a head, so why should anyone else? Seems fair, right?

Tim Burton’s take on author Washington Irving’s legendary short story stars Johnny Depp as the eccentric constable Ichabod Crane and Christina Ricci as Katrina, his love interest.

Burton strays significantly from the original story at times, but his directing style fits this type of movie well. Many of Burton’s favorite performers are here. Along with Depp, the movie features Michael Gough and Christopher Walken.

Johnny Depp is entertaining as Ichabod Crane. His version of the character is more intelligent and rational than most portrayals. Depp’s quirky acting style is ideal for Crane’s eccentricities.

Where to watch:

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”
― Humbert Wolfe

Falling leaves are the most iconic image associated with the season. It’s no surprise that many Autumn horror movies have forest settings.

The woods is a spooky place all year round, but never more so than on a chilly fall evening, when the shadows are long and unknown creatures lurk deep inside the darkness.

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