All the Horror You Need to Stream in April 2023

Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the horror movies, shows, and specials coming to and leaving your favorite streaming services. Here’s what to watch in April 2023:

Can you smell that? That’s right: it’s the unmistakable, sweet stench of all the dirty snowdrifts revealing their hidden secrets. Spring is in the air. Which is a cute way of saying that all the rot, growth, and swarming fecundity of the season is back in full swing. Ants have a renewed pep in their step and have begun invading your pantry! Migratory birds have begun to plot humanity’s inevitable demise! And, thankfully, for horror fans: the powers that be at our favorite streaming services continue to be as bountiful as ever.

This month sees a horrifying mix of the old and the new: ancient (and we do mean ancient) southern gothic curios and brand-spankin’ new exploitation fare alike. There’s a little something for everyone. And that is, I think, an appropriate energy to bring the latest change in the seasons.

All that said: be sure to peruse the complete list below, calendar in hand, for a full picture of what horror movies are coming and going from your favorite streaming services in April 2023.

Please keep in mind that all dates listed below may not apply to viewers outside the US.

April 2023 Horror Streaming Cheat Sheet

• Tubi-lovers and Paramount+ subscribers could string together a Poltergeist marathon. Pay no mind to the fact that Tubi is onboarding the Sam Rockwell-starring remake that time forgot.
• We’re very far away from Christmas, but it’s always the right time of year for little guys. So go watch 1984’s Gremlins and its batshit, maximalist sequel on Tubi.
• If you love Ghostrider and have a Peacock subscription, rejoice because the 2007 Nic Cage-starring film and its 2007 sequel arrive on the first of the month.
• New-ish releases kicking around this month include:
  • Malignant (2021), which is leaving HBO Max on April 27th;
  • Flux Gourmet (2022) arrives on Hulu on the 13th, while She Will (2021) hits the service on April 14th;
  • Crawlspace (2022) arrives on Paramount+ on the first of the month;
  • Maman Brigitte (2022) will arrive for Criterion Channel subscribers on the first of the month;
  • Living With Chucky (2022) arrives on Screambox on the 4th, Cube (2021) will be arriving on the service on April 11th; Shifted (2022) arrives on the 18th; and The Wild Man (2021), Sleep. Walk. Kill. (2022), The Christmas Tapes (2022), Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle (2023), and The Andy Baker Tape (2021)’s arrival date is TBD;
  • Kids vs. Aliens (2022) arrives on Shudder on April 14th, with From Black (2023) arriving on the 28th;
  • Phenomena (2023) and Weathering (2023) both arrive on Netflix on April 14th. What Lies Below (2020) leaves the service on April 3rd;
  • Dead Ringers (2023) hits Prime Video on the 21st;
  • The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) hits Tubi on the first of the month, while the previously HBO Max-shunned Malignant (2021) arrives on the 27th. Marry F*** Kill (2023) arrives on the 7th; Dead Hot (2023) arrives on the 14th; Murder at the Mystery Party (2023)  arrives on the 21st, and finally, Bury the Bride (2023) arrives on the 22nd.

The streaming service champion of the month is Tubi. The People’s Streaming Service — which is (1) FREE; (2) stocked with good content, and (3) in-app screenshot friendly — has a bounty of bangers this April.

The streaming service dunce of the month is Disney+ which continues to be the most un-horror-friendly streaming service out there. Will I continue to take potshots at the biggest media company du jour? You bet! I love screaming into the void!

Collection Corner: April 2023 Horror Streaming

• ARROW
  • Benson and Moorhead Selects (as of April 3)
    • “Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the celebrated super-cool directorial duo behind Cult favorites Spring and The Endless, and most recently Something in the Dirt and Moon Knight, have curated a collection of their favorite films on ARROW.”
    • Titles include Rashomon, The Holy Mountain, Hounds of Love

• • The Dead Walk! (as of April 7)
    • “If it’s hot, tasty braaains you’re after, you’ve come to the right place. The Dead Walk! is a veritable zombie horde of films featuring decomposing shamblers that sees takes on the flesh-eating rotten shufflers from everybody from Fulci to Miike, and George A. Romero to Jean Rollin.”
    • Titles include: Zombie Lake, Horror Express, Zombie for Sale

• • Gala Avary Selects (as of April 17)
    • “POV: It’s Friday night. Instead of going out, we’ve decided to stay in and hang out. We’ve already labored over the difficult decision of what to eat (and, of course, decided on ordering Thai food like usual) — but now it’s time for the even harder choice of the night. What are we going to watch? Don’t worry, you won’t have to make that decision.”
    • Titles include: Road Games, The Slayer, The Slumber Party Massacre

• • Ban This Sick Filth: The Return (as of April 21)
    • “Fear not, my sins-soaked children, for Sister Filth is here to whip you all back into shape and set you on the path to piety.”
    • Titles include: Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine, Angel, Sweet Trash

• • It’s Alive! The Mad Scientists Collection (as of April 28)
    • “Featuring the weirdest and wildest experiments from the most deranged physicists, ‘It’s Alive!: The Mad Scientists Collection’ sees definitively deluded doctors unleashing their most terrifying creations on… YOU! So, glove up, sharpen your scalpel, and prepare for total chaos and utter madness.”
    • Titles include: The Devil Bat, The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly, The Curious Dr Humpp

• Shudder
  • Halfway to Halloween (as of April 1)
    • “Shudder’s annual “Halfway to Halloween” celebration, marking the halfway point to horror’s favorite holiday, features a killer lineup of original films and series this month.”
    • Titles include Slasher: Ripper, starring Eric McCormack, a new season of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, The Boulet Brothers’ Halfway to Halloween Special, the Shudder Original film From Black, starring Anna Camp, the streaming debut of Kids vs. Aliens and new additions to Shudder’s library of the best in horror.

Horror Streaming Highlights for April 2023

Pick of the Month: Haunted Spooks (1920)

Synopsis: If you think your love life is down in the dumps, wait until you get a load of “The Boy,” who finds himself forced into an arranged marriage with Mildred Hilary, a young woman dead-set on claiming her incredibly enviable inheritance: a haunted house!

One of, if not the only, film to have its production delayed by its star having a bomb explode on their head during a photoshoot, Haunted Spooks is the most fun you’ll have watching a man try, and repeatedly fail, to exit the land of the living. (No, but seriously, the whole bomb thing resulted in Harold Lloyd permanently losing two fingers). Arguably Lloyd’s final, earnest slapstick film, Haunted Spooks was shot in what is now MacArthur Park (you know, that place that Richard Harris sang about that one time).

As you might have already gleaned from its title, Haunted Spooks features a good amount of racist-based humor at the expense of Black folks, which makes it a challenging but necessary, watch for anyone interested in the intersections of the genre’s historic treatment of POC. An artifact of its time, this 25-minute-long, 103-year-old short is a rock-solid example of what mainstream horror comedy looked like in 1920s Hollywood.

Available on The Criterion Channel on April 1st.

Twins, Basil, Twins!!

Synopsis: Co-dependent identical twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle careen towards mental collapse as their intertwined lives begin to pull in different directions. Bring on the narcotics and toss out the medical ethics; women’s healthcare is — somehow — about to get a whole lot scarier.

Yes, the new Dead Ringers is a miniseries, not a movie. But this is my column, and I get to make the rules. Plus, all six episodes are dropping on the same day, so really, think of this less as a miniseries and more like a manual DVD chapter title selection. Die-hard fans of Cronenberg’s 1988 original (which, with some authority, I believe to be his masterpiece), might not be especially thrilled about The Sacred Text getting the small-screen treatment.

But hey, if it brings more folks into the fold, who am I to judge? Plus, the series’ justification for, uh, existing (namely, feminizing Jeremy Irons’ dual lead with Rachel Weisz in the starring roles) might lead to some interesting thematic places. Plus, the presence of women filmmakers behind the scenes (including Karyn Kusama, who will be directing the fifth episode) is a compelling follow-through. Skeptics, bite your tongues; we’ll have to see how this one shakes out.

Available on Prime Video on April 21st.

They (slime molds) are creeping up on you …

Synopsis: In this award-winning documentary, we dive into the wild, grotesque, and oddly beautiful world of plasmodial slime mold. As fringe scientists begin to focus on the organism’s potential in biological engineering and robotics, the world of science fiction looks closer than ever. (For what it’s worth, I personally welcome our new robo-slime overlords)

Yeah, yeah, I get it. First, I recommend a mini-series, and now here I am pushing a documentary. Does a documentary about slime mold even qualify as horror? Yes. Next question. All slime is horror. Especially sentient slime that might be able to meld with computers to create a wonderfully terrifying mold apocalypse. The Creeping Garden is co-directed by Tim Grabham (KanZeOn) and author and film critic Jasper Sharp, with an original soundtrack by Jim O’Rourke, of Sonic Youth fame.

Available on ARROW on April 28th.

A documentary on the impact of one of horror’s most enduring and shape-shifting slasher franchises

Synopsis: Filmmaker Kyra Elise Gardner (daughter of SFX legend Tony Gardner) turns her camera lens on the pint-sized psycho that dominated much of her life: Chucky. Bringing together franchise alumni from behind and in front of the camera (as well as notable super fans), this documentary aims to unpack the killer doll’s legacy and the hard work that went into securing the franchise’s enduring presence in the horror community.

Yes, another documentary. No, I’m not doing this for the bit. Living With Chucky (trailer here) is a genuinely delightful and heartfelt look at one of the genre’s greatest creations. For my money, the Child’s Play franchise is one of the most rock-solid slasher series in horror (even the weak link, Child’s Play 3, is better than most things). Getting to sit with the folks who made the series what it is today —and saved it, at multiple points, from falling off the steep end of irrelevancy — is a true delight.

(I used the picture above because I need it to be common knowledge that John Waters, who has a supporting role in Seed of Chucky, half-jokingly treats a prop doll of Glen as his son. Go read 2019’s Mr. Know-It-All. It’s great).

Available on Screambox April 4th.

Streamable Horror Incoming This Month

Horror Streaming Titles Expiring Soon