Next month is officially spooky season. While the Halloween celebrations may have started early at Disney+ with the release of Hocus Pocus 2 on September 30 and promises to continue into November thanks to Netflix and Tim Burton’s coming-of-age Addams Family spin-off Wednesday, there is still plenty of brilliant TV coming in October to get excited by.
And it’s not all scary, either. From the adaptation of Tegan and Sara’s memoir High School to the long-awaited UK release of global phenomenon The Bear here’s the best TV to stream in October 2022.
Netflix
Big Mouth season six
Release details: October 28, via Netflix
Why you should care: This coming-of-age cartoon comfortably struts between toilet humour and earnest commentary on the perils of growing up. With five seasons behind it, viewers know exactly what to expect from Big Mouth, but that doesn’t mean the awkward growing pains, crude conversations and Hormone Monsters have lost any of their bite.
The Watcher
Release details: October 13, via Netflix
Why you should care: Fresh from the release of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Ryan Murphy is returning to Netflix with another show. Only moving slightly away from the world of serial killers, The Watcher is based on a true story of suburban horror. A married couple (Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale) move into their dream home but are harassed by a series of letters from a stalker named The Watcher. The brilliant Jennifer Coolidge also stars.
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Release details: October 24, via Netflix
Why you should care: An anthology of “visually stunning, spine-tingling horror” stories curated by the visionary Guillermo del Toro, Cabinet Of Curiosities is Black Mirror does Halloween as the show looks to explore “realities existing outside of our normal world”. With two episodes released every day for four days, this is the closest to event television you’ll get in the age of streaming.
The Midnight Club
Release details: October 7, via Netflix
Why you should care: The creator of The Haunting Of Hill House takes a stab at young adult television with The Midnight Club. Set around a group of terminally ill teens who meet at midnight to trade ghost stories, things take a turn for the strange after they make a pact that the first of them to die should try and contact the survivors from the other side.
Prime Video
Reginald The Vampire
Release details: October 5, via Prime Video
Why you should care: Spider-Man’s Jacob Batalon takes the lead in this comedy drama series. Reginald The Vampire is basically an underdog story that sees Batalon wrestling first with his mediocre lot in life, and then his newfound abilities as a vampire. Trailers echo the same self-aware humour that makes What We Do In The Shadows such a compelling, entertaining watch.
The Peripheral
Release details: October 21, via Prime Video
Why you should care: Chloë Grace Moretz fronts this dystopian sci-fi thriller which has been executively produced by Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Set in the near future and toying with alternative realities, it’s the most interesting example of the metaverse yet and sees Moretz back at her Kick Ass best.
The Devil’s Hour
Release details: October 28, via Prime Video
Why you should care: He only left Doctor Who a few years ago, but Peter Capaldi is back playing another apparent time traveller in The Devil’s Hour. Starring Jessica Raine as a woman who makes up every night between 3am and 4am (aka The Devil’s Hour) after suffering terrible, confusing nightmares, the dreams only start to make sense when she’s connected to a string of brutal murders. The whole thing sounds deliciously dark, blending the lines between crime drama and sci-fi thriller.
High School
Release details: October 14, via Amazon Freevee
Why you should care: Based on the memoir of the same name by the incredible Tegan and Sara – and starring twins the pair found on TikTok, High School is a coming-of-age drama that deals in identity and belonging, soundtracked by a mix of ‘90s grunge and rave anthems. Cobie Smoulders also stars as their mum, in this origin story of one of the very best bands around.
Disney+
Werewolf By Night
Release details: October 7, via Disney+
Why you should care: The latest in Marvel’s increasingly out-there experiments in tv shows, Werewolf By Night is a one-off “special presentation” that follows a secret group of monster hunters as they compete for a powerful relic while going up against a dangerous monster. Described as a “fun horror” but not shying away from the scares, the show has already been praised for its surprising violence as Marvel continues to try and break new ground.
The Bear
Release details: October 5, via Disney+
Why you should care: The sexy but intense global phenomenon is finally coming to the UK after being released in America earlier this year. Like Boiling Point, The Bear gives viewers a peak into the high-strung, chaotic and often-depressing world of catering as ambitious chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) deals with soul-crushing reality. It couldn’t be further from The Great British Bake-Off if it tried.
Other platforms
The White Lotus season two
Release details: October 30, via Sky/NOW
Why you should care: This drama about the hotel guests from hell made for a dream telly vacation from COVID life in summer 2021. It revolved around the daily goings on at the eponymous resort in Hawaii, which may sound serene but actually involved death, drugs, romance, theft, and the hotel manager Armand pooing into a suitcase. Season two shifts the focus to Sicily, in Italy, where we’ll visit another of the chain’s resorts.
Somewhere Boy
Release details: TBC October, via Channel 4
Why you should care: The latest project from the team behind The End Of The Fucking World, Somewhere Boy (formerly known as The Birth of Daniel F Harris) follows the story of Danny (Lewis Gribben) who’s spent his whole life as a recluse with his dad telling him the outside world is full of murderous monsters following the death of his mum. That illusion is shattered though and the series explores what happens when Danny “has to come to terms with a new world he never knew existed.”
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