How to watch the Halloween movies in order online

Michael Myers in Halloween (1978)
(Image credit: TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy Stock Photo)

Trying to watch the Halloween movies in order is an exercise in timeline management for true horror fans. Right as Halloween Ends is about to come out and finish the H40 series (or so we think) on October 17, we've put together the ultimate guide for how to stream the Halloween movies, with where to find them online and the lists of different timelines.

Yes, somehow a slasher movie series about the troubled Michael Myers and a high schooler named Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has gotten so complicated that an article explaining the multitude of ways to watch is necessary. We're not sure if any one person is to be blamed, but we've got everything you need to be caught up for the next chapter of the H40 timeline.

And, yes, if you didn't know the H40 timeline gets its name because Halloween (2018) is a direct sequel to Halloween (1978), which came out 40 years earlier.

If watching the Halloween movies in order only whets your appetite for more, check out our guides to the best horror movies on Netflix and the best scary movies on Hulu. We're going to do our best to keep your well-stocked with scares and frights this spooky season.

Where to watch the Halloween movies in order

Unfortunately, actually streaming Halloween movies in order is a bloody nightmare. The films aren't all on the same network or streaming service. Most seem to be available through AMC, in one way or another. 

Many of the Halloween movies can be streamed with either an $8.99 per month AMC+ subscription (which is available through Amazon Channels) or the $65 per month fuboTV, one of the best cable TV alternatives. But if AMC loses those movies, or fuboTV loses AMC, you're out of luck. Shudder has some, and various Halloween movies are on cable TV providers DirecTV and Spectrum. Some are on Paramount Plus 

Then there's Halloween (2018), the second and most start of the rebooted H40 timeline. It isn't on a streaming service yet, so you'll have to pay for a la carte, on Amazon or Apple or any of the other usual suspects.

Halloween movies in order of release

This is the dead simple way to watch the Halloween movies, as they were originally released. And if it sounds like we're not a fan of this style, it's just that ... well, it may force you to backtrack to understand things when new timelines begin.

We'll get to that below.

  1. Halloween (1978): Stream on Shudder, AMC+
  2. Halloween II (1981): Stream on Peacock
  3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982): Stream on Peacock
  4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988): Stream on Shudder, AMC+, fuboTV (via AMC) and DirecTV
  5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989): Stream on Shudder, fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV
  6. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995): AMC+, DirecTV and Pluto
  7. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998): Stream on Paramount Plus, fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV
  8. Halloween Resurrection (2002): Stream on fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV 
  9. Halloween (2007): Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple
  10. H2: Halloween II (2009): Stream on Peacock
  11. Halloween (2018): Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple
  12. Halloween Kills (2021): Stream on HBO Max
  13. Halloween Ends (2022): Stream on Peacock starting Oct. 14

Halloween movies in order of sequel timeline

MIchael Myers killing a nurse in Halloween II

(Image credit: Photo 12 / Alamy Stock Photo)

For those sticking with the original series of Halloween movies, there is one trick to watching the original series of Halloween movies in the sequel timeline (named as such because this is the timeline with the first set of sequels). Jump right from Halloween II to Halloween 4, skipping Halloween III. 

1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch has nothing to do with Michael Myers, and therefore doesn't really effect the story of the first two Halloween movies, and the Return/Revenge/Curse trilogy of Michael Myers films that follows it.

  1. Halloween (1978): Stream on Shudder, AMC+
  2. Halloween II (1981): Stream on fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+
  3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982): Stream on AMC+, Spectrum TV, fuboTV (via AMC) and DirecTV
  4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988): Stream on Shudder, AMC+, fuboTV (via AMC), DirecTV and Spectrum
  5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989): Stream on Shudder, fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV
  6. Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995): Paramount Plus, DirecTV and Spectrum

Halloween movies in order of H20 timeline

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later

(Image credit: United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo)

The next timeline to be aware of is the short-lived late-90's early-00's series known as H20, because the first new movie in this set was released 20 years after the original Halloween. This timeline starts with Halloween and Halloween II, and then moves into two new movies. It resurrected the Halloween films right in that era's horror boom, which was started through the massively popular Scream films. 

If you've already seen Halloween's Sequel Timeline, the thing to know about these movies is that they ignore the events of Halloween 4, 5 and 6, including Laurie's car crash/death — which has been transformed into a story of how she faked her death. She's now living under the pseudonym Keri Tate, a teacher.

  1. Halloween (1978): Stream on Shudder, AMC+
  2. Halloween II (1981): Stream on Peacock
  3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998): Stream on Paramount Plus, fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV
  4. Halloween Resurrection (2002): Stream on fuboTV (via AMC), AMC+ and DirecTV

Halloween movies in order of H40 timeline

JAMIE LEE CURTIS in HALLOWEEN (2018)

(Image credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo)

The Halloween H40 timeline, which is still active, has only two movies you need to see before Halloween Kills comes out. That's the original Halloween (which is easy to find, and free on The Roku Channel), and the 2018 Halloween movie directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Jeff Fradley and actor Danny McBride. 

The H40 movies start with Laurie Strode being something of a black sheep in her own family, still living with the shock and grief of the events of the original Halloween.

  1. Halloween (1978): Stream on Shudder, AMC+
  2. Halloween (2018): Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple
  3. Halloween Kills (2021): Stream on HBO Max
  4. Halloween Ends (2022): Stream on Peacock starting Oct. 14

Halloween movies in order of reboot timeline

Rob Zombie wrote, directed and produced the two-film Halloween reboot movies. Halloween (2007) is basically an origin story for Michael Myers, while Halloween II (2009) focuses on the connection between Strode and Myers.

  1. Halloween (2007): Rent/buy on Amazon or Apple
  2. H2: Halloween II (2009): Stream on Peacock

Halloween movies in order of Anthology timeline

We didn't forget Halloween 3, but we're sure most already have. It's the sole Halloween movie without Myers in it, and it treats Halloween and Halloween II (1981) as fictions. 

  1. Halloween (1978): Stream on Shudder, AMC+
  2. Halloween II (1981): Stream on Peacock
  3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982): Stream on Peacock

Next: Check out how to make fake blood for Halloween!

Henry T. Casey
Managing Editor (Entertainment, Streaming)

Henry is a managing editor at Tom’s Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.