If you’re the kind of person who likes to watch Andy Muschietti’s It movies every October, we have just the show for you. Premiering on HBO just in time for Halloween is the IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, which is set in the early ’60s and tells the story of just how this little town in Maine came to be haunted by a demon clown alien. If Halloween is just another day for you, you can check out the singular Tim Robinson’s new comedy series, The Chair Company, which premieres on HBO this month as well.
There are also some seasonally appropriate movies hitting HBO Max in October, including the 2024 horror sensation The Substance and the supernatural horror film Bring Her Back, which comes from the directors behind 2022’s Talk to Me.
Below, we pulled together our picks for the month, plus a list of everything coming to HBO Max in October.
Last month’s guide: New HBO Max shows and movies in September 2025
More streaming:
The best new HBO Max movies and shows in October
HBO Max streams all HBO shows and movies when they debut on HBO. But not all shows and movies on HBO Max make it to HBO. We’ll designate HBO Max exclusives where appropriate.
The Chair Company (Oct. 12, HBO)
If you haven’t heard, 2025 belongs to Tim Robinson. Earlier this year, the man behind I Think You Should Leave co-starred opposite Paul Rudd in the dark comedy Friendship, and now he’s bringing his one-of-a-kind mind to HBO with his new series, The Chair Company. Robinson stars as Ron, a normal guy who finds himself at the center of a “vast criminal conspiracy” (his words) after experiencing an unfortunate workplace incident, which is a very likely thing to happen to a Tim Robinson character. [Trailer]
IT: Welcome to Derry (Oct. 26, HBO)
Will Bill Skarsgård ever be freed from the Pennywise makeup? Well, not anytime soon, considering that the arrival of IT: Welcome to Derry is imminent. The series acts as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films, which were in turn based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel about a malevolent clown who targets a group of kids in a small town in Maine. Set in 1962, Welcome to Derry stars Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo as a young couple who move to Derry with their son, just as children begin mysteriously disappearing. I’ll give you one clue as to who’s behind it. [Trailer]
More on HBO and Max:
All the new shows and movies coming to Max in October
Oct. 1
2 Days in New York
50 First Dates
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Alan Partridge
All Eyez on Me
Beetlejuice
Big, Beautiful Tariffs: A Fareed Zakaria Special (CNN Originals)
Broken English
Bronson
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
Christine
Confidence
Crime in the Streets
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Drag me to Hell
Edward Scissorhands
Enemy
Fay Grim
Firestarter
Freaks
Freddy vs. Jason
Friday the 13th (2009)
From Hell It Came
Gone Girl
Gremlins (1984)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween: Resurrection
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Hereditary
Highway 301
House of Wax (1953)
House on Haunted Hill (1958)
I Died a Thousand Times
I Give it a Year
Indestructible Man
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
Insidious: Chapter 2
Insidious: Chapter 3
Interview with the Vampire
Intruder in the Dust
Isle of the Dead
It’s Complicated
Krypto Saves the Day: Halloween Havoc
Lady in the Lake
Los Cronocrimenes
Macabre
Marcel the Shell with Shoes
Mirror Mirror
National Velvet
Nora Prentiss
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
Page One
Pearl: The X-Traordinary Origin Story
Phenix City Story
Poltergeist (1982)
Practical Magic
Pride
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Shame
Talk to Me (2023)
Tension
The Black Scorpion
The Brothers McMullen
The Cyclops
The Disembodied
The Exorcist (1973)
The First Monday in May
The Gangster
The Harvey Girls
The Lobster
The Monster
The Mummy (1959)
The Mummy (2017)
The Mystery of the Wax Museum
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Return of Doctor X
The Shining
The Sixth Sense
The Steel Jungle
The Switch
The Tattooed Stranger
The Unfaithful
The Walking Dead (1936)
The Watch
The Witch
Tickled
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Trick ‘r Treat
Uncut Gems
War for the Planet of the Apes
X
You Can’t Get Away with Murder
Zombies on Broadway
Oct. 2
Air India Crash: Declassified (Discovery, 2025)
E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Season 1
Mysteries of the Abandoned, Season12 (Discovery)
The Friday the 13th Murders, Season 1 (ID)
The Real Murders on Elm Street, Season 2 (ID)
Oct. 3
Bring Her Back (A24)
Where We Call Home, Season 4 (Magnolia Network)
Oct. 6
SMILING FRIENDS, Season 3 (Adult Swim)
Oct. 7
Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: It Doesn’t Have to Hurt (CNN Originals)
One Day in October, Season 1
Oct. 8
Alex vs America, Season 5 (FOOD Network)
Baylen Out Loud, Season 2 (TLC)
Oct. 9
Vgly, Season 2 (Max Original)
Oct. 10
Bugs Bunny Builders, Season 2G (Cartoon Network)
Homes With a View, Season 1 (Magnolia Network)
Lu & The Bally Bunch, Season 1D (Cartoon Network)
The Alabama Solution (HBO Original)
The Substance (MUBI)
Oct. 11
Bering Sea Gold, Season 19 (Discovery)
Impractical Jokers, Season 12A (truTV)
Oct. 12
The Chair Company, Season 1 (HBO Original)
The Snake Catcher, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
Oct. 15
7 Little Johnstons, Season 16 (TLC)
Graveyard Carz, Season 20
Mother May I Murder?, Season 2 (ID)
Pan
Oct. 17
An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally (HBO Original)
Baby Assassins Everyday!, Season 1
Beach Cottage Chronicles, Season 5 (Magnolia Network)
Ignite, Season 1
La Grande Maison Tokyo Special
La Grande Maison Tokyo, Season 1
Light of My Lion, Season 1
Love is for the Dogs, Season 1
Mr. Mikami’s Classroom, Season 1
Please Die My Beloved, Season 1
The Thaw, Season 3 (Max Original)
True Beauty, Season 1
Until I Destroyed My Husband’s Other Family, Season 1
Vivant, Season 1
Who Saw The Peacock Dance in the Jungle?, Season 1
Oct. 19
Anything But Gray, Season 1 (Magnolia Network)
Oct. 20
Haha, You Clowns, Season 1 (Adult Swim)
Oct. 21
Armed Only With A Camera: The Life And Death of Brent Renaud (HBO Original)
The Simril(l)s: A Family in Black and White, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Originals)
Oct. 22
Holmes Family Rescue, Season 3 (HGTV)
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Oct. 23
Expedition X, Season 10 (Discovery)
Dangerously Obese, Season 2 (TLC)
Oct. 24
Lakeside Retreats, Season 1 (Magnolia Network)
Teen Titans Go!, Season 9D (Cartoon Network)
Oct. 26
IT: Welcome to Derry, Season 1 (HBO Original)
Oct. 27
Naked and Afraid Brazil XL, Season 1 (discovery+)
Oct. 28
Country Doctor (HBO Original)
The United States vs. Harvard, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper (CNN Originals)
Oct. 29
American Monster, Season 13 (ID)
Survival of the Beast, Season 1 (Animal Planet)
Oct. 30
Fatal Engineering, Season 1 (Science)
Sorry, Baby (A24)
Oct. 31
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 246 (HGTV)
Jonathan Ross Haunted Homecoming, Season 1 (Travel)
Old Home Stories, Season 1 (Magnolia Network)
