From ‘Scream’ to ‘M3GAN 2.0,’ Nielsen Reveals the Most-Watched Horror Films Over the Last Five Octobers

“M3GAN 2.0” might not have been a box office success, but it was the first horror movie many viewers turned to as the Halloween season begun this year.

According to a special Halloween report from Nielsen summarizing horror movie viewership each October since 2021, the “M3GAN” sequel was the most-watched horror film on TV during the week of Oct. 1-7, with a total of 115 million viewing minutes on Peacock. (Data for the rest of this month is not yet available.) That statistic was counted across a combination of linear and streaming. Just behind it with 113 million minutes watched was the original “Scream” film from 1996, which aired on the Paramount Network and Showtime in addition to being available on multiple streamers.

Along with “M3GAN 2.0,” the horror titles that premiered in 2025 and made the chart are “Bring Her Back” at No. 3, “28 Years Later” at No. 4 and “Sinners” at No. 8. And besides “Scream,…