There are two kinds of people at a Halloween film night. The first wants blood sprayed all over the walls. The second spends the whole evening peering through their fingers and asking if it’s over yet. This list is for the second lot.
I’m perfectly happy with a scary film and a few well-placed jump scares. What I don’t enjoy is graphic gore. If a scene gets too bloody, I’ll close my eyes or fast-forward until it’s safe to look again. I’ve never been tempted by the Saw franchise, Terrifier or Hostel, (although I don’t think the first Saw film is too bad, apart from one particularly gory scene apparently). I did, however, make the mistake of watching Spiral (2021) after reading somewhere that it wasn’t gory. Whoever said that clearly has a very different idea of what constitutes a tolerable amount of blood and shocking scenes.
Scary films that aren’t gory do exist, and some of the best ones ever made fall into this camp. They scare you with a creak on the stairs, a figure in the background or a child saying something no child should know. You’ll still sleep with the landing light on and a wardrobe door firmly shut. You just won’t need a sick bucket.
How the gore scale works
Every film below gets a gore rating out of five. Zero means no graphic gore, while one or two means a brief flash of blood, an injury or something unsettling that doesn’t linger on the detail. Nothing here goes above two, because the whole point is fear without the butcher’s shop.
I’ve included the BBFC certificate where I could confirm it (opens in new tab), as it’s a useful guide to the content you can expect in the UK. Ratings aren’t a guarantee that a film won’t upset you, though, and some of these are properly frightening even without much blood.
Streaming availability changes regularly, so check JustWatch (opens in new tab) before you settle in.
The Innocents (1961)
Gore rating: 0/5
If you watch one film from this list, make it this one.
Deborah Kerr plays a governess who arrives at a grand country house to look after two orphaned children and slowly becomes convinced the place is haunted. It’s based on Henry James’s 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, with a screenplay by William Archibald and Truman Capote. Freddie Francis shot it in black and white, with exteriors at Sheffield Park in East Sussex.
Renowned movie critic, Pauline Kael, called it “the best ghost movie I have ever seen”, and I’m not going to argue with her. There’s no blood at all. What it has instead is a figure standing very still across a lake, and you’ll think about that figure for a week.
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The Others (2001)
Gore rating: 0/5
Nicole Kidman plays a mother living in a fog-bound mansion on Jersey in 1945 with her two children, who cannot be exposed to daylight. The curtains stay shut, the doors stay locked, and something seems to be moving around upstairs.
The BBFC describes the film as containing moderate threat, horror and upsetting scenes. That’s fair. It frightens you in short, sharp bursts and then lets you breathe, building its atmosphere through shadows, silence and the feeling that something is terribly wrong.
The twist is famous for a reason. Go in knowing nothing.
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The Woman in Black (2012)
Gore rating: 1/5
Daniel Radcliffe plays a young solicitor sent to sort out a dead woman’s papers in a remote house on a tidal causeway. Mist rolls in, and the rocking chairs in the nursery rock on their own. What could possibly go wrong?
This one has a surprising bit of UK film history attached. The BBFC’s notes explain that the distributor cut some moments of intense horror to secure a 12A certificate, including shots involving a ghost hanging herself and a young girl bursting into flames. A 15 certificate was available without those cuts. The version most people saw in cinemas was therefore a toned-down edit, but it’s still properly jumpy.
The scares come from things appearing in the background of the frame. Once you’ve spotted the first one, you’ll find yourself scanning every shot.
I first saw The Woman in Black in the theatre on a school trip when I was a teenager, and it absolutely terrified me. It felt as though I was actually there. I can still remember the rocking chair, the sound effects and even a smell of lavender. Of course, everything was heightened by being in an old, dark theatre, surrounded by other scared people, with that slightly trapped feeling you get when you’re too frightened to look but can’t exactly leave without making a scene.
It put me off watching the film again for years. When I finally revisited it recently, I really enjoyed it. The gothic atmosphere was just as effective, but watching from the comfort of home on a sunny Sunday afternoon made it much easier to handle. I could appreciate the craft of the scares without feeling quite so immersed in them.
It’s a good reminder that the setting in which you watch a horror film can make an enormous difference. The same film that left me traumatised on a school trip turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon’s viewing years later.
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The Sixth Sense (1999)
Gore rating: 2/5
Rated 15 by the BBFC for moderate horror, this film follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe, played by Bruce Willis, as he tries to help a boy who says he sees dead people.
Nobody is being dismembered on screen, but some of the ghosts still carry the injuries that killed them. The imagery is brief rather than graphic, which is why it earns a two rather than a higher score. It’s also a sad film. By the end, you may be more likely to be crying than hiding behind a cushion.
I saw this in the cinema when it first came out and remember being frightened, then completely shocked by the infamous twist. Watching it again recently was a different experience. I found myself feeling much more emotional than scared, and it was fun spotting all the little clues I’d missed the first time around.
It’s one of those films that rewards a second viewing because you can finally pay attention to what is happening beneath the surface. Knowing the ending doesn’t ruin it; if anything, it gives you a different way to appreciate the story.
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Ghost Stories (2017)
Gore rating: 1/5
A very British portmanteau horror from Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, adapted from their own 2010 stage play. Nyman plays a professor who debunks the paranormal and is handed three cases he can’t explain. Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse and Alex Lawther appear along the way.
It was filmed around Yorkshire, including Leeds, Saltaire and Harrogate, and it looks it: damp caravans, working men’s clubs and the sort of places where the lighting is never quite reassuring. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian compared it to the Amicus portmanteau films of the 1960s and gave it four stars.
Fair warning: the final act is odd and divides people, so don’t expect every loose end to be neatly tied up by the credits. Some viewers love the swerve; others feel cheated. Either way, you’ll probably want to talk about it afterwards.
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A Quiet Place (2018)
Gore rating: 2/5
John Krasinski directs and stars as a father trying to keep his family alive in a world where creatures hunt by sound. Emily Blunt plays his wife, and her scene with a nail on the stairs is the one everyone remembers. If you know, you know.
The BBFC gave it a 15 certificate for sustained threat. There is some blood and a handful of injuries, putting it at the upper end of this list’s gore scale, but the creatures themselves are mostly glimpsed rather than shown in graphic detail.
What makes it frightening is the silence. Every footstep matters, every small noise could be fatal, and you’ll find yourself holding your breath in your own living room. It’s a brilliant example of how anticipation can be more effective than showing everything.
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The Haunting (1963)
Gore rating: 0/5
Robert Wise’s adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House follows a small group of strangers spending a few nights in a house with a very bad reputation. The house seems to take a particular interest in Eleanor, played by Julie Harris, and the atmosphere becomes increasingly oppressive.
You never need to see a ghost. There’s a door that bulges inwards and a wall that seems to breathe, and it’s more frightening than a hundred jump scares. The film understands that what you imagine is often far worse than anything a director could put on screen.
If you haven’t watched Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House Netflix series, I highly recommend it. It’s one of the best things I’ve watched, with a brilliant balance of supernatural horror, family drama and genuine emotional weight. It also makes for an interesting companion to the original film, although Flanagan takes the source material in his own direction.
The 1999 version of The Haunting, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, is another story. I haven’t watched it since its release, but it didn’t leave much of a mark on me at the time. The 1963 original is the one I’d recommend if you want a masterclass in creating fear without relying on gore.
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Coraline (2009)
Gore rating: 0/5
For the properly faint-hearted, or a Halloween film night with a mixed audience, Coraline is a good option. It’s rated PG by the BBFC for mild scary scenes, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s all sweetness and light.
The story follows a young girl who discovers a seemingly perfect alternative version of her life, complete with another mother who has buttons instead of eyes. The Other Mother is genuinely unsettling, even as a stop-motion character, and those button eyes do an extraordinary amount of work.
The film’s spookiness becomes increasingly menacing as the story progresses. It’s imaginative, beautifully made and creepy in a way that can linger long after the credits. Plenty of adults find it more unsettling than some films with much higher age ratings.
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A few more scary films I love
The films above are a good starting point if you want atmosphere and scares without much graphic gore. But there are a few more that deserve a mention, particularly if, like me, you enjoy a genuinely frightening film as long as you don’t have to sit through a succession of bloody scenes.
Hokum (2026)
My verdict: One of my favourite horror films of the year.
Adam Scott stars as an American novelist who travels to a remote hotel in Ireland, where stories of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite begin to take hold. The setting does a lot of the work: the hotel feels isolated and unsettling, and the local folklore gives the film a wonderfully eerie quality. It is perfect for this time of year.
What I loved most was the combination of atmosphere, strong acting and the way the story keeps you guessing. You never feel entirely sure what’s coming next, which is exactly what I want from a horror film. The scares feel earned rather than simply thrown at you, and the setting stays with you afterwards.
It’s one of my standout horror watches this year, and a great choice if you want something genuinely scary that doesn’t depend solely on graphic violence.
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Oddity (2024)
My verdict: Brilliantly unsettling, although gorier than Hokum.
Also written and directed by Damian McCarthy, Oddity follows a blind medium investigating the mysterious death of her twin sister. Her investigation involves a remote house, disturbing objects and a life-size wooden figure that is every bit as unnerving as it sounds.
McCarthy is particularly good at making ordinary things feel sinister. A doorway, an empty room or something sitting quietly in the corner can become the source of a truly effective scare. The atmosphere is superb, and the performances help make the strange story feel convincing.
I found it genuinely frightening, with a great setting and the kind of tension that makes you wonder what on earth is going to happen next. It is more gory than Hokum, so it’s not quite as comfortable a recommendation for anyone who wants to avoid blood altogether. But if you can tolerate a little more, it’s well worth watching.
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The Conjuring (2013)
My verdict: A brilliant haunted-house film with some very effective jump scares.
I watched The Conjuring for the first time last year and absolutely loved it. Based on a case associated with paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, it follows a family who begin experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their new home.
What makes it work so well is the growing sense of dread. The film takes its time building the atmosphere before delivering some extremely effective scares, and James Wan knows exactly how to make a quiet room feel threatening.
The gore isn’t the main attraction here. It’s the tension, the creepy noises and the moments when you know something is wrong but can’t quite see what it is. And what’s not to love about the Warrens? Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson make the central pair an engaging presence, which helps give the film more than just a succession of scares.
If you enjoy supernatural horror, it’s a strong choice. Just be prepared to jump. That clapping scene? If you know you know…
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Insidious (2010)
My verdict: Creepy, suspenseful and full of memorable scares.
I also watched Insidious for the first time last year and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The story centres on a family whose young son falls into a coma, only for increasingly disturbing events to suggest that something far stranger is happening.
Like The Conjuring, it understands that dread is often more effective than gore. The film builds tension through strange noises, unsettling images and the feeling that something is lurking just out of sight. There are some excellent jump scares, but it’s the atmosphere that makes it work.
Lin Shaye is particularly memorable as Elise, the paranormal investigator who becomes central to the story. She’s one of those characters who makes you want to keep watching, even when the film is doing its best to frighten you into switching it off.
If you enjoy The Conjuring, this is an obvious next watch. It has a similar appetite for supernatural scares, without making graphic violence the main event.
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The Night House (2020)
My verdict: A slow-burning psychological horror for when you’re in the mood for something darker.
Rebecca Hall plays Beth, a woman grieving the death of her husband who begins to experience disturbing events in the house he built for them. As she starts looking through his belongings, she discovers details that make her question how much she really knew about him.
This is more of a psychological slow burn than a straightforward haunted-house film. The atmosphere is bleak, the story gradually becomes more unsettling, and the sense that something is wrong grows as Beth tries to make sense of what she’s seeing.
It’s a good choice if you like horror that leaves you thinking afterwards rather than simply making you jump. There are some disturbing moments, and the themes are heavier than in a traditional ghost story, so it’s worth knowing that before you settle down to watch. For me, its strength lies in the tension and the feeling of unease rather than graphic gore.
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Devil (2010)
My verdict: An underrated choice if you like suspense and a mystery to unravel.
Devil is not mentioned as often as some of the bigger supernatural horror films, but it’s one of my favourites for its suspense and the way it keeps you guessing.
The premise is simple: five strangers become trapped in a lift, and it gradually becomes clear that one of them may not be what they seem. Meanwhile, a detective outside tries to work out what’s happening before the situation becomes even worse.
The confined setting makes everything feel claustrophobic, and the story keeps you wondering where it’s going. There’s very little gore compared with many modern horror films, but plenty of tension as suspicion falls on one person after another.
It’s a good reminder that horror doesn’t need an elaborate setting or a huge budget to work. Sometimes all you need is a lift, a handful of strangers and the uncomfortable feeling that somebody in the room cannot be trusted.
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How to watch horror if you scare easily
A few small changes can make scary films much easier to sit through.
Keep the lights low, not off. Total darkness makes everything worse. A lamp in the corner won’t ruin the atmosphere, and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Choose a film you can pause. Watching at home means you can take a break when things get too much. You can also have a friend nearby who’s willing to tell you what’s happening during the bits you can’t bear to look at.
Try watching in daylight. Nobody said horror has to be a midnight activity. A ghost story at three in the afternoon, with the kettle on and the dog asleep on your feet, loses some of its power while keeping all its atmosphere. My sunny Sunday viewing of The Woman in Black is proof enough.
Don’t be afraid of spoilers. If a film is getting too much, there’s no shame in reading the plot halfway through so you know what’s coming. Spoilers are a perfectly valid coping strategy, and plenty of people enjoy a film more once they know who survives.
Turn the volume down a notch. Horror directors know how to use sound to make you jump. Lowering the volume takes the edge off sudden noises without spoiling the film itself.
And start gently. Coraline and The Haunting are good places to begin if you prefer atmosphere to shocks. The Innocents and The Others offer more traditional ghost-story scares, while A Quiet Place is one to save until you’ve built up a little nerve.
So, which scary film should you watch this Halloween?
You don’t have to enjoy gore to enjoy horror. In fact, some of the most memorable films in the genre rely on atmosphere, suspense, sound and the fear of what might be lurking just out of sight.
If you’re new to horror, start with Coraline or The Haunting. If you want a proper ghost story, try The Innocents or The Others. And if you’re ready for something more intense, The Conjuring, Insidious and Hokum deliver the sort of scares that will have you checking the corners of the room afterwards.
My own rule is simple: I’m happy to be frightened, but I don’t need to see every gruesome detail to enjoy a film. Give me a creepy setting, a story that keeps me guessing and a few genuinely good jump scares, and I’m perfectly content.
I’ll just be watching with the lights on, a hand ready to cover my eyes and absolutely no intention of putting on Terrifier.
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