Halloween is a time when we embrace all things spooky. That means it’s a season when horror movies are in demand, and finding the perfect scary film for your Halloween party or movie marathon might seem like a frightening task.
It doesn’t have to be though with the library’s streaming apps, hoopla and Kanopy. These apps allow you to stream films directly to your computer or download to a device, and they've got great search options to help you narrow in on the perfect fit for your audience.
Horror on hoopla
Select “Movies” from the drop down browse menu in the top left corner of the screen in hoopla. From there, you’ll scroll down to the middle of the page where you can filter films by genre. Once you select “Horror”, you can start browsing through hoopla’s collection of new, classic, independent and major studio horror films.
If you’re after a specific horror sub-genre, or looking for one outside of your comfort zone, you can customize your horror movie search by clicking on the “See More” link to the right of the genres and collections, just above the genres you can pick from. That will take you to a page full of genres, where you’ll select “Horror”. From there, you can choose from 16 different horror sub-genres and collections that include things like ghosts, slashers and vampires. You can also select “see all horror titles".
You can further filter your selection of horror movies by user ratings, release date, and the date the movie was added to hoopla. You can also browse by language. Most of hoopla’s horror collection is in English, but they do occasionally have films in other languages as well.
When you find a title you want, click on it. You’ll be taken to a new page with details like the language it was filmed in, the year it was released, the director, stars, and a plot synopsis. Then just click on “Borrow” and your film is ready to watch.
If you’re also looking for spooky season materials in other formats, you can browse through hoopla’s horror genre collections of audiobooks, comics, e-books, and TV shows as well.
Never used hoopla before? Here's how to get started.
Creepy Clowns on Kanopy
Select the “Browse” option in the top left corner of the screen in Kanopy. You’ll then be given a number of different options to search for movies. The one you’re interested in is “Horror”, which is the second choice in the second genre row.
The horror section has a number of different rows and categories that you can peruse from left to right. Looking for something new? Try the “Recently Added” row which has brand-new releases, but also older films recently added to Kanopy. Looking for a title that’s well regarded? Try the “Most Popular” category which has historical classics like F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu, and modern classics like Wes Craven’s 1996 hit meta-horror film, Scream.
Fans looking for supernatural scares will want to check out “Ghosts, Demons, & Other Hauntings”. Creature feature lovers will find what they’re looking for in “Zombies, Vampires, & Other Monsters”. There’s also a “Horror Comedy” category for people craving macabre laughs. Plus, there’s a “Horror Shorts” category spotlighting a number of creepy films that are less than 30 minutes in length.
If you find a title that you’re interested in, select the “See More” option. There you’ll get a plot synopsis of the film and other details including the director, stars, the year the film was released, length, and the language it was filmed in. Just select “Play” and you’re ready to start watching.
New to Kanopy? Get started here.
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