Paramount+ Returns With Peak Screaming Collection to Scare Up Horror Demand

Paramount+ wants to give subscribers a reason to scream… again.

Today, the Paramount+ Peak Screaming Collection returns to the streaming service just in time for Halloween next month. The collection, which is back for its fourth year, is expanding to feature over 450 new originals, fan-favorite horror movies, and Halloween episodes from popular series. 

“Each year, we’ve gotten more robust and ambitious in terms of our content offering, as well as the way we’re merchandising and leveraging editorial to drive interest in all of our genre titles,” Jeff Grossman, head of content strategy of Paramount+, told ADWEEK. “All of our titles have touched in some way this cultural moment, and one of the advantages of our collections in the service is that we’re able to bring a huge variety of content.”

That variety of content includes everything from intense horror programming to family-friendly flicks. For example, this year’s collection includes the debut of the Paramount+ original film Apartment 7A, a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby, which premieres Sept. 27. However, the streamer is also debuting SpongeBob Squarepants: Kreepaway Kamp, an hour-long special that sees the titular sponge returning to Kamp Koral for a creepy reunion that’ll offer an homage to classic horror moments like the shower scene from Psycho.

In addition, modern box office hits such as Smile, Annabelle, and the A Quiet Place franchise will be included, along with horror series such as Dexter, Yellowjackets, Ghosts, and Evil. The collection also features a variety of new and returning curated carousels and subgenres like “Killer Classics,” “Psychological Horror,” “Horror Comedies,” “Horror Heroines,” and more.

The horror genre has grown in recent years among consumers, with Comscore data previously finding that horror films generated more than $600 million in domestic ticket sales in the United States last year. Meanwhile, this year’s hits include Neon’s Longlegs, which has surpassed $100 million at the box office, becoming 2024’s highest-grossing indie film. Another spooky offering, Warner Bros. sequel Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, made $110 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend earlier this month.

To take advantage of the enthusiasm around the genre, streaming services have beefed up their Halloween collections, with offerings like Hulu’s Huluween becoming staples of the market. And Paramount is looking to do the same with Peak Screaming.

Reaching those consumers starts with the collection curation, which Grossman said begins internally with staff and also comes from knowing the target subscriber.

“That’s just a part of our DNA in how we approach merchandising content in the service,” Grossman said. “A lot of what you’re going to see in our Peak Screaming collection is the result now of several years of cumulative knowledge about what’s resonating with our subscribers and fans of this content.”

Grossman said Paramount+ has a huge fourth quarter coming, and the collection is an integral part of it, especially as an entrance point to the fall and winter holidays.

The collection also comes during a time when the streaming service premieres high-profile non-genre content on its platform, like the second season of Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallone, the CBS fall content slate, and the NFL season.

“What we’re looking to do is not only leverage Peak Screaming to introduce new content to fans, but also to drive that library engagement and engagement with the other titles that we have in the service, and cross-pollinate that all at the same time,” Grossman said. “The goal here is to lift the engagement that we have with the service over the next several weeks.”