10 Eerie Recent Documentaries to Stream for Halloween

This four-episode series investigates a quartet of UFO sightings in Texas, Zimbabwe, Wales, and Japan, interviewing eyewitnesses and exploring the locations, as well as the cultural and historical context, in which the incidents took place. Encounters isn’t out to prove whether or not these sightings are authentic; it’s more interested in how the experience forever altered the lives of the people who believed what they saw was absolutely real. (Netflix)

The famous 1970s British haunting that inspired horror blockbuster The Conjuring 2 gets a four-part series that uses the actual audio recordings made on the scene—lip-synced by actors on a meticulously detailed set—to bring the case back to life. (Apple TV+)

Meanwhile, The Devil on Trial explores the bizarre case that inspired the third Conjuring movie, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, in which a man tried to use “I was possessed” as a legal defense during a murder trial. Turns out the real story, which features paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, is even stranger than fiction—and though this standalone documentary invites skepticism, it also allows the viewer to make up their own mind about whether or not there was anything supernatural going on. (Netflix)

This three-parter covers everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the scandal that nearly destroyed the Hare Krishnas, and features interviews with members, former members, and law enforcement. When the hippie-adjacent religion (the Beatles were fans) lost its elderly Indian guru, his power-mad American heir apparent—who’d already busied himself building a giant golden temple in the West Virginia wilderness—revealed a dark streak that included murder and worse. (Peacock)

Netflix recently released a second season of the searing Murdaugh Murders, adding three more episodes that further illuminate the downfall of Alex Murdaugh, a prominent South Carolina lawyer whose mounting personal and financial troubles climaxed with the murder of his wife and son—but included an astonishing array of wild and tragic details along the way. (Netflix)

In four episodes, this emotional docuseries traces a man’s decades-long quest to investigate the truth about his brother’s mysterious death—a plunge from an Australian cliff that authorities determined was suicide, but he always believed was accidental or even murder. While the facts of the case itself are fascinating, Never Let Him Go also digs into a dark chapter of homophobic history, and examines how wealth and influence can both help and harm the solving of high-profile crimes. (Hulu)

The fact that a single family enfolded one of America’s most high-profile child kidnapping cases of the 1970s and one of America’s most notorious serial-killer cases of the 1990s is maybe the ultimate docuseries fodder. This true crime three-parter approaches the sensation with sensitivity, and is a chilling reminder that sometimes real life is far scarier than anything a horror movie writer could dream up. (Hulu)

The Indonesian justice system—not to mention the country’s press and court of public opinion—come under the microscope in this standalone documentary following the sensational case of a young woman accused of murdering her best friend by slipping cyanide into her drink at a coffee shop. (Netflix)

If Krishnas piqued your interest in religious movements gone wrong, this four-part deep dive into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—with a particular focus on how young women were mistreated within its insular ranks—is sure to send you even further down the rabbit hole. (Netflix)

Netflix’s revival of the long-running series with the ear-worm theme song puts a modern spin on its classic format—no more corny re-enactments—but stays true to what made the show so popular in its first incarnation, weaving tales that will puzzle even the most jaded armchair investigator. There are three seasons (so far) of the new Unsolved Mysteries, with the most recent arriving in 2022. (Netflix)