Halloween, which is the best time of the year, is also the time when I force myself to watch or read a specific theme within the horror genre alongside my usual collection of comfort watches. Since February, when I watched Jaws [director, year] for the first time, I started to make a list of aquatic horror just to see if I would find it interesting. Thalasophobia as a concept makes sense; I would rather never know what is down there. Yet stories with those elements in a horror genre are incredibly intriguing to me. Though for the last few months, I would fall back on the habit of making lists of the media I would like to read/watch instead of actually watching or reading them. So, as I sit and watch Sinners [Coogler, 2025] for the twentieth time. Here are some aquatic and deep-sea horrors that you may want to add to your own Halloween watch list.

• Last Breath 

[ Directed by Alex Parkinson | 2025 | PG-13 | 1:33 | Survival |]

Based on a true story. Experienced deep-sea divers work together on a time crunch to save a stranded teammate with limited oxygen. This is also a dramatized remake of the same-named documentary released in 2019, directed by Parkinson. 

•  Underwater

[ Directed by William Eubank | 2020 | PG-13 | 1:35 | Psychological ]

Researchers on the Kepler 822, a drilling station based at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, find themselves on an escape mission after an earthquake destroys the station. With the escape pods damaged, huge structural damage, and minimal working equipment, the crew has to find another way to survive.

• The Dive

[ Directed by Maximillian Erlenwein | 2023 | NR | 1:31 | Survival ]

Set in a remote location, sisters Drew and May go on a diving trip to explore more of the beautiful sites. While diving, May gets trapped almost 30 meters below when a landslide affects their diving site. Leaving Drew to try and save both of them with the limited amount of oxygen they have. This is also a remake of the Swedish film, Breaking Surface (Hedén, 2020)

• The Deep

[ Written by Nick Cutter | JAN ‘15 | Lovecraftian | Psychological ]

A research lab tasked with the goal of finding a potential cure for a worldwide plague is based eight miles below the sea’s surface. When the station loses contact with the surface, a select group dives down to either resolve the situation, report back with their findings, or just end up following the same fate as those already down there.

• The Brilliant Abyss

[ Written by Helen Scales | FEB ‘21 | Nonfiction | Nature ]

This gem, written by Marine Biologist Helen Scales, delves into the mystery of the sea, while also making a case for better preservation efforts due to how much is unknown about that vast abyss. Personally, I’ve been trying to add more non-fiction outside of textbooks to my reading, though it remains on my shelf untouched until I can pair it with the next novel on this list.

• The Chamber by Will Dean

[ Written by Will Dean | JUN ‘24 | Claustrophobia | Mystery ]

Six experienced divers are locked in a hyperbaric chamber for a routine drive. Nothing too special to worry about, being trapped together. Until one of them is found dead. And another is injured. Now the remaining divers have roughly four more days until the chamber is safely decompressed, but they have no idea who to trust or who to watch out for.

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There are plenty more movies and novels within this genre, though most of the ones I acquired for this list strayed far from Jaws and The Meg, just because sharks are the classic trait of aquatic horror. These three films focus more on deep-sea diving, the dependency on your suit and your team to survive, alongside the mental strength needed when you’re alone in the ocean with little to no communication with others, and very low oxygen.

Though I find the topic within horror interesting, I have no intention of going anywhere near the sea. I am pretty settled where I am and would rather never witness a situation close to what these characters have dealt with.