Since spooky season is here, we decided we must list one of the most underrated horror subgenres: time loops.

Getting caught in a time loop without a time travel spell sounds horrifying. So, how do these fictional characters fare?

Don’t Come Home (2024) - Series

You sit down, thinking you’re watching another haunted house mystery, but then it swerves a sharp bend into a heartbreaking time loop horror.

Our protagonist, Varee, arrives at her old home with her daughter, Min, who disappears inside the house. We are made to believe it’s supernatural, and then we think it’s psychological because the police can’t find any proof that Min exists. Just when the plot gets convoluted, we’re taken back in time and meet the person who started it all.

We meet Panida, Varee’s mother, who could have benefited from a go back in time spell. Her grief tears the fabric of time. This Thai series is a must-watch if you enjoy time loop horror!

Triangle (2009) - Movie

Exploring the themes of punishment and sin, Triangle is a relatively underrated sci-fi movie.

The British-Australian time loop horror follows a group of friends on a boat trip that goes incredibly wrong. Jess, our protagonist, is the only one who’s aware. As the bizarre plot unfolds, we realise the loop is Jess’s punishment, her Sisyphean task in the afterlife.

Was she a good mother? Could a time travel spell have helped her escape this hellish loop? The mythological parallels are unique, and when combined with a contemporary look at sin, punishment, and time travel, they deliver a compelling story.

The Call (2020) - Movie

The Call isn’t just a time-travelling South Korean movie–it’s a grim drama that’s psychologically thrilling.

In this movie, we meet Kim Seoyeon, a woman estranged from her mother. When she returns to her childhood home to take care of her sick mother, she finds a cordless telephone. Since she damaged her mobile phone, she starts to use this telephone, and soon discovers she can make calls 20 years in the past to the same house.

Seoyeon connected with Youngsook, a girl who used to live in the same house two decades ago. The two women develop a connection across time. Soon, Seoyeon learns that Youngsook died years later, so she proceeds to change the past to save her friend. However, this only triggers a series of events that keep escalating.

This is one of those instances when a spell for time travel wouldn’t have helped Seoyeon. Especially, when we learn that Youngsook isn’t who she says she is, and the trail of terror she leaves behind affects the past and the future. The Call is a movie whose challenging, twisting narrative requires your entire attention.

Russian Doll (2019)- Series

Netflix’s Russian Doll is a series for an edgier audience. It tackles addiction and psychological wounds as its core themes. We meet Nadia, who could do with a how to go back in time spell.

Nadia is leaving her 36th birthday party when she’s killed by a car. Instead of an afterlife, she wakes up in her garishly decorated bathroom, and the day starts all over again, and again. While comparisons with Triangle or Happy Death Day are unavoidable, the premise is still compelling. What is Nadia going to do? Is she going to write this off as a drug-fuelled hallucination? How can anyone tackle the endless despair of eternally reliving the last moments of their life?

Koko-di Koko-da (2019) - Movie

Elin and Tobias go camping as a last resort to save their marriage, which has been crumbling since their young daughter died. On the first morning, they are attacked and killed by three oddly dressed figures, resembling the characters of a nursery rhyme. Elin and Tobias wake up again, and the cycle begins. The couple soon realizes they are caught in a time loop.

Koko-di Koko-da is a Danish/Swedish production that is part horror and part dark surrealist fantasy. It explores grief’s monstrous shadow. Unlike most of the movies and series in this list, this one is much more nightmarish and uncanny.

Real Life is Stranger Than Fiction

Even if this list is filled with fictional stories, it doesn’t mean time travel is simple in real life. If you want to buy spells online, only trust the reputable ones, like Jessica Black’s Spells Collections.

Always check how reliable a spell caster online is.

We hope you enjoy your spooky month with these chilling time loop movies and series!