By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes … Oh! It’s just the weekend! And about time, too. With a charmed (or cursed?) seven days left until Halloween, it’s the perfect time to practice your spookiest streaming ritual with a deliciously witchy watch. 

You don’t need a broomstick or a cauldron to get into the spirit this pre-Halloweekend. Just conjure up a stream about a practitioner of the art, whether sweet or sinister. You can watch a movie in which a bookish kid takes on a scary witch, a cozy anime about a girl studying at an enchanted school, or a positively chilling series about the adventures of a famous teenage witch. So go ahead and light your candles, charge your crystals, and remember that this weekend, every hour is the witching hour. 

But first, what’s new on Netflix?

A lit match. Kathryn Bigelow’s new film, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, which debuted last month at the Venice International Film Festival, is now streaming. The political thriller stars Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, and Tracy Letts (among a powerhouse ensemble) and imagines a scenario in which a missile, its origins unknown, is launched at the US, the government of which scrambles to respond. Can’t handle that kind of blowup? Stick to watching sparks fly with Season 2 of Nobody Wants This. Erin Foster’s acclaimed romantic comedy is back with a new chapter in the unlikely love story between the agnostic podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) and the rabbi Noah (Adam Brody). Don’t want that? Go deep on a piece of baseball history, right as this year’s World Series kicks off. Jean-François Poisson’s new documentary Who Killed the Montreal Expos? unpacks how the Canadian city lost its MLB team (which moved to DC 20 years ago). 

If you have just a night …

Settle in for a scary story. In David Yarovesky’s 2021 fantasy Nightbooks, based on J.A. White’s 2018 children’s book, Krysten Ritter is the vile villain Natacha, a stylish witch with a taste for spooky tales — and a habit of kidnapping children. When she captures Alex (Winslow Fegley), a boy from Brooklyn who likes writing stories, she demands he tell her a new one every night or die. Even as he spins new yarns for Natacha, Alex plots his escape alongside his new friend, Yasmin (Lidya Jewett), another captive. 

If you have a whole day … 

Go back to school. Just because it’s a witchy weekend doesn’t mean the tone has to be dark and macabre. Have an enchanting day with Little Witch Academia, a 2017 anime series created by Yoh Yoshinari and based on his earlier short films of the same name. The series follows Atsuko “Akko” Kagari, a plucky young girl attending a prestigious school for witches. When she discovers a magical artifact that could hold the key to a secret about her idol, a great witch named Shiny Chariot, she embarks on a journey to find the truth. 

If you have the entire weekend … 

Have it all. Half witch and half mortal, magical teenager Sabrina Spellman has achieved pop-culture immortality over the course of decades, from her 1960s debut in Archie Comics to various TV shows, both animated and live-action; most chillingly, she is the central character of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s 2018 supernatural horror Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, wherein the bewitching heroine is played by Kiernan Shipka. Sabrina must balance her mortal life as a teenager and her magical life as a witch, all under the guidance of her aunts Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Zelda (Miranda Otto). 

Don’t forget, you have one last chance … 

For another day of sun. Tying the Oscars record for most-nominated movie (with 14 nods) and breaking the one for youngest Best Director winner, Damien Chazelle’s 2016 musical La La Land has a dazzling history. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone star as a struggling musician and an aspiring actor, respectively, whose Hollywood romance alternately helps and hinders their artistic ambitions. Watch before the movie slips away, like a dream unfulfilled.