Before Cuffing Season, There’s Boo Season:  New Insights From Peacock and Tinder Show Horror Movies Are the New Dating Trend

Just in time for Halloween, Tinder and Peacock are launching a new way for daters to find a boo. After seeing a 42% increase in users talking about scary movies on their Tinder bios, “Horror Movies” will now officially be available as an Interest that can be added to Tinder profiles. 

Based on this trend, Peacock and Tinder surveyed singles and found that horror may be the way to daters’ hearts with nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents agreeing that watching horror movies together is a great date activity. And almost half (49%) agreed that a shared interest in horror movies can indicate a deeper compatibility between partners. It seems those that scream together stay together.

Horror reigns supreme.

Horror (69%) was the second-favorite genre to watch on a date, just behind comedy (71%), with respondents 1.5x more likely to choose a horror film over a rom-com (44%). The responses show that the way to our hearts is more Michael Myers than Nancy Meyers. Literally. Halloween took the top spot for horror movie franchises to watch with a date followed by Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and everyone’s favorite evil doll (Chucky). Rounding out the list are The Purge and Saw in the fourth and fifth slots, respectively.

Fans can find these top horror franchises and more in a new dedicated “For You and Your Boo” date night collection starting Oct 5. Peacock is home to more than 500 Halloween Horror titles. 

Love is in the scare.

Respondents felt that the greatest benefits of watching a horror or scary movie with a date were creating an opportunity to get physically closer/cuddle (51%), sharing a thrilling experience (46%), enjoying a sense of excitement and adrenaline (46%), and breaking the ice in a fun and unconventional way (43%). Now that’s what we call gore-play. 

Third time’s the chill.

While 74% of respondents said that they’d be open to seeing a horror movie on the first date (aka love at first fright), it turns out the third date is the most common for watching a horror movie together. Though 33% of respondents also said that the date number didn't necessarily matter — it seems anytime is a good time to scream someone off of their feet.

Looking for a boo.

Singles have been taking to Tinder to find a plus-one for a spooky binge with mentions of “scary movie” (+42%) and “spooky movie” (+204%) spiking on Tinder profile bios during the month of October. To give these users a new way to connect this Boo Season, Tinder is introducing a new “Horror Movies” Interest badge to the app that can be added to their profiles. 

Here’s how users can add the new Horror Movies Interest to their profile: 

• Open Tinder and tap the Profile icon
• Tap on the pencil icon to edit your profile 
• Scroll down to Interest and search for Horror Movies
• Tap to add it to your profile

In addition to giving daters the opportunity to proudly state their horror fandom, Tinder users will also be eligible for an exclusive Peacock offer in-app available from Oct 4 to Oct 31.

Exclusive Screamings

To help singles share in the scares IRL, Tinder and Peacock are also hosting the ultimate horror movie date night in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago on none other than Friday, Oct 13. Tinder users will be able to RSVP for their city’s scary soiree through in-app notifications on Tinder beginning Oct 4.  

Peacock and Match Group, parent company of Tinder, announced a broad partnership earlier this year to leverage Peacock’s programming and Match Group’s digital technology to bring people together and make meaningful connections. And now, they’re offering daters everything they need to get through Boo Season this year.

*Methodology

An online survey was conducted in Sept 2023 to understand the preferences and perceptions of U.S. residents regarding dating and horror film choices. Insights were gathered on the dating dynamics, horror film preferences, and the interplay between these aspects among 1,000 U.S. participants. 

About Halloween Horror

NBCUniversal is bringing “Halloween Horror” to life across NBCUniversal’s portfolio of businesses and brands, including Universal Pictures, Universal Destinations & Experiences, Peacock, SYFY, TODAY, USA, and more. Universal Pictures will debut two new Blumhouse films, The Exorcist: Believer on Octr 6 exclusively in theaters and Five Nights at Freddy’s on Oct 27 in theaters and streaming on Peacock. Season 3 of the hit-series Chucky returns to SYFY and USA on Oct 4 and will be available next day on Peacock. Throughout September and October, our global theme parks are bringing NBCUniversal’s iconic horror brands, including The Exorcist: Believer, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Chucky, The Purge, Universal Monsters and more, to guests at the world’s premier Halloween event, Halloween Horror Nights. To learn more about Halloween Horror at NBCUniversal, visit nbcuniversal.com.

About Peacock

Peacock is NBCUniversal’s premium streaming service providing audiences a singular, unmatched content destination. As one of the most complete streaming products on the market, Peacock offers exclusive breakout Original series; more than 8,000 hours of live sports; hit movies right after theaters from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation and Illumination; next-day access to all new shows from NBC and Bravo; fan-favorite library content; daily live news; as well as live channels from brands including Hallmark and WWE. Built on the foundation of NBCUniversal with a spirit that is all Peacock, the platform delivers for its audiences with innovative technology, creative partnerships, and entertainment that is truly entertaining.

About Tinder

Launched in 2012, Tinder is the world’s most popular app for meeting new people and has been downloaded more than 530 million times. The app is available in 190 countries and 45+ languages. More than half of all users are 18-25 years old. In 2022, Tinder was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.