Horror Streamer Shudder Offers 30-Day Free Trial For Coronavirus “Shut-Ins”

If you’ve got Cabin Fever because you can’t Get Out during this Contagion, horror streamer Shudder has a Sinister little offering to help you stay entertained.

The AMC-owned service, which streams dozens of mainstream horror hits as well as a trove of hard-to-find and indie films, is offering a free 30-day trial to new customers. In a tweet announcing the deal, Shudder quipped that “Staying at home doesn’t have to be boring,” and directed newbies to enter the code SHUTIN on its website to access the monthlong trial.

Shudder regularly gives first-time subscribers a seven-day trial before charging them $4.99 per month, but apparently extended the usual try-it-out period in hopes of catching some of the folks stuck at home during increasingly widespread coronavirus shutdowns.

The service is also amping up its dispatches to current subscribers. On March 13, it started the Twitter hashtag #ShudderShutIn

, and every day since, has used the tag to recommend a film. It began with Shinichirou Ueda’s zombie film One Cut of the Dead, and has gone on to recommend Shudder original film The Room, Maori film The Dead Lands, puppetphobe’s worst nightmare Magic, and for St. Patrick’s Day, a double feature of The Citadel and Wake Wood, two Irish films featuring creepy children.

As we noted yesterday, measurement firm Nielsen expects content consumption to increase by as much as 60% while coronavirus-related social distancing guidelines and public area closures are in effect–so it’s no surprise services like Shudder want to entice those looking for something new to chew.