Looking for something to keep you screaming streaming?

From thrillers and mysteries to slashers and ghost stories, Amazon Prime Video has a killer lineup of terrifying titles perfect for scaring up your movie night. Whether you’re in the mood for a creepy comedy with some teeth, a menacing mystery with a twist ending, or an original nightmare not so easily described, Prime Video has tons of great horror movies included free with your subscription.

You have other options too, of course. Netflix has a ton of great horror movies to choose from. So does Hulu. If you have a streaming subscription in your life, you have a library of fright-filled scarefests that you might not even know about. Amazon Prime Video is just one more option in a long lineup of them.

But what battles should you brave first? To help you get started on your binge, here are the 20 best horror movies now streaming free on Amazon Prime Video.

1. Unsane

Steven Soderbergh’s feature-length fright fest made on the iPhone 7 is claustrophobic in all the best ways. In Unsane, Claire Foy plays a woman plagued by a dangerous stalker. But when she seeks counseling for her trauma, she finds her sanity in question and her safety at risk. What follows is a nail-biting nightmare with a twist last act sure to get a big (if not entirely good) reaction out of you.

How to watch: Unsane is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

2. Suspiria (2018)

This 2018 Suspiria remake has been described by director Luca Guadagnino and star Tilda Swinton as a “cover” of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic — exploring rather than mimicking Argento’s perspective on supernatural horror. With this mission in mind, Suspiria is a gratifying watch that exemplifies how identical genre tropes can be employed for disparate emotional effects. Yes, it’s all fear, but fear of different kinds that present an unsettling experience unto itself.

How to watch: Suspiria (2018) is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

3. The Love Witch

Scrolling past The Love Witch, it’s easy to mistake writer-director Anna Biller’s 2016 title with a forgotten gem of the 1960s. Designed to mirror the glamorous Hollywood of old, this story of a magical temptress looking for romance offers both camp and tragedy. Star Samantha Robinson shines as the bewitching Elaine, an understated icon of feminist horror well worth meeting.

How to watch: The Love Witch is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

4. Come To Daddy

Top to bottom, director Ant Timpson’s Come To Daddy is bonkers. In this comedic thriller with some serious gore, Elijah Wood portrays a son visiting his estranged father, played by Stephen McHattie, when he is unexpectedly confronted by his father’s past. Full of some killer twists and turns — seriously, buckle up — this one is better left unspoiled.

How to watch: Come to Daddy is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

5. The Lighthouse

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star in this absolutely baffling inquiry into sanity. Known for his feature-length debut The Witch, director Robert Eggers delivers intense atmosphere and explosive performances in this stark, black-and-white tale of a two men stationed at a remote lighthouse. (If at the end you’re left wondering what it all means, don’t worry — us too.)

How to watch: The Lighthouse is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

6. We Need To Talk About Kevin

We Need To Talk About Kevin is an exploration of warning signs and violence that’s sure to leave many viewers feeling unsteady. Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly lead as the parents of Kevin, a disturbed teenager played by Ezra Miller, who goes on an unexplained killing spree. More meditative than attention-grabbing, director Lynne Ramsay’s psychological thriller asks you to make sense of the senseless, even as this tale’s inescapably horrible conclusion looms large.

How to watch: We Need To Talk About Kevin is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

7. The Neon Demon

If Vogue released an issue in collaboration with the Necronimcon, its contents might resemble something like director Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon. Starring Elle Fanning as a doomed ingénue, this stylish fever dream explores the Los Angeles modeling scene for an indictment of western beauty standards and commercialization that’s as captivating as it is biting.

How to watch: The Neon Demon is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

8. Hellraiser

From the phenomenally twisted mind of Clive Barker, the original Hellraiser is as scary today as it ever was. Descend into this puzzling world of monstrous torture (see what I did there?) with genre icon Pinhead, played by Doug Bradley, facing off against protagonist Kirsty, played by Ashley Laurence. No matter where you stand on the most recent Hellraiser installments, it’s hard to deny that this 1987 nightmare is an all-time great.

How to watch: Hellraiser is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

9. Midsommar

Following the critical success of Hereditary, writer-director Ari Aster returned to theaters with an eerie fairytale starring Florence Pugh. Midsommar is an atmospheric drama that turns the occult abduction formula inside out for a trippy meditation on acceptance and rejection that’s more intense than terrifying. If you’re looking for big, beautiful, haunting images accompanied by excellent characters and production design, this is your pick.

How to watch: Midsommar is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

10. The Ring

Director Gore Verbinkski’s The Ring doesn’t hold up in all of the ways we’d like (the film’s intentionally jarring narrative devices have aged more like continuity problems, tbh), but it remains a pivotal title in aughts horror history that’s enough fun to merit a rewatch. Naomi Watts stars as an investigative journalist who stumbles across a VHS tape with a deadly history.

How to watch: The Ring is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

11. Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Rear Window. The whole movie is confined to the apartment of L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart), a photographer stuck at home with a broken leg. He observes his neighbors through his rear window in order to pass the time, but everything changes when he witnesses a sinister act. Hitchcock masterfully uses the claustrophobia of Jefferies’ plight to build tension throughout this classic mystery, resulting in one of the greatest thrillers of all time. —Belen Edwards, Entertainment Fellow

How to watch: Rear Window is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

12. Alien

Alien isn’t just one of the best space movies of all time — it’s also one of the best movies of all time, full stop. Thanks to Ridley Scott’s direction and visual design led by Swiss artist H. R. Giger, this science-fiction horror film is genuinely creepy and claustrophobic, taking our intrinsic fear of dark and narrow corridors and using it to masterful effect. In a lot of ways, Scott’s sci-fi behemoth set a template for future space movies. —Sam Haysom, Senior UK Culture Reporter

How to watch: Alien is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

13. The Monster Squad

It’s really more of a comedy than a horror, and a family-friendly comedy at that. But this family-friendly comedy classic features a supernatural rogue’s gallery of household movie monsters — baddies like Dracula, Wolf Man (who, it should be noted, has nards), and the Mummy — going up against a gang of kids. Call it a cult favorite, call it the Goonies of horror movies— call it whatever you want, really. The Monster Squad kicks ass. —Adam Rosenberg, Weekend Editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: The Monster Squad is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.

This story was originally published in March 2020 and updated in August 2021.

Looking to spike your cortisol levels? Then we’ve got the Netflix streaming guide for you.

From old frights to new fears, we’ve scoured Netflix’s horror catalog to find the best cinematic nightmares for darkening your device. Of course, not all terrifying titles are born of the same fire and brimstone — so we’ve included a variety of ethereal ghost stories, stark home invasion horrors, psychological thrillers, classic creeps, satirical scares, and more. Yes, Netflix originals like the Fear Street trilogy and I’m Thinking of Ending Things are on here. But we’ve also got genre staples like Insidious and The Strangers, plus hidden gems like 1BR and Creep.

Here are 20 of the best scary movies currently streaming on Netflix — all of them packed with eerie entertainment value because you don’t need to sleep ever again. Happy haunting!

20. The Babysitter (2017)

Y’know, I’m not sure The Babysitter really works as a movie, it’s more the idea of a movie loosely strung together by one-liners and style. Still, it’s a fun way to kill a few hours. Samara Weaving stars as the titular childcare professional, a popular teen with a passion for human sacrifice and one-liners. Judah Lewis stars as the kid being babysat, with supporting performances by Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, and Andrew Bachelor. The sequel, released this past September, is more of the same — so if you like the first, do a double feature.

Where to watch: The Babysitter is now streaming on Netflix.

19. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

From the dude behind the brilliant 2014 psychological thriller Nightcrawler comes a hilarious — and horrifying — send-up of the Los Angeles art scene. In writer-director Dan Gilroy’s epic Velvet Buzzsaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, and half a dozen other performers you probably love act their hearts out as fine art appreciators hunted down and killed by their priceless pieces. (Seriously, Billy Magnussen gets strangled by a painting of monkeys. It’s awesome.)

Where to watch: Velvet Buzzsaw is now streaming on Netflix.

18. Blood Red Sky (2021)

Netflix’s Blood Red Sky is one of those horror movies made so much better by knowing as little as possible going into it that I’m going to try to say as little as possible to get you to watch it. Directed by Peter Thorwarth, who co-wrote the script with Stefan Holtz, this action horror adventure combines the best parts of Flight Plan with tinges of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Star Peri Baumeister is completely breathtaking as a woman attempting to protect her son from hijackers aboard a transatlantic voyage.

Where to watch: Blood Red Sky is now streaming on Netflix.

17. The Ritual (2018)

In director David Bruckner’s scenic tour of a hellscape, four pals hike through northern Sweden to honor a departed friend. Of course, their trip soon morphs into a torturous and never-ending nightmare — with a killer lead performance by Rafe Spall. Slippery and divisive, this movie begs to be picked apart. More likely than not, you’ll love the world it creates but hate the way it ends. Or, like me, you’ll love the world it creates and how it ends. Have fun with it! And pack bug spray!

Where to watch: The Ritual is now streaming on Netflix.

16. Apostle (2018)

Before Michael Sheen became the Angel Aziraphale in Amazon’s Good Omens, he celebrated religion in a, uh… “different” way. Apostle is a completely bonkers period horror film that features Sheen at his most terrifying, playing a cult leader with an affinity for bloodletting and other “creative” religious sacraments. Lead Dan Stevens keeps the slow-paced narrative moving, with stunning supporting performances by The Politician‘s Lucy Boynton and Welsh stage actor Mark Lewis Jones.

Where to watch: Apostle is now streaming on Netflix.

15. 1BR (2020)

Writer-director David Marmor’s 1BR is like the bratty little sister The Invitation (now streaming on never had — and I mean that as the highest compliment. Nicole Brydon Bloom stars as Sarah, an aspiring costume designer who moves into a seemingly perfect apartment complex only to find herself trapped in an insidious scheme. Better left unspoiled, 1BR is a great time for folks who can handle a little gore, and one especially grim scene involving a cat.

Where to watch: 1BR is now streaming on Netflix.

14. Cam (2018)

One of the most underrated titles in Netflix’s original horror catalog, Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber’s Cam combines the tumultuous world of professional webcam modeling with the insidious terrors of a body-snatching whodunnit. The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Madeline Brewer stars as Alice Ackerman, an ambitious performer eager to climb up the digital ranks who finds herself confronted with a doppelgänger gunning to take her spot, her fans, and maybe, her life.

Where to watch: Cam is now streaming on Netflix.

13. Hush (2016)

Genius writer-director Mike Flanagan tackles the home invasion subgenre with remarkable clarity and creativity in the completely excellent Hush. Kate Siegel stars as an author living in the woods, who must use everything at her disposal to outsmart a killer. If you’re looking for pure, unfettered suspense, then this is the title to cue up right now.

Where to watch: Hush is now streaming on Netflix.

12. 1922 (2017)

Directed by Zak Halditch and based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name, 1922 tackles classic themes of guilt, envy, and evil through the grim lens of the American Dust Bowl. Thomas Jane and Molly Parker square-off to striking effect, painting a portrait of a marriage that is as at once remarkably absurd and nauseatingly plausible. The couple’s son, played by Dylan Schmid, is just as compelling, with a heartbreaking storyline you won’t soon forget. (FYI fans of the book, there are big changes to the adaptation’s ending that didn’t bother me, but could bother you.)

Where to watch: 1922 is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Unfriended (2014)

I will defend director Levan Gabriadze’s oft-maligned Unfriended until my dying day. Yes, the title is stupid. Sure, some of the acting could be better. Of course, that isn’t what the average blender would really do to a human hand. (An immersion blender, maybe.) Still, I challenge you to watch this sucker on a laptop and not feel something lurking behind your browser for days to come. It’s got a good story, excellent pacing, and enough solid jokes and gore to make its comedy a high point.

Where to watch: Unfriended is now streaming on Netflix.

10. Insidious (2010)

The Insidious franchise went out with a whimper on The Last Key (2018), but the original remains an electric horror experience with some of the most memorable scares ever.

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins star as a family haunted by a demonic presence who won’t go down without a fight. If you’re a fan of director James Wan’s The Conjuring universe who hasn’t gotten fully obsessed with this interdimensional fright fest yet, you’re missing out on its perfectly maintained tension and killer world-building. Here’s hoping Insidious 5 helps bring this narrative back to its satisfying beginnings.

Where to watch: Insidious is now streaming on Netflix.

9. The Fear Street trilogy (2021)

Director Leigh Janiak pulls off a small movie miracle in her Fear Street trilogy, delivering consistently fun and fright-filled sequels that just keep getting better. Start your journey off with Fear Street Part One: 1994, in which we meet the cursed teens of a town named Shadyside. For years, the suburban haven has been terrorized by mass murderers — all of them normal townspeople who seemingly “snapped” over nothing.

Across Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and Fear Street Part Three: 1666, get to the bottom of the mystery behind these killings and their connection to the legendary Shadyside Witch. Based on the Fear Street books by R.L. Stine, this is a punchy slasher with enough gore and goofs to fuel a straight-through binge.

Where to watch: Fear Street is now streaming on Netflix.

8. The Perfection (2019)

From cellos and foreplay to hallucinations and hiking, The Perfection does absolutely whatever it wants. Featuring Allison Williams in her best role since Get Out and Dear White People‘s Logan Browning in her best part ever, this vibrant genre blend will get a reaction out of you. Not necessarily a good reaction, but a reaction nonetheless. It’s body horror meets psychological thriller meets occult drama meets classical music. With bugs. And vomit. I, for one, loved it!

Where to watch: The Perfection is now streaming on Netflix.

7. His House (2020)

Writer-director Remi Weekes’ His House is easily my favorite scary Netflix release of the year. Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu star as refugees from South Sudan seeking asylum in Britain who are assigned to live in an eerie neighborhood where they aren’t welcome. Spectacularly frightening and ruthlessly critical of its subject matter, His House delivers everything it must — and then some.

Where to watch: His House is now streaming on Netflix.

6. It Comes at Night (2017)

As far as infectious disease-fueled apocalypses go (how topical!), It Comes at Night is hard to beat. Written and directed by Trey Edward Shults, this poignant 2017 film infuses every minute of its runtime with an increasing sense of panic as regular people grapple with doing whatever it takes to survive. Joel Edgerton leaves it all on film, and Christopher Abbott does his best movie work yet.

Where to watch: It Comes at Night is now streaming on Netflix.

5. Gerald’s Game (2017)

Another romp from Mike Flanagan, based on one of Stephen King’s lesser known terrors, Gerald’s Game follows a couple on a romantic trip to a remote cabin where things are totally fine and nothing bad happens. Just kidding! It’s so, so, so bad! This survival thriller rooted in psychosexual trauma offers an exquisite performance by Carla Gugino who is devastating nearly every moment she is on screen. Really. It’s Haunting of Hill House times 10. Watch it for her.

Where to watch: Gerald’s Game is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Crimson Peak (2015)

Directed by creature connoisseur Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak is a dark gothic fantasy you’ll want to fall into head-first. Mia Wasikowska leads as a 19th-century American heiress, whisked away to England by her handsome new husband, played by Tom Hiddleston. Once the young bride arrives at her groom’s family mansion, however, visions of ghosts begin to plague her. That her sister-in-law, played by Jessica Chastain, treats her with mysterious disdain isn’t helping.

An epic mystery with more exquisite scenes than you can count, this spectacular ghost story gives longtime del Toro fans the horror flick they’ve always wanted from the iconic director.

Where to watch: Crimson Peak is now streaming on Netflix.

3. Creep (2015)

Oh, you thought you liked Mark Duplass? Because he was the love interest in all those indie rom-coms, played that doctor in The Mindy Project, and is easily the best character in The Morning Show? Well, think again! In Creep, a found-footage film that foregoes pageantry for a stark sense of panic, Duplass plays a strange loner named Josef that freelance documentarian Aaron, played by writer-director Patrick Brice, can’t quite pin down. Duplass’ performance is intoxicating, and Brice imagines a universe so compelling it absolutely merits its equally great sequel (also on Netflix.)

Where to watch: Creep is now streaming on Netflix.

2. The Strangers (2008)

Playing on one of humanity’s most common fears, The Strangers is a stark home invasion story that prioritizes believability above all else. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as a traveling couple who receive unexpected visitors at the house where they’re staying. When the mysterious guests break into the home and refuse to leave, a slow-burn nightmare sets in.

With some of the best jump scares in the biz and the emotion to back them up, writer-director Bryan Bertino delivers a genuinely scary outing with The Strangers. This is a film best enjoyed with the lights off, the volume up, and the door locked.

Where to watch: The Strangers is now streaming on Netflix.

1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Emotional demolitions expert/filmmaker Charlie Kaufman destroys audiences once more in the mind-boggling I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Adapted from Iain Reid’s novel of the same name, this cryptically titled psychological thriller follows a woman, played by Jessie Buckley, and her boyfriend, played by Jesse Plemons, on a disturbing visit to his parents’ remote farmhouse. What follows? Well, that depends on who you ask.

A transfixing meditation on art, existence, value, authorship, isolation, and more, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a truly one-of-a-kind experience as profound as it is disquieting. You may not have a great time in this house of abstract horrors (especially when Toni Collette is onscreen doing those classically terrifying Toni Collette things), but it will be a lasting one. *

Where to watch: I’m Thinking of Ending Things is streaming on Netflix.

A Columbia University study found that actively de-stressing could bring the color back to gray hairs — but there’s a lot we still need to figure out.

MIT scientists developed a new algorithm that assists robots in identifying motion plans, which will keep humans safe while robots help them.

The swirling enormity of spiral galaxies never gets old.

Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and shared with the public on Friday, spiral galaxy IC 1954 is a drop-dead gorgeous celestial object that is helping scientists understand how young stars manifest from clouds of cold gas.

By combining this highly detailed image of the galaxy with radio data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, scientists can piece together a clearer picture of star formation, the European Space Agency explained in the image post.

IC 1954 is roughly 45 million light-years away from Earth, and Hubble’s new-ish Wide Field Camera 3 was able to soak in both visible light and ultraviolet light from the galaxy over long exposures to give us this final product.

From a bright, active core extend its gaseous, dusty, star-filled arms, similar to our own Milky Way galaxy. As the galaxy spins, all that gas and dust continuously collides and congeals into stars, with leftover material making up planets, moons, asteroid belts, and all the other stuff you can come across in space.

This particular observation sets the stage for the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, a combined effort from NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency set to launch this fall. It will be both the biggest and most technologically advanced space telescope in history.

PC component maker Gigabyte suffered a ransomware attack on Friday, according to local Taiwanese media. But the incident appears to have only hit a few internal servers, not the company’s production systems. 

The affected servers are already back online, Gigabyte told Taiwan’s United Daily News. Once the attack was detected, the company’s IT security teams promptly took action to contain the threat. 

It’s unclear how the intrusion occurred. But a ransomware attack can arrive via a phishing email laced with malware or when a hacker exploits a vulnerability in a company’s IT systems. The attack will then seek to spread across the company’s computers and servers with the goal of encrypting as much information as possible. To free the data, the victim has to pay up, usually in Bitcoin. 

In this case, it seems Gigabyte had backups on hand. Nevertheless, the hackers behind the attack claim they also stole a trove of files from the company. 

Tweet may have been deleted

The group RansomExx is claiming responsibility for the attack, Recorded Future reports. They allegedly stole 112GB of company data during the intrusion, and are threatening to dump the files unless Gigabyte pays up. 

RansomExx has already created a private page on the dark web that contains alleged samples of the stolen files. “We have downloaded 112 GB (120,971,743,713 bytes) of your files and we are ready to PUBLISH it. Many of them are under NDA (Intel, AMD, American Megatrends),” the extortion page says, according to Recorded Future. 

Gigabyte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But according to Taiwanese media, the company is investigating how the breach occurred and working to bolster Gigabyte’s IT security.

New to TikTok and want to learn how to follow your new fave TikTokers? We’ve got you covered.

Following a user on TikTok is very straightforward and makes it so their videos will show up on your “Following” page. Following a user will also help curate your “For You” page.

If you’re sick of a creator’s content, don’t worry you can just as easily unfollow them.

Follow the steps below to learn how follow and unfollow people on TikTok.

How to follow someone on TikTok:

1. Open TikTok

2. Navigate to the profile of the user you want to follow

If they are on your “For You” page, tap their username or the icon with their avatar along with a “+” symbol on it to access their profile. To search for a profile, tap the magnifying glass icon on the bottom left and search the user you want to follow.

3. Tap follow

When you are following someone a message option will come up on their profile and there will be an icon of a person with a check mark.

How to unfollow someone on TikTok:

1. Open TikTok

2. Navigate to the profile of the user you want to unfollow

If they are on your fyp, tap their username to access their profile. To search for a profile, tap the magnifying glass icon on the bottom left and search the user you want to follow.

3. Tap the person icon with the check mark to unfollow the user

Now that you’ve mastered the art of following and unfollowing TikTok users, want to learn how to download a TikTok?

Or maybe you want to know how to find a specific user on TikTok?

If you were to time travel to Paris to the Olympic Games in 1900, when women were first allowed to compete, you would probably be shocked by what they wore.

Instead of the skimpier attire we’re used to seeing on women athletes, like the bikini bottoms Olympic beach volleyball players — just the ladies, mind you — usually wear, you’d see white women dressed in ankle-length dresses that also covered their arms and necks. At the time, women were only allowed to compete in tennis, sailing, croquet, golf, and horseback riding and made up just 2 percent of all athletes in the Games.

These women didn’t choose their outfits. Rather, the organizers of the Games thought women’s bodies would distract the male athletes, according to Fast Company. So they made them hide their bodies, often in restricted outfits that prevented the women from playing comfortably. A photograph of a female tennis player in 1900 shows her wearing a long skirt, long-sleeve button down, and a bowtie. Meanwhile, a male pro tennis player was depicted in a 1904 Vanity Fair cartoon wearing slacks and a long-sleeve button down, undone at the neck. The men who competed in discus at the 1908 Olympic Games wore loose shirts and shorts falling just above their knees, same with men who ran track, and men who played lacrosse that year. At the 1912 Games, male gymnasts were photographed wearing tight-fitting pants and shirts; women gymnasts can be seen in loose blouses and long skirts.

By 1932, women’s Olympic uniforms employed less and less fabric and tightly hugged or emphasized female athletes’ curves, like ones you’d see today. The trend continued this month in Tokyo.

However, over time, female athletes rebelled against the sexist expectations connected to their uniforms. They pushed the boundaries of what people expected them to wear by choosing what they found comfortable and stylish instead. And their influence spread beyond their sport. What women wore in the athletic arena, especially in tennis, influenced cultural expectations of what women should wear on the street and in the office: from long and modest clothing to shorter attire like mini skirts. Slowly, across the board, women gained the freedom, and social acceptability, to wear more comfortable, less sexualized clothing. Early on in the Tokyo Olympic Games, the German women’s gymnastics team donned unitards instead of bikini-cut leotards because it made them feel at ease.

This doesn’t mean that pushing the boundaries of women’s clothing in sports and beyond wasn’t — and still isn’t — an uphill battle. Just before this year’s Games, Norway’s handball team got fined 1500 Euros ($1,775) for wearing tight shorts instead of bikini bottoms by a local sports federation during a separate competition.

“We still think of women athletes as women first and athletes second,” says Dr. Jaime Schultz, who teaches in the history and philosophy of sport program at Pennsylvania University.

The public usually views a woman’s strength as “almost suspect, more masculine, less feminine,” says Dr. Bonnie J. Morris, a lecturer of women’s history at the University of California, Berkeley, who’s taught women’s sports history for 25 years.

In the same vein, a sexy uniform can “compensate,” says Morris, for a muscular woman or one doing a spectacular feat of athleticism that historically has been associated with men. While supporting every gymnast’s right to wear the uniform they feel most comfortable competing in, Simone Biles said she personally likes wearing traditional leotards because at 4-foot-8, she thinks they make her look taller.

Morris says women gymnasts may be considering the preferences of judges when choosing what to wear. Gymnastics scoring is controversially subjective.

“That goes back to, not just the comfort of the athlete in terms of how much they’re exposing but how do you gain that extra half point of artistic merit from the judge? How do you make your body pleasing to the judge?” says Morris.

A sexist outfit also goes beyond what it looks like, says Schultz, who has a Ph.D. in the cultural studies of sport. You also have to consider the intent behind the attire. And if women are supposed to wear something very different than what men can wear, well…

“Putting special requirements on what women wear, I think, is inherently sexist,” Schultz says.

Mashable rounded up both historical and contemporary moments where female athletes, not all Olympians, bucked sexist traditions and wore what they wanted. Most examples come from tennis because, as Schultz says, unlike many other sports, tennis doesn’t mandate one set uniform.

1. Suzanne Lenglen, 1919

More than a century ago, Olympic French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen made her debut at Wimbledon.

Lenglen attracted attention for both her athletic prowess on the court and daring outfits that pushed the boundaries of tennis. Lenglen refused to wear a corset, which was then part of the standard outfit of female tennis players. And, rather than wear the standard boots with heels, Lenglen wore “flat, rubber-soled shoes, according to the Atlantic. Lenglen’s comfortable and elegant style on the tennis court influenced women outside of the sport, with everyday women’s fashion parroting her outfits.

“[Lenglen] was famous not only because she was good, but because she was glamorous. She took off the corset and wore these gossamer-flowing gowns that ended at her calves. She wore a sleeveless gown,” says Schultz.

The press called her outfit at Wimbledon “indecent,” but their criticism didn’t stop Lenglen from dominating the sport and wearing uniforms that were a stark change from the modest clothes other female tennis players wore. She went on to win that match at Wimbledon — and 89 matches of the 92 she played in the tennis tournament— and won two gold medals and one bronze in the 1920 Olympics.

“When she was on the court it almost looked like ballet. She really created this spectacle with what she wore and the way she moved her body,” says Schultz. “But what she wore allowed her to move her body in new ways that women weren’t accustomed to. So we see the general losing of the corset during this time.”

2. Lili de Alvarez, 1930s

In the 1930s, Spanish tennis player Lili de Alvarez made a splash with her culottes, essentially a skirt split between the middle that also resembles pants. At the time, the standard tennis outfit for women was long skirts.

“Culottes are aggressively unsexy. Which is perhaps why men tend to hate them. But that’s kind of the point. Culottes are about women more than men, about what it feels like to wear them rather than how people respond to them,” the Cut wrote in a 2015 piece about the feminist history of the skirt.

Culottes allowed de Alvarez to more easily move about the tennis court. And, like Lenglen, de Alvarez’s influence on female tennis players’ outfits transcended tennis.

Women in the workplace were no longer confined to wearing just skirts and dresses. Rather, Alvarez “singlehandedly made it permissible for women to wear pants to work — if a woman could flounce around a court in loose culottes parading as a skirt, then society was fine with a woman wearing pants,” Atlas Obscura wrote.

3. Billie Jean King, 1950s

When famed American tennis player Billie Jean King was 11 years old, she wore shorts her mom made to an amateur tennis tournament, rather than the traditional women’s tennis skirt. King couldn’t afford a tennis dress and so she had to forego the traditional women’s tennis outfit. King was excluded from a group shot with the other athletes because her attire was considered “inappropriate.”

That experience deeply affected King and put her on a path to fight for women’s equality in tennis, while also putting her own mark on female tennis outfits.

Women earned far less prize money in tennis than men and so, in 1970, King and eight other professional female players set out to change that. They broke away from the traditional tennis establishment and embarked on a tennis tour, known as the Virginia Slims Tour. King enlisted the help of famous fashion designer Ted Tinling to design their outfits.

“They really bring this glamour to the sport,” says Schultz.

The tour allowed female tennis players, among them African American women, to play professionally and rake in as much money as male players. In 1971, King was the first female athlete to make more than $100,000.

4. Anne White, 1985

When Anne White, an American tennis player, wore a white bodysuit paired with white leggings at Wimbledon in 1985, both her opponent, Pam Shriver, and Wimbledon officials weren’t happy.

“I mean, you’ve sat around for three days watching it rain, you finally get out there at 7:20 at night and the first thing you see is this person wearing the most bizarre, stupid-looking thing I’ve ever seen on a tennis court,” Shriver said in a Washington Post article at the time.

“Rules were you had to wear all white, so she wore this all white body stocking,” says Schultz.

A referee forbade her to wear the suit again. Two days later, White appeared in a white tennis skirt, eliciting a collective groan from the audience, according to the Washington Post article.

At the time, White said she wore the outfit “for warmth.” Years later, when tennis star Serena Williams wore a black catsuit at the French Open (more on that later), White called the ban on Williams’ outfit “sexist,” according to TMZ.

“It’s kinda crazy that women aren’t allowed to wear what they want to work. It’s a shame,” White told TMZ about the ban.

5. Florence Griffith Joyner, 1985

Track and field star Florence Griffith Joyner was famous for her one-legged track suits along with other accoutrements she added that made her stand out while racing. The other competitors usually tied up their hair and stuck to the standard track and field uniform of a shirt and short bottoms.

“She was very fashionable, she had long hair and long nails,” says Schultz. Joyner, or “Flo-Jo” as she was known, “got a ton of attention for what she wore on the track and she ended up with her own Barbie.”

Joyner’s outfits and accessories made her a trailblazer, with Black women following in her footsteps on the track and off by using their fashion choices to showcase their individuality. Her speed also made her stand out from the crowd. When she competed in the Seoul Games in 1988, Joyner made her mark as the first American woman to win four medals in track and field in a single Olympics, according to the Guardian.

While Joyner died after having an epileptic seizure at 38, she’s left a powerful legacy behind. Williams paid homage to the late sprinter with a hot pink, orange, and black one-legged bodysuit at the 2021 Australian Open.

“I was inspired by Flo-Jo, who was a wonderful track athlete, amazing athlete when I was growing up,” Serena said at the time. “Watching her fashion just always changing, her outfits were always amazing.”

And Actor Tiffany Haddish will star and produce a movie on Joyner’s life.

“My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed,” Haddish told the Guardian.

6. Serena Williams, 2018

Tennis superstar Serena Williams wore a black catsuit to the French Open in 2018 due to her concern about blood clots after having developed one following the birth of her daughter Alexis in 2017. (In a CNN article in 2018, she revealed how she almost died because of the blood clot).

“We see Venus and Serena Williams really push the boundaries of what’s appropriate in tennis, which is this staid and feminine and traditional sport,” says Schultz. “It’s [flashy tennis outfits] not just putting on a show and making this spectacle of oneself on the court but also, you know, it helps you be competitive for a variety of health reasons.”

7. Norwegian Beach Handball team, 2021

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While not an Olympic sport, the women’s Norwegian Handball team made waves when they decided to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms in July. The International Handball Federation requires female players to wear bikini bottoms with “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg.” However, male handball athletes can wear shorts.

A spokeswoman for the International Handball Federation said she “didn’t know the reason for the rule,” per the New York Times.

The Norwegian Handball Federation offered to pay the fines, as did singer Pink. Norway team officials have continually complained about the bikini bottoms requirement to the international federation since 2006 to no avail.

8. German Olympic gymnastics team, 2021

In an effort to prevent the sexualization of their bodies and the sport (and just feel comfortable while competing), the German gymnastics team in standard bikini-cut leotards for full-body unitards during an Olympics qualifying round.

“We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear,” said Elisabeth Seitz, a 27-year-old German Olympics gymnast, before the qualifying event, according to Reuters.

While bucking tradition, this is not the first time the German team has worn these full-body outfits, which reach their ankles. In April, they donned the bodysuits during the European championships, the Washington Post reported.

While the team attracted widespread support for their unitards (and they weren’t breaking any rules), Schultz says Muslim athletes who’ve been disqualified for their body-covering outfits in the past have paved the way for the German team.

Schultz still applauds the German team and thinks it will pave the way for future female athletes who want to fight against sexist expectations of their sport.

“Women have been controlled in sport for so long and in so many different ways, how they act, what’s appropriate, what they can wear, that it matters that they finally feel that they have enough power that they can dress in a way that makes them feel comfortable or speak out against sexist policies,” says Schultz.

Apple is officially taking on child predators with new safety features for iPhone and iPad.

One scans for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which sounds like a good thing. But it has several privacy experts concerned.

So, how does it work? The feature, available on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 later this year, uses a new proprietary technology called NeuralHash to detect known CSAM images.

Before the image is stored in iCloud Photos, it goes through a matching process on the device against specific CSAM hashes.

It then uses technology called “threshold secret sharing,” which doesn’t allow Apple to interpret a photo unless the related account has crossed a threshold of CSAM content.

Apple can then report any CSAM content it finds to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

It’s worth noting that there is room for false positives. Matthew Green, cybersecurity expert and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, took to Twitter to voice his concerns.

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“To say that we are disappointed by Apple’s plans is an understatement,” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation, arguing that “even a thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor.”

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

Apple says its threshold provides “an extremely high level of accuracy and ensures less than a one in one trillion chance per year of incorrectly flagging a given account.”

Once a device crosses that threshold, the report is manually reviewed. If Apple finds a match, it disables the user’s account and a report is sent to NCMEC. Users who think their account has been flagged by mistake will have to file an appeal in order to get it back.

While it’s tough to criticize a company for wanting to crack down on child pornography, the fact that Apple has the ability to scan someone’s photos in general is concerning. It’s even worse to think that an actual human being might look through private images only to realize an account was mistakenly identified.

It’s also ironic that Apple, the company that brags about its privacy initiatives, specifically its Nutrition Labels and App Transparency Tracking, has taken this step.

Apple assures users that “CSAM is designed with user privacy in mind,” which is why it matches an image on-device before it’s sent to iCloud Photos. But they said the same thing about AirTags, and, well, those turned out to be a privacy nightmare.

“I keep getting a virus alert on my phone!! Help!!”

“Did anyone else get a damn virus on their phone from this link? I’m so pissed.”

“How do I get rid of this virus? Please help me.”

These are just some of the disgruntled comments left by Telegram users after clicking a link posted on Tuesday by Ron Watkins, the former administrator of 8kun, the extremist imageboard where Q of QAnon fame dropped communiques to their followers.

Many reporters and researchers of the far-right QAnon conspiracy believe that Watkins is Q himself. So, why would Watkins share a virus with his subscribers?

What’s going on here?

Earlier this week, Watkins had been teasing a big stunner of a revelation concerning the 2020 Presidential election. Watkins released his bombshell, which, even to his conspiracy theory- believing followers was pretty much a nothingburger.

Watkins’ video shows public testimony from CEO John Poulos of Dominion Voting Systems, the company responsible for a significant of the voting technology used across the country for elections. Dominion has been falsely accused by multiple people of wrongdoing in the 2020 election.

Trump supporters like Watkins and MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell have been claiming for months to have evidence that the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was fraudulent and that Trump actually won. However, their evidence has amounted to nothing but conspiracy theories and lies. There has been no evidence of fraud in the election and Joe Biden is officially the president of the United States.

Yet, regardless of this, believers of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy hold on to hope that sometime in the near future Biden will step down and Trump will somehow automatically ascend to the presidency once again.

In the clip used by Watkins, Poulos reiterates that the company, nor anyone else has remote access to the voting machines during an election. Interspersed by Watkins throughout the clip are blurry, unintelligible videos of computer screens allegedly from a Dominion whistleblower claiming they can access these machines remotely.

However, included at the bottom of Watkins’ Telegram message containing the video was a since-removed link to a file uploading site containing the video, ostensibly so that his subscribers could easily download the .MP4 and share it elsewhere.

According to many of Watkins’ Telegram subscribers, the link contained a virus which took over their smartphone with a slew of notifications. It’s unclear exactly why Watkins chose that file uploading service. However, according to screenshots posted online, it’s clear what’s going on with these phones.

Where we spam 1, we spam all

Watkins shared a link to a website that installed iOS notification spam to his subscribers’ iPhones.

iOS notification spam attacks are becoming an increasingly common problem. Usually, a user will click a link and then be bombarded with pop-up notifications asking them to tap a button to proceed to the page they’re trying to access.

Tapping on the pop-up uploads a calendar created by the spammer to your iPhone. The calendar will then proceed to show the iPhone user a notification throughout regular intervals, typically on an hourly basis.

A common example of this type of calendar spam attempts to convince users that Apple is trying to warn them that there is a virus on their phone. Hence, why so many QAnon believers thought that Watkins’ link gave their smartphones a virus.

The goal of the spammer is to get the user to click a payment link included in the notification so they can be tricked into purchasing an app or a subscription that claims will remove this nonexistent virus.

Q-Dropping the fix

While Mashable unfortunately can’t help with the delusion that last year’s presidential election will somehow be illegally overturned in favor of Trump, we can help with the iOS calendar notification spam.

Users with this problem, QAnon-related or otherwise, simply need to open the Calendar app on their iPhone and tap on the word “Calendars” in the middle of the menu on the bottom of the screen.

Find the spam calendar on the list and then tap the circled lowercase letter “i” colored in red.

Finally, scroll to the bottom of that screen and tap on delete.

In conclusion, QAnon believers: There is no virus on your phone. The spam notifications will be gone after following the above steps. And Donald Trump legitimately lost the 2020 Presidential election.