This company wants to pay you to watch and rank scary movies - USA Today
Calling all fans of the bizarre, macabre and petrifying. There’s a Utah-based media company that wants to pay you to watch horror movies, rank the films and rank their characters.
Now in its second year, the job offering is called a "thrillternship" and will pay $666 to three people who want to partake in the horror movie marathon. The deadline to apply is midnight mountain time on Sunday, Oct. 11.
“The main qualification is a love of being scared,” wrote organizers from CableTV.com, the company running the program. The website compares television, streaming and internet costs, in addition to recommending movies and TV shows.
Calling the gig a “dream job,” CableTV said legal U.S. residents who are 18 and up can apply.
According to CableTV.com, aspiring participants just need to follow a few steps:
Those wanting to submit an application will have to answer questions about whether they’ve heard about CableTV.com before, the scariest movie they’ve seen and they’re the perfect fit for the job. They’ll also need to link to their social media handles.
There are no fees to apply, CableTV said in the job rules.
The company will let winners know they’ve been chosen via email within two days of the closing date on Oct. 11.
After watching the films and completing the company’s ranking assignments, participants will get a one-time payment of $666 within 90 days.
Last year’s winner was Jen Fisk, an event organizer based in Reno, Nevada. Fisk said in an October 2025 video on TikTok that she needed to choose five of the top 13 scariest movies ever made to watch.
According to Fisk, CableTV gave her an Uber Eats gift card so she could get some snacks while enjoying the movies. As she watched the five films, she posted videos of her own reactions and commentary.
While checking out “Hereditary,” an Ari Aster movie starring Toni Collette, she picked up on what was happening right away. The film follows a family grieving the loss of their grandmother, followed by more tragedy.
“I can tell you right now, the house is haunted,” she said in a TikTok video. “Grandma just popped out. Grandma died in this house and now she's haunting it.”
And as she watched the final film in her lineup, John Carpenter's 1978 film "Halloween," she poked fun at how unrealistic it was.
"I'm not buying it that he's able to walk through this old house without a squeak in this floor," Fisk said. "It just doesn't happen."
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s trending team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
