Which of these three labels suits you mostly comes down to where you live and what you're willing to pay per disc. Taste comes into it too, since Arrow leans toward well-known cult titles and Vinegar Syndrome and Severin go further off the map.
Everything below comes from what we track: each label's horror titles, the prices on its own store and at the retailers that stock it, and the region coding its product pages state. Numbers are from our checks on 20 October 2026.
The short version
| Arrow | Vinegar Syndrome | Severin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horror titles we track | 282 | 608 | 193 |
| On 4K UHD | 62 | 98 | 39 |
| Own stores | US and UK, separate | One US store, ships worldwide | US and UK, separate |
| Typical own-store price, Blu-ray | $17 / £9 in the current sale | $26.49 | $24 (US), £15.99 (UK) |
| Typical own-store price, 4K | $25 / £15 in the current sale | $34.99 | $38 (US), £26.99 (UK) |
| Region coding (Blu-ray) | Check each page | Mostly region free, some Region A | Mostly region free, some Region A |
| Big sales | Easter, Halloween, Black Friday, December | Six or more a year | Midyear, Black Friday |
"Typical" here is the median in-stock price on the label's own store. Arrow's figures are distorted by its Shocktober sale, which runs until 2 November; outside a sale, the US store lists most horror Blu-rays at $39.95 and 4Ks at $49.99, and the UK store at £24.99 and £29.99.
Arrow
Arrow is the easiest of the three to buy from in either country, because it runs two stores: arrowvideo.com for the US and arrowfilms.com for the UK. The two catalogs differ a lot. Of the Arrow horror titles we track, 26 turned up on both stores as the same edition, 59 only on the US store and 197 only on the UK store.
Arrow's prices swing more than the other two. Its list prices are the highest, and its sales are the deepest: in Shocktober, most Blu-rays dropped to $17 or £9. On 20 October, all 88 priced listings on the US store and 226 of 245 on the UK store showed a price below RRP. Bought in a sale, Arrow is often the cheapest of the three; at list price it's usually the most expensive.
Arrow is also the most widely stocked. We matched Arrow titles at Diabolik (109 titles), Rarewaves (71) and Zavvi (6). That gives you options when Arrow's own store is out of stock or not on sale.
Live prices from our checks, US shops in US$ first. Show UK prices. Amazon links are affiliate links.
Arrow suits you if you want well-known cult titles, Italian genre films and J-horror, and you're happy to wait for sales.
Vinegar Syndrome
Vinegar Syndrome has by far the biggest horror catalog we track: 608 titles, including partner labels it distributes such as Saturn's Core, Shudder, Yellow Veil Pictures and the American Genre Film Archive. 340 of those 608 titles carry a partner or imprint name.
It sells from one store, in US dollars, and offers free shipping on US and Canada orders over $80 and international orders over $150. UK buyers can switch the store's currency to pounds.
VS pricing is steadier than Arrow's. Nearly every disc on the store (605 of 608 listings) shows a price below its SRP, and the average gap was about 30%. So the price you see on a normal day is already a discount, and a "sale" price from VS is only meaningful if it beats that everyday price. The median in-stock horror Blu-ray was $26.49 and 4K $34.99.
Region coding: of the VS horror Blu-ray listings that state a region, 314 say region free and 193 say Region A. Check the page if you're outside the Americas.
Live prices from our checks, US shops in US$ first. Show UK prices. Amazon links are affiliate links.
VS is the one for you if you like regional American horror, shot-on-video oddities and obscure international titles, and it's easiest if you're in the US. We have a separate Vinegar Syndrome beginner's guide.
Severin
Severin has the smallest horror catalog of the three in our data (193 titles, 39 on 4K) and leans hard into box sets. The ones we track include the Danza Macabra gothic horror sets, All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror and The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee.
Severin runs a full US store and a much smaller UK store (21 priced listings in our data). Like VS, the US store prices almost everything below list: 210 of 211 listings, with an average gap of 25%. Median in-stock prices were $24 for a Blu-ray and $38 for a 4K.
Region coding on Severin US Blu-ray listings: 141 say region free and 31 say Region A. Every Severin UK listing that states a region says region free. A few Severin releases are sold as North America only.
Diabolik often undercuts Severin's own store on 4K. The Autopsy of Jane Doe was $29.99 at Diabolik against $38 direct, and Eaten Alive $29.99 against $42.
Live prices from our checks, US shops in US$ first. Show UK prices. Amazon links are affiliate links.
Severin is the pick for European gothic, folk horror and big themed box sets.
Sales: when each one gets cheap
From the Blu-ray.com forum's boutique sales megathread, which tracks past sales:
- Arrow: an Easter sale, a Halloween sale (Shocktober in 2026), Black Friday into Christmas, and a December holiday sale.
- Vinegar Syndrome: subscriber-week deals in January and July (the July one is described as its biggest sale of the year), a Valentine's weekend sale, Halfway to Black Friday in May, Labor Day in September, 31 Days of Syntober in October and Black Friday.
- Severin: a midyear sale (in 2026, 50 to 75% off from 26 to 29 June, with a box set sale on 27 June) and Black Friday.
Labels can change these from year to year. Our sale calendar post lays them out month by month.
Which one should you start with?
If you're in the UK, Arrow is the simplest: a local store, pound prices, and sales that drop Blu-rays to £9. If you're in the US and want the most choice, Vinegar Syndrome's catalog is the largest and its everyday prices are already below SRP. If box sets are your thing, start with Severin, and check Diabolik before you order.
Nothing stops you buying from all three. The live list below shows the deepest cuts across their stores in your region right now.
Live prices from our checks, US shops in US$ first. Show UK prices. Amazon links are affiliate links.