I’d love to say Halloween is right around the corner, but let’s face it: We have some time to kill. August is in full swing, then we get fake fall (otherwise known as September). After that? We’ll have to endure weeks of pumpkin spice propaganda.
It’s not all bad, though. We can pass the time with a good ol’-fashioned movie night. It won’t make Halloween come any sooner—but hey, there’s no harm in getting into the spirit a bit early! Below, we’ve rounded up 71 (!) horror movies that will prime you for the best holiday of the year. You’ll find ghosts, witches, monsters, demons, masked killers, and much more.
We’ve got everything from classics like Carrie and Psycho to new thrills like Immaculate and Late Night with the Devil. In the mood for something truly horrifying? Try The Nightmare, a sleep-paralysis documentary that will keep you up for weeks. Who knows? Maybe by the time you’re comfortable sleeping again, Halloween will be here. And if you’re looking for something a little less, uh, realistic, we have 70 other options that are perfect for you.
Immaculate
In Immaculate, Sydney Sweeney stars as Cecelia, an American nun who joins an Italian convent. At first, the community seems cool, but when strange phenomena unfold around her, Cecelia wonders if the church is as immaculate as it seems.
Talk to Me
I don’t know why anyone would mess with a ghost, but hey, that’s just me. In Talk to Me, a group of teenagers discover a way to conjure spirits through an embalmed hand. It’s all fun and games until they connect with an evil entity. Can you guess what happens next?
Dashcam
Dashcam stars Annie Hardy as a fictionalized version of herself. When she grows tired of Los Angeles, Annie embarks on a road trip, which she livestreams for her fans. Along the way, she meets an elderly woman, and their interaction sparks a horrifying chain of events—all of which are caught on camera.
Smile
After a patient of Dr. Rose Carter commits suicide in front of her, she seeks help from a therapist. Ever since that day, she’s been seeing the same disturbing smile all around town. It can’t be a coincidence… but what is it? A demon? A premonition? Dr. Carter isn’t sure, but she’s about to find out.
The Nightmare
Have you ever had sleep paralysis? It’s a condition in which your mind wakes up before your body, leaving you unable to move. In The Nightmare, eight real people describe their experiences in vivid detail. The result? A bone-chilling documentary that’s scarier than anything else on this list.
Creep
In Creep, we meet Aaron, a young videographer who’s hired to film a stranger for the day. Upon his arrival, Aaron learns that his subject has a terminal illness and wants to make a video for his unborn children. It seems innocent enough, but as the day progresses, Aaron begins to question why he’s really there… and why there’s no one else around.
Barbarian
In Barbarian, a young woman arrives at her rental home and realizes that someone else is staying there. Despite the strange circumstances, she agrees to remain the night. Soon after, she learns there is evil lurking around every corner—but that’s what you get at an Airbnb, right?
No One Will Save You
When Brynn wakes up to an intruder, she’s not sure who’s entered her house. It turns out the unexpected guest is a vicious alien whose only job is to cause destruction. Without a single weapon or person to rely on, Brynn is forced to defend herself in a fight for survival unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Oh, and did we mention there’s no dialogue?
Lights Out
From the director of The Conjuring, Lights Out is a supernatural thriller about a woman who grew up afraid of the dark. When her younger brother begins to exhibit the same fear, she realizes that the ghosts from her past are alive and well.
Malum
Skip this one if you can’t stand the sight of blood! In Malum, a rookie cop agrees to work the last shift at the station where her father died. She hopes that it will help her understand his death. Instead, she unearths a dark secret about her family.
You Won’t Be Alone
Picture this: It’s 19th-century Macedonia, and a little girl goes missing. What do you think happens next? A manhunt? Murder? Close! The kid is transformed into a witch. Naturally, things spiral out of control after that. You Won’t Be Alone is more drama than full-on horror, but the scares will stick with you long after the credits roll.
Where Evil Lurks
Where Evil Lurks follows a group of townspeople who are running out of time. Soon a demon will be born in their community. They can run, but they can’t hide, which means the only thing left to do is fight.
Late Night with the Devil
Late Night with the Devil was one of the best horror movies of 2023. It stars David Dastmalchian as television host Jack Delroy. When his ratings plummet, Jack invites an allegedly possessed girl on the air for a Halloween special. He hopes the stunt will improve viewership, but the plan comes with unintended consequences.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Don’t let the chipper title fool you. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is not a pleasant experience. Ann Cobb stars as Casey, a teenage girl who takes part in an online horror game. As she becomes immersed in the experience, Casey loses her grip on reality. Is what she’s experiencing real or is it all a part of the game?
In Violent Nature
A group of teens unleash a world of terror when they steal a locket from the woods. The item belongs to a corpse named Johnny, who is resurrected by their actions. (Just don’t think about it too hard.) While searching for his locket, Johnny goes on a killing spree, taking out anyone who gets in his way. Let this be a lesson: Don’t take things that don’t belong to you!
The Strangers
The Strangers, which was inspired by the Manson murders, tells a home-invasion story from the victim’s perspective. Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are enjoying a weekend getaway, but their trip takes a turn when three strangers show up uninvited.
You Should Have Left
Amanda Seyfried and Kevin Bacon star as Stetler and Susana, a married couple who take their daughter on a countryside vacation. Their rental home is beautiful, but during their stay, Stetler finds a note warning the family to leave. When they choose to ignore it, they connect with a sinister force that is haunting the estate.
Don’t Listen
When Daniel and Sarah’s son, Eric, says he’s been hearing voices (that’s never good!), they seek guidance from a behavioral therapist. At first, they chalk it up to Eric’s imagination, but as time progresses, everyone becomes sure of one thing: The voices Eric hears aren’t made up. They’re real.
A Cabin in the Woods
In A Cabin in the Woods, five college kids head to a remote cabin for the weekend. The decrepit house appears to be straight out of a horror movie, but that’s just a coincidence… right? Nope. Unbeknownst to them, their vacation is being controlled by a higher power, and the odds of survival are next to none.
The Devil’s Bath
The Devil’s Bath takes place in Austria in the 1800s. A young woman named Agnes is ready to ease into married life, but she can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Ignoring her intuition only makes things worse, but if Agnes confronts her reservations, she’ll have to face a horrifying reality.
A Quiet Place: Day One
By now you’ve probably seen A Quiet Place, but do you know how the story began? This prequel’s psychological horror is undeniable. Lupita Nyongo stars as Samira, a woman living in New York City. When the Big Apple is terrorized by an alien invasion, Samira finds a group of survivors. Together they might be able to find safety, but they’ll have to do it in complete silence.
Double Blind
In Double Blind, a group of adults agree to participate in a clinical trial for a mysterious new drug. Here’s the catch—they can’t fall asleep. If they do, they’ll die. While they wait for the drug to run its course, the group tries to escape the remote testing facility and keep each other awake.
X
Ti West’s A24 feature was presented as a tribute to exploitation films of the ’70s, but it turned out to be so much more. In X, we follow a group of young actors who are making a stag film in the barn behind an old couple’s remote Texas home. Between scenes of choreographed sex and brutal violence, the film explores the fleeting nature of youth, the horror of aging, and unfulfilled desires.
Scream (2022)
The fifth installment of the iconic ’90s horror franchise that shook up the genre does not hold back. Although it may be a sequel (or a fivequel?), it turns horror film tropes upside down in delightful ways, much like the original. The brand-new cast, the exciting return of several OG cast members, and a plot that’ll leave you breathless cement this Scream addition as an instant classic.
Malignant
James Wan might be best known for his essential contributions to the horror genre with movies like Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, but this standalone feature truly unleashed his storytelling abilities. This wild tale of a young woman being haunted by dreams of a mysterious man committing horrible murders features several breathtaking revelations—with visual effects that will give you nightmares.
Ready or Not
As if marriage doesn’t induce enough fear in some people, Ready or Not ups the ante with in-laws whose tradition is to hunt the new bride, using all forms of weapons, from dusk ’til dawn. After surviving the wedding itself, the bride, Grace, has to put up a fight if she wants to enjoy her new life. And, you know, stay alive.
Prey
Ever thought Predator needed an origin story? Well, now you’ve got one. Prey is set 300 years ago in the northern Great Plains of North America, where a young woman from the Comanche tribe must face off with the alien predator in order to protect her loved ones. It’s a showdown of epic—and terrifying!—proportions.
The Hunt
The Hunt was one of the last movies to be released in theaters (traditionally speaking) before the pandemic hit in 2020—meaning, if you don’t remember it, it’s probably because plenty of real-life horror got in the way. The political satire mixes the essence of The Hunger Games with liberal elitism and far-right extremism for a somewhat messy, and very troubling, depiction of our current times. It is also genuinely terrifying, with a heaping side of gore and violence.
Midsommar
You’d be hard-pressed to think of a film with as cheery a color palette but as menacing a tone as Midsommar. From the twisted minds at A24, the film takes place in Sweden at a small town’s midsummer festival. And when a couple (who should not be together) arrive with their friends (who honestly aren’t much better), shit hits the fan. Let’s just say there’s gore, a bear suit, and a really dazzling spread of food that would be appetizing if everyone didn’t keep dying.
His House
Brilliantly crafted and remarkably original, His House subverts the expected horror movie tropes and presents a film unlike any before it. A South Sudanese couple manage to escape the throes of war in their home country, only to come to England and discover that they’re dealing with a new threat—of the supernatural variety.
Train to Busan
The South Korean action horror film Train to Busan places the typical zombie apocalypse genre in a new container, as it follows one father and daughter’s trip across the country by train as they learn that the land is being overrun by a plague.
Us
Jordan Peele’s sophomore directorial feature stars Lupita Nyong’o as the mother of a family that finds itself under attack by a mysterious group of strangers who are their exact doppelgängers.
Insidious
Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey star in the first installment of the Insidious series. In this film, a family faces the reality that their son has fallen into a mysterious comatose state and become possessed by otherworldly spirits.
Deliverance
Sometimes the scariest films don’t need to venture into the supernatural or the grandiose to strike fear. Put a deep-woods boy on a bridge and give him a banjo and that’s all you need to send a chill up a lot of people’s spines. Starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox, this 1972 film about a foursome who decide to venture down a rural Georgia river was labeled an “adventure drama,” but the phrase “Squeal like a pig!” begs to differ.
Hereditary
After her estranged mother dies, Annie (Toni Collette) begins to notice some peculiar activity around her house. Following another shocking tragedy, she starts to spiral out of control. Is there a supernatural force attempting to manipulate her family? Or is it all in her head?
A Quiet Place
A family (led by John Krasinski and Emily Blunt) silently navigates a postapocalyptic world, stalked at every turn by monsters that hunt their prey with a supercharged sense of hearing. Although the survivalists have so far managed to avoid the extraterrestrial hunters, the fractures within their relationships may lead to their downfall. You will spend this entire movie on the edge of your seat.
The Babadook
In Jennifer Kent’s gothic Australian thriller, a young widow is burdened by her troubled six-year-old son. But it only gets worse for the beleaguered mother when the titular character of her son’s picture book—a tall, top hat-wearing spook named the Babadook—begins to creep beyond the pages and wreak havoc on their lives.
The Descent
Six adventurous women descend into the depths of an unmapped cave in North Carolina, hoping for a fun trek through the darkness. But their mountain vacation is disrupted when they discover they aren’t the only ones in there.
It Follows
Annie thinks she’s found someone trustworthy in her new boyfriend, but after they have sex, he reveals that he’s being stalked by an unnamed evil—which will now hunt her down until she can pass “it” onto the next person she sleeps with. The moody, retro-inspired horror film is a modern classic with an unsettling, unimaginable monster that our heroine must outsmart.
Get Out
A young black photographer (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend (Allison Williams) visit her suspiciously overenthusiastic Obama-supporting parents’ home and discover that they can’t be trusted in Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning modern masterpiece. In Esquire, Stephen Thrasher called it “the best movie ever made about American slavery.”
Eyes Without a Face
In the very literally titled French art-horror classic, a famous and unhinged surgeon kidnaps beautiful women and tries to transplant their faces onto his daughter, who is, yes, missing a face.
Last House on the Left
Wes Craven was one of a few masters of horror who plumbed the depths of America’s Vietnam War-era cultural divide. In this grimy, arty thriller, two teenage girls encounter ruthless escaped prisoners—but the tables are violently turned.
Rosemary’s Baby
In the most disturbing allegory of childbearing gone wrong, Mia Farrow’s Rosemary becomes increasingly panicked about her painful pregnancy and the mysterious neighbors in a building with a history of Satanism. The great Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for playing Rosemary’s fiendishly quirky neighbor, who isn’t as sweet as she seems.
The House of the Devil
Samantha, a college student struggling to pay her rent, picks up a babysitting job from a weird couple named the Ulmans. Things get even stranger when she learns that her charge is not a child but Mr. Ulman’s ailing mother. Foolishly ignoring her intuition, Samantha watches her gig turn into a night from hell when she realizes the Ulmans have some particularly devious plans for her.
The Exorcist
Even decades after its release, The Exorcist may still be the scariest movie ever made—with one of the most terrifying villains. William Friedkin’s Oscar-nominated film was pretty much the first prestige horror movie, with incredible performances, heavy thematic material, and game-changing scares.
Donnie Darko
In Donnie Darko—which gave us a taste of how great (and weird) Jake Gyllenhaal could be—Donnie’s clichéd teenage social-outcast problems somehow accrue interdimensional stakes. It’s a perfect scary-movie blend: a troubled teen, a memorable monster, and a Halloween setting.
Night of the Living Dead
It created the modern zombie genre, with its fondness for sociopolitical echoes. But even more important than its legacy, George A. Romero’s low-budget, black-and-white original proved that you don’t need money to make a horror classic; you just need braiiiiiiiins.
Halloween
John Carpenter’s bogeyman slasher nightmare spawned a legion of inferior sequels that couldn’t diminish the ominous power of his original, about a psychopath who returns to his hometown years later to don a misshaped William Shatner mask and stalk Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Shining
Arguably the scariest film of all time, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s bestseller generates terror from its meticulous filmmaking. And, courtesy of Jack Nicholson and his turn as a murderous paterfamilias, it also features the most memorable horror movie performance of the past few decades.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The story of a child molester who returns from the dead to prey upon his killers’ children in their dreams, Wes Craven’s seminal shocker recognizes that you’re never more vulnerable than when asleep—a fact that naturally sets up countless scares for one of the biggest horror franchises in film history.
Alien
Its sequels may boast grander man-versus-beast action, but Ridley Scott’s gorgeous 1979 outer-space saga about a group of astronauts battling a malevolent extraterrestrial is still the franchise’s most deeply frightening installment.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Ignore all the remakes, remake sequels, and remake prequels and stick with Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 grind-houser, about a slightly unhinged, hippie-hating family with a house notable for its giant meat hooks, human-bone furniture, and human-skin-wearing giant who loves to twirl his chainsaw.
Psycho
A cautionary tale about the perils of stealing from your boss—and also staying at roadside motels run by mamma’s boys. Alfred Hitchcock originated the surprise first-act murder with the story of a woman (Janet Leigh) on the run who is way too accepting of a dark-haired stranger’s (Anthony Perkins) generosity.
The Thing
The only thing scarier than facing off against a hideous intergalactic monster is facing off against one that has the ability to shape-shift into human form—a who’s-the-creature scenario that director John Carpenter employs for intense suspense (with some great, gross special effects).
Audition
Japanese director Takeshi Miike is famous for pushing the boundaries of good taste, though he’s rarely delivered more extreme tension than with this 1999 film about a man who discovers that dating can be a deadly affair.
Let the Right One In
A young outcast boy meets and falls in love with a young immortal bloodsucker in this superb 1980-set Swedish vampire romance from Tomas Alfredson, which climaxes with an unforgettable pool sequence.
The Host
Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 film is a fantastic, Spielbergian tale of a South Korean family under siege by an extraordinary foe—namely, a giant sea monster created from toxic dumping.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Michael Rooker is a serial killer whose crimes don’t warrant much attention from the powers that be in John McNaughton’s cold, clinical, harrowing character study (partly based on real events).
Carrie
Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is an unbearably disturbing portrait of youthful alienation and fury, with one of the genre’s most unforgettable fire-and-brimstone endings.
Don’t Look Now
A couple (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) grieving the death of their daughter become convinced that she’s trying to contact them from beyond the grave in Nicolas Roeg’s profoundly unnerving thriller. You’ll never look at little girls in red coats the same way again.
The Ring
The movie that for a brief time in the early aughts made everyone afraid of their TV. Naomi Watts plays a journalist investigating why people keep dying from watching a certain videotape. And just like all the best scary movies, it’s got a creepy kid.
The Blair Witch Project
When The Blair Witch Project came out in 1999, some people weren’t sure whether it was real or fiction. Advertised as “found video footage,” it tells the story of three students who travel to a small town to investigate a local myth and end up being terrorized in the woods.
Drag Me to Hell
Sam Raimi’s 2009 film is the perfect example of unspeakable horror combined with gross-out humor. Alison Lohman plays a bank loan officer who turns down an elderly woman’s request for an extension on her mortgage payment. The woman retaliates in witchy ways, placing a curse on her new enemy and promising an untimely death.
Orphan
A nine-year-old Russian girl adopted by a kind American couple (played by Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard), Esther begins to act out in dangerous ways: bullying her new brother as well as kids at school, murdering a nun, and trying to seduce her new adopted father. It doesn’t take one long to realize that maybe this kid is not all she seems. A prequel, Orphan: First Kill, was released in 2022.
Suspiria (2018)
If you’re Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagino, how do you follow up one of the most memorable love stories of the 2010s? By making one of its best horror films. His remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic puts Dakota Johnson in the lead role as an American dancer auditioning for a world-famous dance academy in Berlin (where, spoiler, the dance instructors aren’t just dance instructors!).
Slither
Before James Gunn hit it big with Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy, he was making weird-as-hell genre flicks—like Slither, with Michael Rooker and Elizabeth Banks. Yes, there’s a comedic bent to the movie, which takes place in a small town that an alien organism begins to terrorize, but its body-horror elements will leave a slug-sized stamp on your brain.
The Witch
In Robert Eggers’s feature directorial debut, a Puritan family in colonial New England moves to a farm outside their Plymouth colony, where they encounter all kinds of crazy supernatural shit in the surrounding forest. Come for the period-piece throwback; stay for the scary goats.
It (2017)
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, which is based on a Stephen King novel, It is about a group of children battling an ancient, supernatural clown named Pennywise. Of course, the 1990 Tim Curry-led It miniseries will always be a classic—but Pennywise was just begging for big-budget, 21st-century CGI effects. The giant clown in that projector scene? Tentacles swinging from Pennywise’s mouth? Good luck sleeping.
Nosferatu
Even though this horror-world OG is nearly 100 (!) years old, the story of Count Orlok’s hosting of Thomas Hutter still delivers the goods. Yeah, old scary movies like this tend to look a little campy in modern times, but Nosferatu’s creepy mug and the film’s shadowy photography and timely message about xenophobia hold up today.
Raw
I would imagine it’s hard to make a cannibal movie, let alone one that’s not a gross-out mess or a campy write-off. Raw follows a vegetarian starting her first semester at veterinary school—where, woah, she gets a taste for flesh. It sounds simple, but Raw’s built-in suspense (how far is she willing to go?) and art-film vibe make it worth the watch.
Don’t Breathe
For a breathless 90 minutes of Stephen Lang in prime form, check out Don’t Breathe, Fede Álvarez’s horror thriller in which three robbers try to steal $300,000 in cash from a house in an abandoned Detroit neighborhood—which happens to be owned by blind Gulf War veteran Norman Nordstrom (Lang).
