What’s Halloween without scaring the crap out of yourself? It’s time to turn on your TV, curl up in a blanket with your basic pumpkin spice latte, and binge watch the scariest movies that will leave you with nightmares. The perfect Halloween horror movie needs just the right tone to match that Halloween mix of thrills, chills and festivity. It can’t be too dour or outright horrifying, and it’s best if it’s something you can watch in a group.
Here are the top 10 most scariest movies to watch on Halloween.
1. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
When foreman Frank shows new employee Freddy a secret military experiment in a supply warehouse, the two klutzes accidentally release a gas that reanimates corpses into flesh-eating zombies. As the epidemic spreads throughout Louisville, Kentucky, and the creatures satisfy their hunger in gory and outlandish ways, Frank and Freddy fight to survive with the help of their boss and a mysterious mortician.
2. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
A loan officer, Christine Brown, because she has to prove to her boss that she can make the “hard decisions”, chooses not to extend an elderly woman’s mortgage. In retaliation, the woman places a curse on the loan officer that, after three days of escalating torment, will plunge her into the depths of hell to burn for eternity.
3. Suspiria (2018)
Young American dancer Susie Bannion arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Co. When she vaults to the role of lead dancer, the woman she replaces breaks down and accuses the company’s female directors of witchcraft. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist and a member of the troupe uncover dark and sinister secrets as they probe the depths of the studio’s hidden underground chambers.
4. Trick ‘r Treat (2007)
The film takes place over the course of Halloween in the fictional town of Warren Valley, Ohio. Its story is told in a nonlinear narrative, with characters crossing paths with each other throughout the film. At the center of the story is Sam, a peculiar trick-or-treater dressed in pajamas and a burlap sack, who appears to enforce the “rules” of Halloween.
5. Fright Night (1985)
The film follows young Charley Brewster, who discovers that his next-door neighbor Jerry Dandrige is a vampire. When no one believes him, Charley decides to get Peter Vincent, a TV show host who acted in films as a vampire hunter, to stop Jerry’s killing spree.
6. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
When five college friends arrive at a remote forest cabin for a little vacation, little do they expect the horrors that await them. One by one, the youths fall victim to backwoods zombies, but there is another factor at play. Two scientists are manipulating the ghoulish goings-on, but even as the body count rises, there is yet more at work than meets the eye.
7. The Guest (2014)
The film tells the story of a U.S. soldier called David who unexpectedly visits the Peterson family, introducing himself as a friend of their son who died in combat in Afghanistan. After staying in their home for a couple of days, a series of deaths occur, and the daughter Anna suspects David is connected to them.
8. Planet Terror (2007)
A dangerous government experiment unleashes a gas that turns an entire town into flesh-eating zombies. Now a group of ragtag survivors must make their way to a helicopter to escape an onslaught of zombie-like creatures as they feud with a military unit.
9. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
In 1799, New York City police constable Ichabod Crane is dispatched to the Dutch hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, which has been plagued by a series of brutal decapitations: Peter and Dirk Van Garrett, a wealthy father and son, and a widow, Emily Winship. Ichabod learns that locals believe the killer is the undead apparition of a headless Hessian mercenary from the American Revolutionary War who rides a black steed in search of his missing head.
10. The Conjuring (2013)
In 1971, the Perron family with their dog Sadie move into a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Paranormal events occur within the first few nights: all of the clocks stop at exactly 3:07 AM, birds are flying into their windows, and Sadie is found dead in the backyard. The family consults demonologists to help them get rid of the evil entity haunting them.
