Kat’s Horror Movie Recommendations

Recently, I was asked which horror movies I’d recommend as we head into Halloweek. There’s no easy way to answer that question because different horror subgenres appeal to different horror fans. I know what I’d want to watch, but I can’t guess what you’d want to watch. Do you like gory horror? Psychological horror? Zombie movies? And so forth.

If I recommend a movie about demon possession to you and that’s not something that interests you, the recommendation is meaningless to you. Similarly, if someone recommends an arthouse horror (aka elevated horror) movie (e.g., “Hereditary,” 2018) to me, the recommendation is meaningless to me because I find those excruciatingly boring and immensely dissatisfying. In fact, after suffering through one of those, I have to immediately watch a good horror movie to flush the taste of the awful one out of my psyche. (I take movie experiences very seriously like that, yes.)

So, here are some (not all, and I’m sure I’ll have to edit this later to include movies I forgot) suggestions for each horror subgenre that appeals to me. The subgenres and recommended movies are presented in alphabetical order, not in any ranked way. I’m hyperlinking the IMDb profile of each movie so that you can look into whether it appeals to your personal horror tastes, and I’m listing related movies on the same line.

Enjoy!

Comedic

• “Abbott and Castello Meet Frankenstein” (1948) (and all sequels)
• “Beetlejuice” (1988)
• “Happy Death Day” (2017), “Happy Death Day 2U” (2019)
• “Haunted Honeymoon” (1986)
• “Scary Movie” (2000) (and all sequels)
• “Scream” (1996), “Scream 2” (1997), “Scream 3” (2000) (and stop there)
• “The Cabin in the Woods” (2011)
• “The Devil Bat” (1940)
• “The Evil Dead” (1981), “Evil Dead II” (1987), “Army of Darkness” (1992)
• “The Monster Squad” (1987)
• “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)
• “Thir13en Ghosts” (2001)
• “Transylvania 6-5000” (1985)
• “Trick ’r Treat” (2007)

Demonic

• “Annabelle” (2014) (and all sequels)
• “Fallen” (1998)
• “Insidious” (2010) (and all sequels)
• “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)
• “Sinister” (2012), “Sinister 2” (2015)
• “The Conjuring” (2013) (and all sequels)
• “The Exorcist” (1973) (MY FAVORITE!)
• “The Nun” (2018)
• “The Possession of Hannah Grace” (2018)
• “The Possession of Michael King” (2014)

Gore/Splatter

• “31” (2016)
• “House of 1000 Corpses” (2003), “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005), “3 From Hell” (2019)
• “Terrifier” (2016), “Terrifier 2” (2022), “Terrifier 3” (2024)

Monster

• “An American Werewolf in London” (1981)
• “Dracula” (1931) (and all sequels)
• “Creature of the Black Lagoon” (1954) (and all sequels)
• “Frankenstein” (1931) (and all sequels)
• “Fright Night” (1985), “Fright Night” (2011)
• “It” (2017)
• “Jeepers Creepers” (2001) (and all sequels)
• “King Kong” (1933)
• “Night of the Living Dead” (1968)
• “Nosferatu” (1922)
• “The Invisible Man” (1933) (and all sequels)
• “The Lost Boys” (1987)
• “The Mummy” (1932) (and all sequels)
• “The Wolf Man” (1941) (and all sequels)
• “Vampyr” (1932)
• “White Zombie” (1932)

Paranormal

• “Carrie” (1976), “Carrie” (2013)
• “Evil Dead” (2013)
• “Lights Out” (2016)
• “Ouija” (2014) (and all sequels)
• “Pet Sematary” (1989)
• “Poltergeist” (1982), “Poltergeist” (2015)
• “Stir of Echoes” (1999)
• “The Amityville Horror” (2005)
• “The Cello” (2023)
• “The Ring” (2002) (and all sequels)
• “White Noise” (2005)

Psychological

• “American Psycho” (2000)
• “Eerie Tales” (1919)
• “Final Destination” (2000) (and all sequels)
• “House of Wax” (1953), “House of Wax” (2005)
• “House on Haunted Hill” (1959)
• “Island of Lost Souls” (1932)
• “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1932)
• “Psycho” (1960)
• “Saw” (2004) (and all sequels)
• “Se7en” (1995)
• “The Black Cat” (1934)
• “The Body Snatcher” (1945)
• “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920)
• “The Descent” (2005), “The Descent: Part 2” (2009)
• “The Hands of Orlac” (1924)
• “The Old Dark House” (1932)
• “The Raven” (1935)
• “The Shining” (1980)
• “The Student of Prague” (1926)

Slasher

• “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) (and all sequels)
• “Candyman” (1992), “Candyman” (2021)
• Friday the 13^th (1980) (and all sequels)
• “Halloween” (1978) (and all sequels), “Halloween” (2007)
• “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” (2006), “Leatherface” (2017)