The Exorcist. Poltergeist. The Shining. You probably get goosebumps just thinking about these movies, and for good reason! The best horror movies stay with you long after those final credits roll, making you break into a cold sweat when you’re home alone or something goes bump in the night. But whether you love scaring yourself silly all year long or just around Halloween, we’re here to remind you that these movies are just that—movies!
Of course, even the ones based on true tales rely on a whole lot of movie magic and Hollywood dollars to bring the scares. And we have some of that frightfully fun, behind-the-scenes info right here.
From the on-set secrets you never knew to the spine-chilling performances you can’t forget to the reigning champs at the box office, these tidbits will make you see your favorite scary movies in a whole new light. Read on to find out all the details … if you dare.
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The highest-grossing scary movie
When Halloween is on the horizon, you can expect your film offerings to skew scary. Movie studios love to put out horror flicks: Compared with other genres, they tend to do better at the box office—and they’re generally cheaper to make. To date, the highest-grossing scary movie is 2017’s It, adapted from the Stephen King novel. It earned $701 million worldwide. In second place with $483 million: the 1975 classic Jaws.
The king of fear
More than 50 of King’s books have been adapted for the big screen, starting with Carrie in 1976. The latest, The Long Walk, centers around a grueling, last-man-standing competition among teenage boys. King published the book under his pen name, Richard Bachman, in 1979. At the time, reviewers interpretedit as a metaphor for the Vietnam War.
The rise of Count Dracula
Bela Lugosi set the standard for Dracula with his 1931 portrayal of the iconic bloodsucker. More than 200 film and television adaptations of Bram Stoker’s story have come out since, with many in the main role imitating Lugosi’s Hungarian accent. But 1931’s Dracula isn’t the first spooky “talkie.” That’s The Terror from 1928, one of the many lost films of the early 20th century; only its soundtrack survives.
Silent horror
Horror as a film genre dates back even further, to 1896, when pioneering French director Georges Méliès came out with Le Manoir du Diable (known in English as The Haunted Castle or The House of the Devil). The silent film includes spooky touches such as skeletons and ghosts.
Generational scares
Postwar anxiety fueled a flurry of monster movies like Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) and The Blob (1958), whereas more recent films have skewed psychological. Not everyone is a fan: Although 91% of Gen Z viewers say they watch horror movies, 58% of those age 65 and older skip the scaries.
The elusive Oscar
The Academy also shies away. Oscars have been given out since 1929, but 1974’s The Exorcist was the first scary movie to earn a Best Picture nomination. Just six others have followed suit: Jaws (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Sixth Sense (1999), Black Swan (2010), Get Out (2017) and The Substance (2024). Only The Silence of the Lambs won.
A big win for scary stuff
Similarly, few performances in horror movies were worth Oscar gold. But Kathy Bates was so convincingly terrifying as the overly obsessed fan Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990) that she became the first woman to win Best Actress for her work in a horror film. Newcomer Bates beat out big names, including Meryl Streep and Anjelica Huston.
Unlikely inspiration for terror
Fodder for scary movies can come from anywhere—even a comedy bit.Jordan Peele’s 2017 film Get Out follows Chris, a Black man terrorized by his White girlfriend’s family. Peele has said the premise alludes to a part in Eddie Murphy’s 1983 stand-up special, Delirious, in which he asks why White people don’t just leave a house once a ghost shows up, a la The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist.
Hollywood’s favorite witch
With a budget of just $60,000, The Blair Witch Project (1999) grossed $248 million worldwide, largely thanks to how it was marketed. The movie was presented as real documentary footage found in camcorders left behind by three filmmakers who had disappeared. Adding to the mystique, the cast of unknowns—who used their real names on-screen—were listed as “missing, presumed dead” in the film’s original IMDb listing.
A Psycho secret
Known as the master of suspense, legendary director Alfred Hitchcock made 41 thrillers from 1935to 1976, including 1960’s Psycho. The fateful shower scene lasts just 45 seconds, yet it took a week to shoot, requiring dozens of camera setups. But since the film is black-and-white, Hitchcock got away with using Hershey’s chocolate syrup for the blood.
A familiar fear
On Halloween night, you may see teenage trick-or-treaters sporting Ghost Face masks. The distinctive white visage features a gaping mouth and is worn by villains in the Scream films. The first movie, released in 1996, opens with a high schooler’s chilling phone call with a stranger on the other end of the line. It’s a callback to 1974’s Black Christmas and 1979’s When a Stranger Calls, both of which feature variations of the spine-tingling line “The call is coming from inside the house!” The next Scream film (#7) isexpected in February.
The secret behind the world’s most famous mask
An even older franchise—with another famous mask—is the Halloween series. The villain of all 13 of these films, which debuted in 1978, is Michael Myers. Myers’s expressionless mask was originally one depicting Captain Kirk from Star Trek, until the first film’s crew painted over it, making it all white. For years, Captain Kirk himself, actor William Shatner, had no idea his likeness was being used in this way. Upon finding out this trivia tidbit, he calledit an honor.
Happier endings
Squeamish about scary movies? They come in less frightening formats such as comedies (Scary Movie) and musicals (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). Indeed, filmmakers switched the ending to the 1986 adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors to make it more family friendly. Originally, the people-eating plant devoured its owner, Seymour. But (spoiler alert!) the final cut sees Seymour electrocute the monster and marry his sweetheart.
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Sources:
- Stephen King: “Works”
- Audible: “We’re Suckers for These Hit ‘Dracula’ TV and Film Adaptations”
- Statista: “Horror movies: Statistics & Facts”
- IMBd: “Performers Who Have Won an Oscar for Their Performance in a Horror Film”
- NRG: “Hacking Hollywood History: How Test Screenings Made Little Shop of Horrors a Lot Less Horrific”
- BFI: “10 Things You (Probably) Never Knew About the Shower Scene in Psycho”
- Comic Book: “William Shatner Does Not Get Royalties for Michael Myers’ Halloween Mask (Exclusive)”
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