23 Scary Movies to Watch (or Avoid) This Halloween Inline

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    1/23

    Pan’s Labyrinth

    Guillermo del Toro’s grim fantasy is terrifying, beautiful, and—against the backdrop of Franco-era Spain—a little bit true. You know, the truth is always scarier than any movie.
    —Steff Yotka, Vogue.com Fashion News Writer

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    2/23

    Drive

    I refuse to watch scary movies—I can’t even sit through the commercials—and I hate seeing anything gory or violent. So while most people would classify Drive as a thriller, I found it positively chilling.
    —Emily Farra, Vogue.com Fashion News Associate

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    3/23

    The Babadook

    The things that go bump in the night in this movie aren’t the most frightening part. A brilliantly crafted, deeply unsettling exploration of motherhood, grief, and guilt is the real terror that lingers well past the final scene.
    —Virginia Van Zanten, Vogue.com Living Editor

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    Photo: Courtesy of © Fox Searchlight Pictures
    4/23

    Sound of My Voice

    I can’t watch movies involving cults (save The Source Family, which had fabulous clothes)—perhaps the result of an early childhood in Northern California in the years of the Manson clan, the SLA, Jim Jones, Bhagwan, the Moonies. When I saw Zal Batmanglij’s Sound of My Voice I remember actually leaving the theater midway through, going to the bathroom, and saying to the mirror, This is just a movie.

    —Sally Singer, Vogue Creative Digital Director

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    5/23

    All Good Things

    I don’t watch scary movies as a rule (I have the nerves of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz), but one late night this summer I did find myself home alone watching All Good Things. I figured it was just a thriller and it would be totally fine. How scary could a Ryan Gosling movie be anyway? Turns out, I was so freaked out I had to call an ex-boyfriend to come over because I was too scared to sleep in the house alone.

    —Chioma Nnadi, Vogue.com Fashion News Director

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    6/23

    The Watcher in the Woods

    I never meet anyone who has even heard of this movie, but The Watcher in the Woods, a Disney movie with Bette Davis, is still the scariest movie I have ever seen.

    —Abby Aguirre, Vogue.com Culture Editor

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    Photo: Courtesy of © Radius-TWC
    7/23

    Citizenfour

    Citizenfour, of course. The most terrifying film you’ll see all year.

    —Alessandra Codinha, Vogue.com Fashion News Editor

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    8/23

    Wait Until Dark

    One of the scariest scenes I have ever watched: Audrey Hepburn is blind and she manages to thwart intruders by shutting off all the lights in her apartment—it is pitch black but you are really in her shoes, only able to decipher what is going on by listening to the men banging around the house trying to kill her.

    —Kelly Connor, Vogue.com Market Editor

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    Photo: Courtesy of © ABC/Photofest
    9/23

    It

    I saw Stephen King’s It at a slumber party in middle school. I’ve never been able to look at clowns the same way again.

    —Alexandra Macon, Vogue.com Managing Editor

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    10/23

    What Lies Beneath

    I don’t believe in ghosts, but I definitely believe that Amber Valletta looks eerily like Michelle Pfeiffer in this campy movie. The film also gave me pause for about six months every time I wiped down a steamed-up mirror in the bathroom.

    —Mark Guiducci, Vogue Arts Reporter

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    11/23

    Black Swan

    I hate scary movies. I can’t even listen to the trailers. But in an effort to stay culturally relevant, I went to see Black Swan with my best friend in the middle of the afternoon so that, in the event that it turned out to be terrifying, we could walk out to daylight. It was terrifying in a deep, dark, psychological way, and that night, separately, we both had panic attacks! I will not watch it again.

    —Mackenzie Wagoner, Vogue.com Beauty Editor

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    12/23

    Signs

    Signs by M. Night Shyamalan ruined sleepaway camp for me the summer it came out; I couldn’t sleep, kept seeing aliens on top of buildings.

    —Nick Remsen, Vogue Fashion Writer

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    13/23

    The Exorcist

    I fell asleep praying. And I am not the praying type.

    —Chelsea Zalopany, Vogue.com Market Editor

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    14/23

    Saw

    When I was in college, my roommate at the time suggested we watch Saw. I didn’t think anything of it but when the time came to watch it, the weather outside had turned, providing an equally chilling setting. Fast-forward to the end of the movie with me clutching my roommate, and then proceeding to sleep in her bed with her while holding onto a golf club. You know, in case we got attacked.

    —Edward Barsamian, Vogue.com Contributing Style Editor

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    15/23

    Requiem for a Dream

    Still can’t talk about it. Just say no. Thanks.

    —Katherine Bernard, Vogue.com Contributor

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    16/23

    The Shining

    I am a huge wimp, so horror movies are something I do my best to avoid, but I took a film class in college and one of the movies we watched was The Shining. In a pitch-dark room, being able to see everyone in front of me jump out of their seats . . . let’s just say that the Grady twins are one of my worst nightmares.

    —Christina Liao, Vogue.com Senior Producer

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    17/23

    Ringu

    Ringu, the Japanese movie The Ring is based on. The Ring is horrifying alone, but the Japanese original is creepy on a psychological level. I saw it when I was way too young for horror movies, and it definitely made for plenty of sleepless nights.

    —Evan Smith, Vogue.com Photo Researcher

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    18/23

    Repulsion

    Roman Polanski’s Repulsion makes me never want to be at home alone.

    —Beau Sam, Vogue.com New Media Editor

  • Alex Frank Vogue.com Deputy Culture Editor
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    19/23

    The Birds

    There are the violent scares, yes, birds gouging people’s eyes out and children being chased, even if they might pale in comparison to more recent nightmares like Freddy Krueger. But the existential fear in The Birds is way worse—before the birds start attacking from the sky, Tippi Hedren’s tense visit to Bodega Bay is so weird and Freudian that it makes Twin Peaks look tame. Once the crows, gulls, and ravens begin invading, it’s over: a world gone insane that’s enough to make you, yourself, feel pretty insane.

    —Alex Frank, Vogue.com Deputy Culture Editor

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    Photo: Courtesy of © Avco Embassy Pictures/Everett Collection
    20/23

    Watership Down

    _Watership Down’_s psychedelic bunnies-in-distress animated film led to many sleepless nights of rabbit-related terror.

    —Allison Brown, Vogue Production Director, Visuals

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    21/23

    The Blair Witch Project

    I absolutely love scary movies and always somehow convince innocent victims to watch with me. But watching The Blair Witch Project alone, in a cabin in the woods was probably the worst life decision I’ve ever made.

    —Jenna Rennert, Vogue.com Beauty Assistant

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    22/23

    Freaks

    For me, Tod Browning’s Freaks remains truly terrifying.

    —Lynn Yaeger, Vogue Contributing Editor

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    Photo: Courtesy of © Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
    23/23

    Rosemary’s Baby

    Rosemary’s Baby is still matchless for sheer psychological terror, but Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes’s Satanic neighbors did not stop me from moving to New York City.

    —Rebecca Bengal, Vogue.com Contributing Editor