2026 was a banner year for horror. Cheap internet stars shattered box office records with their low-cost box office hits, and the big franchises returned for some of their most blood-soaked installments ever. Here are the best horror movies of 2026, from a $750,000 hit to reinventions of classic monsters, that deserve a spot on your Halloween to-do list.
Obsession
Curry Barker, a comedian who first got started on YouTube, wrote and directed Obsession, in which a music store employee wishes his co-worker to fall in love with him. It was made for about $750,000 and is the year’s biggest horror hit.
Evil Dead Burn
The sixth film in the Evil Dead series, Evil Dead Burn is a sequel to 2023’s Evil Dead Rise. French director Sébastien Vaniček took over, with Sam Raimi producing. Released in July, it has been praised for inventive camerawork and is considered one of the year’s goriest movies.
Backrooms
A24’s Backrooms adapts Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube series about endless, eerie empty rooms. Parsons, 20, directed the film, which opened to $81.5 million in North America. That set an A24 record and was the biggest opening ever for an original horror movie.
Resident Evil
Zach Cregger, who scored with the 2025 horror Weapons, returned to the horror genre in September with a reboot of the Resident Evil franchise. The reboot proved to be one of the year’s biggest horror successes, making over $300 million at the global box office and becoming one of the highest grossing horror films of 2026.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy
Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin brought his gruesome style to a classic monster with Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, released in April. The film is unconnected to the 2017 Tom Cruise version and leans much more heavily into horror than earlier adaptations of the story.
Send Help
Sam Raimi returned to directing with Send Help, a horror comedy released in January. Rachel McAdams plays a woman stranded on an island with her terrible boss, played by Dylan O’Brien, after a plane crash. It mixes survival thrills with Raimi’s trademark dark humor.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
The Bone Temple continued the story begun in 2025’s 28 Years Later, arriving in theaters in January. Directed by Nia DaCosta, the film features Ralph Fiennes returning as Dr. Kelson and pushed the long-running zombie franchise into even darker territory.
Scream 7
Scream 7, which was directed by the series’ original scribe Kevin Williamson. Neve Campbell reprised her role as the iconic Sidney Prescott, so if nothing else, her participation in the film proved that the franchise’s most acclaimed survivor could always come back for more.
Iron Lung
YouTube star Markiplier bypassed traditional studio routes to make and release his feature adaptation of the indie horror game Iron Lung. The film, set aboard a tiny submarine exploring a sea of blood, became one of the year’s clearest examples of creator-driven horror.
Faces of Death
This new Faces of Death reimagines the notorious 1978 shock film for the internet age. Critics have placed it among the best horror releases of the year, with its premise updated for an era of viral online content.
