Animated
Disney released this animated movie under its Touchstone Pictures label because executives feared it was too dark for the core Disney brand and its mocking of Christmas.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Tim Burton originally feared the famous "Day-O" (Banana Boat Song) dinner party in this film wouldn't work, but audiences turned it into one of the most iconic moments in movie history.
Beetlejuice (1988)
This films iconic "Here's Johnny!" line was improvised after Jack Nicholson heard it from The Tonight Show.
The Shining (1980)
This film's iconic trick-or-treater Sam is based on director Michael Dougherty's 1996 animated short film.
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
Director Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup as fake blood in this 1960 movie.
Psycho (1960)
The plot of this movie comes from a 17th-century Eastern European Jewish folktale called "The Finger", where a groom accidentally proposes to a corpse in the woods.
Corpse Bride (2005)
The 1993 Halloween classic started as a darker bedtime story called 'Halloween House' before Bette Midler helped transform it into a campy comedy.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
The Central Texas Sawyer family farmhouse in this film was decorated with real animal bones, feathers, roadkill, and slaughterhouse blood.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The name of this film comes from an old Dutch term, Slapershaven ("Sleepers' Haven"). Referring to maps showing the location of 'Sleepy' Holes.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
This film marked Johnny Depp's first-ever movie role, landing the part after Wes Craven's daughter thought he looked "dreamy" at the auditions.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Other Mother is a "beldam"—an old French word for a witch or ugly woman—and this movie constantly foreshadows her true spider-like form through insect imagery, web patterns, and beetle-shaped windows.
Coraline (2009)
This British satire film was almost called Tea Time of the Dead.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The title of this film comes from what Jordan Peele often heard Black audience members shout at horror movie screenings.
Get Out (2017)
Belonging to Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Oakley Court is the home of an eccentric, corset-wearing "sweet transvestite" mad scientist from outer space where this film takes place.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
In the months after this movie came out, sales for telephone caller identification devices jumped by 300%
Scream (1996)
This film is known as a groundbreaking stop-motion comedy-horror film about an 11-year-old outcast named Norman who can speak with the dead and must save his cursed Massachusetts town.
ParaNorman (2012)
This film pairs a mismatched group of survivors fighting their way across America using strict survival rules while also hunting for Twinkies.
Zombieland (2009)
This film follows the Graham family who are faced with a malicious cult attempting to channel the demon king Paimon.
Hereditary (2018)
This film stars Sissy Spacek, a shy teenage girl who is constantly mocked and bullied at her school until she later develops the power of telekinesis and gets her revenge.
Carrie (1976)
This movie was filmed at Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, an active Boy Scout camp in Hardwick, New Jersey.
Friday the 13th (1980)
The orange flower seen throughout this film is the Aztec marigold (Cempazutchil), used in the tradition of Dia de los Muertos in México to guide the deceased to the living.
Coco (2017)
Mel Brooks’ black-and-white monster parody stars Gene Wilder as the reluctant grandson of the infamous scientist trying to distance himself from the family legacy.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The projectile vomit scene in this film was canned Andersen's pea soup. The tubing used misfired and hit actor Jason Miller directly in the face instead of his chest, meaning his look of shock and anger was completely genuine.
The Exorcist (1973)
A theory about this film's final scene suggests that the J&B Scotch bottle MacReady gives Childs is actually filled with gasoline (from a Molotov cocktail). Becoming one of the most famous stalemates in cinema history.
The Thing (1982)
This film's famous white mask, was a Captain Kirk mask molded from William Shatner's face for Star Trek.
Halloween (1978)