The following horror movies are among my favorites, categorized by decade. Click the links or DVD covers to bring you to the catalog. Place a hold for curbside pickup, or to pick up during browsing hours at select branches.
1930s – 1950s
The era of Universal monsters. Every kid knows Dracula, Frankenstein, the Bride of Frankenstein, and The Mummy. Creature from the Black Lagoon, filmed at Silver Springs, was also a Universal monster movie.
1960s
This decade introduced what is widely considered the first slasher film, Psycho. It was also the first to do the unthinkable, kill off the main character within the first act of the movie.
The horror classic, Rosemary’s Baby, is about a young married couple who move into a new apartment building. She finds out she is pregnant, but soon realizes something is not quite right about the neighbors… and her baby.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? stars powerhouses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as sisters with a contentious relationship. Bette Davis plays a faded vaudeville child star who cannot seem to come to grips with the fact that she is no longer a star and that her now wheelchair bound sister, Blanche, became a bigger star than she. Bette’s character holds Blanche prisoner in her own home and mercilessly bullies her. Her torments escalate throughout the film, culminating in a horrifying trip to the beach.
"They're coming to get you, Baarbara!" Night of the Living Dead is an annual Halloween favorite. Barbara and her brother visit their mother's grave and are attacked by zombies. She breaks free and makes her way to a farmhouse, where others are seeking shelter. Will she make it out alive?
1970s
When The Exorcist came out, some people fainted at the shock of a certain scene. Despite the controversy, this possession flick was the highest grossing rated R film until 2017.
The Amityville Horror is the story of the Lutz family, who moved into a home that contained, according to the real Lutz family, the passage to hell. From the moment they moved in, strange and horrifying things kept happening: the mysterious death of the priest who blessed the house, the abrupt change of the husband’s personality, the strangely real imaginary friend of one of the children, and blood running down the walls.
The Wicker Man (not the Nicolas Cage version) is about a police sergeant who receives an anonymous letter regarding a missing girl on an isolated island. When he arrives on the island, the devout Christian is appalled at the islanders openly participating in pagan rituals. Then, he finds out why he's really there.
Carrie, based on the Stephen King novel, is the story of a girl with psychokinetic powers. Her mother constantly used religion to punish her and a group of girls at school are seeking revenge because they got in trouble after savagely bullying her. When they finally push her over the edge, she snaps in the most terrifying way.
1980s
The 1980s brought us a couple of iconic horror baddies, Jason Voorhies and Freddy Krueger of Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Did you know that Kevin Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th? And the killer isn’t who you might think it is.
Vampire movies were also popular. The Hunger stars Catherine Deneuve as Miriam, a vampire who keeps outliving her vampire lovers when they suffer accelerated aging, the latest played by David Bowie. She decides to recruit a scientist studying sleep and aging, played by Susan Sarandon, to try to save him. What ends up happening instead is a love triangle and a tragic end.
The Lost Boys follows two brothers who move to Santa Cruz, CA. The younger brother notices all is not right with this town. People are missing and something strange is happening to his older brother. He's being lured in by the vampires and it is up to him and a ragtag crew of vampire hunters to save his family and their town.
1990s
Jacob’s Ladder is a brain bending ride about a Vietnam vet who sees increasingly strange and ominous hallucinations.
Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman…If you say his name five times into a mirror, Candyman will appear and kill you with his hook for a hand! Helen Lyle is a graduate student in Chicago, studying urban legends when she comes across the legend of Candyman. She becomes obsessed and gets in way over her head.
The Blair Witch Project brought back the found footage film with a vengeance. It used an ingenious marketing scheme, using the internet and word of mouth to make people believe the legend of the Blair witch was a real legend and busting all box office expectations. You may want to take a Dramamine. There are many scenes of the characters running through the woods with a handheld cam.
“Do you like scary movies?” Scream is a darkly humorous movie about high school student Sydney, played by Neve Campbell, who is being stalked by the ghost face killer.
2000s
House of 1,000 Corpses, this entry film by Rob Zombie, follows a group of young people looking to write a book about offbeat roadside locations when stumble upon the Firefly family, brutal serial killers who are intent on making them their evening's entertainment.
Imagine you are a bike messenger in London and get hit by a car. When you wake up, you find yourself in the zombie apocalypse, with fast zombies. That is the situation our protagonist faces in 28 Days Later.
Silent Hill, based on the video game of the same name, is about an adoptive mother searching for her daughter in an abandoned coal town. This is no normal town. It periodically transitions into a dark dimension with terrifying creatures.
If your friend is taken over by a demon that eats your classmates, you may relate to the lead character of Jennifer’s Body.
2010s
Get Out follows a black man as he goes on a trip to meet his white girlfriend’s family. His initial reservations seem to be all for naught when they react surreally positive to meeting him. Then, he realizes something sinister is happening beneath the surface.
The Babadook has a mother at her wits end with her son, who has terrifying nightmares and hallucinations when a mysterious book shows up. Soon she is questioning her sanity and wondering if her son’s hallucinations are actually real.
In A Quiet Place, the world has been invaded by large creatures with super sensitive hearing. If you make a noise you will die.
It Follows is the tale of a young woman who after a one night stand is told she inherited a curse, and the only way to get rid of it is to do the same to someone else. Watch as she and her friends try to outsmart the demon that chases her.