money 50 Hair-Raising Ghost Movies You Need to Watch Right Now
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50 Hair-Raising Ghost Movies You Need to Watch Right Now
Halloween isn’t for another few months, but lucky for us, ghosts are always in season—and there’s plenty of movies to prove it. Ghost movies are a special category of horror. There’s something about the paranormal that sets itself apart from monsters, slashers, and other sub-genres of the like. With ghost films, the director has the intricate job of working with the unseen, and proving that sometimes what we can’t see is the most frightening thing of all.
Why do we flock to the theater for movies that should have us running in the other direction? According to Dr. Katherine Brownlowe, an assistant professor in the neurology and psychiatry departments at The Ohio State University, having to calm yourself down after watching a scary movie is chemically pleasing for your brain. Who knew? So let’s give these movies the credit they deserve. (After all, in the entire history of the Oscar awards, just six horror films have been nominated.)
Here’s a list of the 24 ghost movies that make creaky floorboards leave a knot in your stomach, and turn innocent shadows into haunting silhouettes.
Getty Images - 2/25
The Conjuring (2013)
Horror movie icons Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play paranormal investigators in the first of this series. The two help a family with a sinister presence in their house that they can’t seem to shake. The Conjuring is sure to make you pull the covers over your head the next time you hear a thump. (Oh, and it’s based on a true story, just to terrify you even more.)
Warner Bros. Pictures@Youtube - 3/25
Poltergeist (2015)
You’ll never look at a television set the same way after watching this paranormal thriller. In this remake of the 1982 classic, a family’s young daughter is taken captive by apparitions. Can they get her back?
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 4/25
Candyman (1992)
Not exactly a ghost, but clearly something of supernatural origins, Candyman might haunt your dreams (and make you scared of ever looking in a bathroom mirror for too long). Look out for Jordan Peele's 2021 remake.
Fear: The Home Of Horror@Youtube - 5/25
Insidious (2010)
You can't escape a haunted house when it's not the house that's haunted. In this first film in a chilling series, a family’s son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), falls into what seems to be a coma. But after months of paranormal sightings and unexplained events around the home, Dalton’s parents suspect it might not be a coma at all. What they realize instead is something all the more sinister.
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube - 6/25
Ghostbusters (1984)
What happens when you put the four dorkiest paranormal enthusiasts together? You get this cooky team of ghostbusters, made up of three former university professors and a fourth guy who’s in it just for the paycheck. After finding a portal to another dimension, ghosts plague New York, and the team becomes the city’s only hope.
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube - 7/25
The Ring (2002)
Addicted to T.V.? Here’s one movie that will ensure you don’t look at a screen for a while. In this remake of a Japanese horror movie, an urban legend suggests that if you watch a videotape, you will receive a phone call telling you that you’ll die in one week. Only, the legend isn’t just a legend anymore: People are dying. You definitely won't be picking up any spam calls after watching this.
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube - 8/25
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Latinx kids, cover your eyes. This movie puts a terrifying face to the popular Hispanic-American wivestale of La Llorona: a deceased mother stuck on earth looking for her two children. Though the story varies from person to person, this movie follows a social worker and her kids who are drawn into the weeping La Llorona’s web. Can they put an end to her once and for all?
Warner Bros. Pictures@Youtube - 9/25
The Nun (2018)
In this prequel to Annabelle, a priest and soon-to-be nun are sent to unpack the secrets of the church and the suicide of a fellow nun. When they are met with something so evil, they fear God may not even be able to save them. It’s based on a true story, so you’re going to want to say your prayers tonight.
FilmStar Trailer@Youtube - 10/25
Insidious Chapter 2 (2013)
New house, same hauntings. Did you really think the demons wouldn’t put up a fight? Although Dalton has been rescued from what the characters call “The Further,” evil continues to plague the family. Something’s not quite right with Josh (Patrick Wilson), Dalton’s dad, and old horrors come out to play.
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 11/25
Oculus (2013)
Looks can kill, especially with the mirror in this horror flick. Oculus follows two siblings who lost their mother at a young age, and believe a mirror is to blame. It may also be responsible for over 40 other deaths in its lifetime. Now, they want to prove it.
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 12/25
Beetlejuice (1988)
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! This is definitely a light-hearted classic to watch with your friends, even if it’s only for the beloved Banana Boat dinner scene. Who could forget?
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube - 13/25
The Shining (1980)
Based on the book by the modern father of horror, Stephen King, this movie sends a family to a remote hotel in Colorado, where things start to spiral out of control and out of this realm. Is the family going crazy from seclusion? Or is there more to the chaos than meets the eye?
Stanley Kubrick@Youtube - 14/25
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense brings together Malcolm (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist, and a little boy with a unique and chilling gift: He can see and talk with the deceased. In an attempt to help the boy, we discover something about Malcolm that not even he knew.
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube - 15/25
The Boy (2016)
You thought you were afraid of dolls before? How about now? When a nanny takes a new job looking after a young boy, she is shocked to find that the “child” is really a porcelain doll. After their real son died in a house fire, the parents have taken care of the doll, Brahms, like their real boy. The kicker? Brahms moves around when they’re asleep. Could this be the ghost of their son? Or the work of something even scarier?
Zero Media@Youtube - 16/25
The Invisible Man (2020)
Okay so, not your typical ghost movie, but maybe something even more hair-raising. When her abusive ex-boyfriend takes his own life, Elisabeth (Cecilia Moss) doesn’t believe he’s really gone. Is she being haunted by a ghost, or an evil that was created in a lab?
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 17/25
Mama (2013)
Giving new meaning to the phrase “mom is always watching,” Mama shows two sisters' attempts to reintegrate into society after their parents' deaths led them to spend five years alone in the woods. But something seems to have followed them out.
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 18/25
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
This Korean film is an all-in-one horror and psychological thriller that will leave you with your jaw on the floor. Try to keep up with the twists and turns of this unique ghost story.
SeparateWay@Youtube - 19/25
Personal Shopper (2017)
The connection between twins never dies...even when one of them does. But three months pass after her brother’s death, Maureen (Kristen Stewart), a medium, grows worried that she may never hear from him again.
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 20/25
Dark Water (2005)
You can expect leaks, creaks, and maybe even a few cockroaches from a crappy apartment building, but Dark Water is something you better hope you’ll never see in your average city dwelling. What’s causing the drip from the ceiling?
HorrorMoviesBlog@Youtube - 21/25
Ouija (2014)
The rules? Never play alone, never play in a graveyard and always say “goodbye.” This is one game you have to finish, even if it kills you.
Movieclips Trailers@Youtube - 22/25
Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle, the prequel to The Conjuring, will validate your innate fear of dolls with braided pigtails. The doll started out as a gift from a husband to his pregnant wife. But as the movie goes on, it is clear that Annabelle wants a sacrifice, and won’t stop until she gets one.
Warner Bros. Pictures@Youtube - 23/25
The Innkeepers (2011)
When they try to uncover the past, innocent curiosity takes an eerie turn on two employees (Sara Paxton and Pat Healy) of a haunted hotel.
Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing@Youtube - 24/25
Housebound (2014)
While on house arrest, Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) finds herself trapped with her mom who is convinced their house is haunted. While the rough-around-the-edges Kylie doesn’t buy into it at first, she soon starts to think her mom might be right. This rare horror-comedy won’t disappoint
Movieclips Indie@Youtube - 25/25
Casper (1995)
What’s invisible and has two rotten uncles? Casper the Friendly Ghost! The perfect balance of spooky and cute for parents who don’t want their kids crawling in bed with them that night.
Movieclips Classic Trailers@Youtube
