The 18 Greatest Horror Movie Franchises of All Time

Slashers, hauntings, demonic possessions and undead outbreaks square off — from black-and-white originals to modern box-office monsters, with a few cult favorites lurking. Which will win?

1. 1
   The Exorcist

   The landmark demonic-possession franchise sparked by the 1973 classic widely called the scariest film ever.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Halloween

   John Carpenter's slasher saga built around the masked killer Michael Myers, a genre cornerstone since 1978.
   1000pts
3. 3
   Hellraiser

   Clive Barker's dark series about a puzzle box that summons the sadistic Cenobites led by Pinhead.
   801pts
4. 4
   It / Stephen King's It

   The two-part adaptation series featuring the shape-shifting, child-devouring clown Pennywise.
   633pts
5. 5
   The Evil Dead

   Sam Raimi's cult splatter-comedy series following Ash Williams and the demonic Necronomicon.
   633pts
6. 6
   Friday the 13th

   The long-running slasher franchise centered on hockey-masked killer Jason Voorhees at Camp Crystal Lake.
   548pts
7. 7
   Final Destination

   The inventive series in which characters cheat death only to be hunted down by elaborate accidents.
   548pts
8. 8
   Insidious

   James Wan's supernatural series about a family haunted through an astral realm called The Further.
   548pts
9. 9
   The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

   The raw, influential series introducing the chainsaw-wielding cannibal Leatherface.
   448pts
10. 10
    Paranormal Activity

    The found-footage franchise that turned static home-camera hauntings into a box-office phenomenon.
    448pts
11. 11
    Night of the Living Dead / Living Dead

    George A. Romero's foundational zombie series that defined the modern undead genre.
    448pts
12. 12
    Child's Play

    The franchise built around Chucky, a killer doll possessed by a serial murderer's soul.
    448pts
13. 13
    Alien

    Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror saga pitting humans against a lethal extraterrestrial xenomorph.
    329pts
14. 14
    Saw

    The grisly franchise built around the moral traps of the Jigsaw killer, a byword for torture horror.
    329pts
15. 15
    The Conjuring Universe

    The interconnected series of based-on-true-events hauntings led by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
    329pts
16. 16
    A Nightmare on Elm Street

    Wes Craven's dream-stalking series starring the burned, razor-gloved Freddy Krueger.
    183pts
17. 17
    Scream

    Wes Craven's self-aware slasher series featuring the Ghostface killer and meta commentary on horror tropes.
    183pts
18. 18
    The Ring

    The chilling franchise about a cursed videotape that kills its viewers in seven days.
    183pts