The 15 best horror franchises, ranked

Focused on creating the feeling of fear, horror has existed for centuries, originating with supernatural folklore involving vampires, werewolves, and all manner of mythical creatures. Since Greek mythology, derived from storytelling around 700 BC and beyond, horror has evolved from fictional folk tales to on-screen nightmares.

Now, horror has a plethora of subgenres, ranging from slashers to psychological thrillers, and the 21st century thrives on advanced technology, including CGI and special effects makeup. The ’80s marked the beginning of truly terrifying cinematic horror, tracing its sources back to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), which set the standard for modern horror films through the ’00s.

Over the years, sequels, prequels, threequels, and requels have spawned longstanding horror franchises that have survived the century transition. Some are trend-setters while others are slasher sheep following the crowd. Regardless, these are some of the best horror franchises of all time, each perfectly unique and ferociously frightening, consisting of multiple installments spanning many years of story, character, and concept development. It’s time to settle the age-old debate over which horror franchise trumps all others.

15. Creepshow (1982)

This slightly “under-the-radar” pick also shows up on a list of this magnitude. There are films, comics, and a 2019 streaming TV series all set in the same scary continuity that was first established in the original 1982 movie. The original two entries, movies released in 1982 and 1987 respectively, were directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, who at that time was just getting his feet wet in screenwriting.

The format of the Creepshow entries is unique in that each presentation features a number of independent short stories, giving the viewer various opportunities to be spooked. The first movie featured several famous names like Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, and Ted Danson. Future iterations also had appearances from Lois Chiles and George Kennedy. Overall, Creepshow doesn’t have the sort of mass following that other picks on this list have. But, if you ever enjoyed Tales from the Crypt or even Goosebumps as a younger fan, you’ll enjoy this true cult classic franchise.

14. Alien (1979)

Now before you argue that the Alien franchise might not qualify for this list, at least consider that the first film from 1979 in this respective series is indeed widely regarded as a sci-fi horror movie, one of the greatest ever made. One could even agree that the two sequels, Aliens (1986), and Alien 3 (1992) also qualifies for that distinction. In fact, if you go a step even further, the two Alien v. Predator movies of the 2000s could be lumped into the debate. And it’s not like all the gruesome sights to be seen throughout each movie, especially featuring the queen xenomorph, are going to give any viewers pleasant dreams when they go to sleep.

Director Ridley Scott’s first entry started it all, bringing about the reveal of the legendary queen xenomorph, from its parasitic origin and through its tenacious attack on the crew of the Nostromo. This film launched the career of legendary actress, Sigourney Weaver, as she brilliantly portrayed the tough and tenacious Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley. Ripley’s frightening fights against the xenomorphs would continue in three more sequels over nearly two decades. After all the Alien movies, comics, toys, and video games, the original film was declared “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, in 2002.

13. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Said to be a game-changer, going outside of the box compared to the “usual” horror films before it was released in 1999, is The Blair Witch Project. The project was written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. The film was put together on a very low budget, with nearly every shot appearing as if you’re simply watching someone’s amateur home video – because it practically was, with a typical camcorder. This style of simple cinematography conveyed a never-before-seen sense of realism that brought about a new sub-genre within horror known as, “found-footage.”

The production was simple and small, utilizing a tiny cast of completely (and some would argue still) unknown actors, and even some local citizens from the shooting locations to make appearances. The first film brought about sequels, TV programs, comics, video games, and even tons of parodies in various other genres of media, showing you how much of a mark The Blair Witch Project left on pop culture. This sort of effect surely earns this franchise a spot on this list.

12. The Purge (2013)

The Purge franchise revolves around a fascinating concept: what if the government decided — for one night only — to make all crime, even murder, legal? As of 2023, there have been five feature-length films produced:

• The Purge
• The Purge: Anarchy
• The Purge: Election Year
• The First Purge
• The Forever Purge

Interestingly, the film presents itself as a crime-free America, a seemingly impossible feat that is simply too good to be true — because it is. Every year, the dystopian country permits an annual holiday where everything goes and for 12 hours, any crimes become decriminalized.

The Purge franchise ranks here because it can get dreadfully repetitive. In 2013, when The Purge debuted, the thought-provoking notion that legalizing all crimes could result in mass homicide and pandemonium solidified itself as fresh, original, and untouchable. Unfortunately, every succeeding chapter failed to reinvent the plot and committed itself to insistently covering old ground. Still, despite its hackneyed diegesis, The Purge is considered the eighth-highest-grossing horror film franchise of all time and aided in propelling Blumhouse Productions’ success and building a legacy.

11. Paranormal Activity (2007)

For those who don’t believe in ghosts, Paranormal Activity may look cheap, tacky, and unrealistic. However, for the believers among us, it could be a retelling of personal experiences, perhaps even an “art imitates life” scenario. Although it cannot be credited with inventing the found footage genre (that honor goes to The Blair Witch Project), the Paranormal Activity franchise utilizes a similar premise in handheld cameras and purposely amateur filmmaking.

The original premiered in 2007, then spawned a universe that comprises of eight films:

• Paranormal Activity
• Paranormal Activity 2
• Paranormal Activity 3
• Paranormal Activity 4
• Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
• Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
• Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin

As for the premise, the film series typically follows various families who encounter, become haunted by, and subsequently capture footage of the demon Asmodeus, aka Prince of Demons, who stalks and ultimately murders its victims. Paranormal Activity makes use of camera trickery in that production cameras act as in-film security cameras that record the haunted happenings. Overall, the franchise made a strong profit, indicating commercial success, but as expected, each film earned progressively worse critical feedback and eventually the jump scares became overused and the same-old concept became overplayed.

10. The Evil Dead (1981)

Sam Raimi rose to prominence during the ’80s and again in the ’00s, a charmed career that he owes to The Evil Dead horror franchise. It began as a one-shot feature film idea and extended its reach into video games, comic books, and a television series. The film franchise focuses on demonic possession and the havoc it wreaks for protagonist Ash Williams and other victims across a five-part series:

• The Evil Dead
• Evil Dead II
• Army of Darkness
• Evil Dead (2013)
• Evil Dead Rise

In The Evil Dead, a group of five vacationers discovers an audio tape that releases a legion of demonic spirits that possess four students, forcing the fifth to battle an onslaught of gory chaos.

Viewer reception for the initial 1981 release was universally positive from critics and audiences alike. In the years since, The Evil Dead films — specifically the original film — have become cult classics, cited as one of the greatest horror franchises of all time. It launched director Sam Raimi’s career, which eventually led to his work on the esteemed Spider-Man trilogy. The Evil Dead achieved a huge milestone for graphic horror, potentially even kickstarting the gore genre, but sadly, other horror franchises are just more memorable and presently relevant.

9. Final Destination (2000)

Could you imagine having a premonition of your death that involves witnessing exactly when and how it would happen? Well, thankfully, you don’t need to. Final Destination answered that burning question for us. The original script was intended to be written for The X-Files television series but was later developed into a full-fledged franchise:

• Final Destination
• Final Destination 2
• Final Destination 3
• The Final Destination
• Final Destination 5

All five films follow a group of individuals who repeatedly escape their impending deaths after the main protagonist experiences frequent premonitions that warn them of mass-casualty accidents. Rather than using the stereotypical axe-murderer or other physical criminal as an antagonist, Final Destination focuses on the manifestation of Death as it manipulates the environment to ensure that the central characters meet their fated demise after cheating it persistently.

The Final Destination films have often been commended for their refreshing departure from common horror tropes, but the franchise has also been criticized for falling dramatically flat and losing its flair to bad acting and standardized subplots that conform to witless teen horror stereotypes.

8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Robert Englund’s horror legend Freddie Krueger made his cinematic debut in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, a terrifying tale about teenagers who are hunted in their dreams by a vengeful ghost with a blade-fixed glove and a lethal vendetta. Overall, there are nine feature-length films in the Nightmare on Elm Street canon:

• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
• Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
• Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
• Freddy vs. Jason
• The 2010 reboot A Nightmare on Elm Street

The original film was released in 1984, marking the beginning of Freddy Krueger’s reign of terror. The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has garnered mixed reviews from critics throughout its almost 40-year run but proved to be a box office success despite ups and downs with some sequels hitting the mark better than others.

For such a low-budget feature, A Nightmare on Elm Street is extraordinarily polished and stands tall as a superior example of an overworked slasher genre. It has been praised as highly imaginative, chilling, and able to effectively test the boundaries between fiction and reality. Wes Craven went on to direct Scream, another hugely impactful slasher franchise. Inversely, A Nightmare on Elm Street fails to surpass more fleshed-out, actively influential, and enjoyable slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th as well as its successor, Scream, overshadowing Craven’s earlier efforts.

7. Insidious (2010)

From James Wan ⏤ best known for spearheading The Conjuring universe and Saw ⏤ and Leigh Whannell, the Insidious franchise has produced five films thus far:

• Insidious
• Insidious: Chapter 2
• Insidious: Chapter 3
• Insidious: The Last Key
• Insidious: The Red Door

All of these films were commercially successful. Derived from the case files of demonologists, the Insidious plot follows a couple whose son mysteriously enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for spirits that haunt the family household. In later installments, the central storyline revolves around the psychic Elise — who helps the aforementioned couple exorcize the demons — and her own experiences with malevolent entities.

Insidious was heavily censured for its lackluster ending as a result of a shaky final act. The film begins with a promising premise, strong characters, and endless possibilities, but it wastes all of its best assets, even if it excels at building nail-biting suspense. Insidious generates an unnerving atmosphere and makes its audience feel daunted without the needless attempts at overpowering gore. Rather than relying on supernatural elements to amp up the scare factor, Insidious borders on the psychological horror that leaves you double-taking those dark corners. It somehow lives up to impossibly high standards set by Wan’s Saw, but turns those expectations upside down, proving that horror can be horrifying in the subtlest of ways. Unfortunately, like many other franchises, the sequels get worse as the story dissipates into nothingness and jump scares become their most valuable tool.

6. Saw (2004)

Prominent director James Wan began his illustrious career by creating the Saw franchise. In 2004, he directed the original Saw, which became one of the most profitable horror films since 1996’s Scream. Since then, the Saw franchise has gained a cult following and has often been cited as one of the most revolutionary horror franchises of all time. Despite reeling in undoubtedly mixed reviews and dividing its audience into strictly “love” or “hate” categories due to its gruesome themes, Saw has become a widely respected, trend-setting franchise that invented the “torture porn” subgenre and inspired franchises like Hostel. As of 2023, there are ten Saw films:

• Saw
• Saw II
• Saw III
• Saw IV
• Saw V
• Saw VI
• Saw 3D
• Jigsaw
• Spiral
• Saw X

Wan’s body horror franchise chronicles the ongoing murder spree of the Jigsaw killer, who traps his victims in “games” that involve personal sacrifice (usually self-mutilation) in exchange for freedom and survival. Jigsaw assumes that these “tests” will instill the value of human life in his unwilling victims.

As the Saw series has continued its evolution, the reviews have been mostly negative, deeming the franchise “torture porn” as a derogatory and dismissive term. However, Saw remains one of the highest-grossing horror franchises of all time, competing with the likes of Halloween, The Conjuring, and Scream. It has been publicly shamed as “derivative, messy, and nonsensical” and criticized for not being conventionally “scary” like most typical horrors.

On the other hand, Saw has been praised for its departure from horror norms, including a motive that isn’t as bland as the conventional and mindless “kill for revenge” mindset. Saw keeps few secrets and delivers an expected story, but it does so with a certain flair that merits admiration.

5. Child’s Play (1988)

The Child’s Play franchise, also known as the Chucky series, was created by Don Mancini and mainly focuses on Charles Lee Ray, aka Chucky, a notorious serial killer who escapes death by transferring his soul into a “Good Guy” doll using a voodoo spell to continue his murder spree. The 1988 original Child’s Play spawned six sequels, a remake, and a television series

• Child’s Play
• Child’s Play 2
• Child’s Play 3
• Bride of Chucky
• Seed of Chucky
• Curse of Chucky
• Cult of Chucky
• The 2019 remake Child’s Play
• Syfy’s Chucky series.

An interesting trait that helps the Child’s Play franchise stand apart from the crowd is its compelling concoction of psychological horror blended with satirical dark humor that produces more of a horror comedy than a traditional slasher.

More often than not, Child’s Play has been slammed for its confusing sense of self as it walks the tightrope of comedy and horror and loses its sheen to off-putting gags. However, it has been frequently praised for its energetic and persistently scary yet hilariously unorthodox approach to reinventing the slasher genre. Unfortunately, Child’s Play found controversy in its decidedly ugly plot involving a ruthless serial killer terrorizing a six-year-old child that incites violence against children.

The Child’s Play sequels performed reasonably at the box office and Syfy’s Chucky series debuted to resoundingly positive reviews, but the 2019 remake was bashed for rehashing the same, exhausted plot and falling flat in an attempt to rejuvenate the content. The Child’s Play franchise ranks so highly because it will always be considered one of the greats in cinematic horror.

4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise consists of nine feature-length films, including the 1974 original, and has since encouraged the production of several sequels, remakes, and a prequel. The full lineup includes:

• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
• Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
• Texas Chainsaw 3D
• Leatherface
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

The franchise follows the murderous sprees of the cannibalistic Leatherface, a serial killer who terrorizes visitors in the desolate Texan countryside. Due to its tremendous success, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has undergone multiple remakes that attempt to remodel the classic concept for modern-day audiences, but unfortunately, these remakes have bombed massively, as have some of the sequels and the prequel.

One of the biggest criticisms of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is its consistently plastic scripts and blood-soaked legacy that hides a saga of unfinished stories. Thankfully, Marilyn Burns, who portrays Sally, was a saving grace for the original and it shows in how audiences yearn for that astounding acting in her absence. At times, the sadistic violence feels like misguided filler, especially as the overarching narrative gets more hopelessly lost with each half-hearted sequel.

As for the positives, the franchise delivers heart-stopping tension, ingraining a sense of foreboding in its audiences that can be difficult to shake off once the credits start rolling. Still, despite its weak successors, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is considered one of the most notable establishing films in horror history — often remade but never replicated — thereby earning its fourth-place spot on this list.

3. The Conjuring (2013)

For some, it may be surprising to see The Conjuring, a modern horror masterpiece, rank higher than the old-school classics from the ’80s and ’90s. James Wan’s supernatural trilogy, along with its sister trilogy Annabelle and spin-offs The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona ⏤ birthed from the success garnered by Saw and Insidious ⏤ collectively constitute to form The Conjuring universe. Taking place canonically between 1952 and 1981, The Conjuring universe timeline is as follows:

• The Nun
• Annabelle: Creation
• The Nun II
• Annabelle
• The Conjuring
• Annabelle Comes Home
• The Curse of La Llorona
• The Conjuring 2
• The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

The Conjuring universe as a whole follows the real-life exploits of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, including their personal experiences with the Annabelle doll. As expected, every explicitly titled Conjuring film involved in the original trilogy grossed much higher at the global box office than its various attachments. Similarly, the Conjuring trilogy earned more universally positive feedback. The spin-off series recalls the origins of the entities that Ed and Lorraine have faced, whereas the main series focuses on the Warrens themselves.

The Conjuring universe has been renowned for the irreplaceable on-screen chemistry of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, respectively, and has had a substantially influential effect on the production and subsequent quality of modern horror films, often cited as inspiration for other supernatural flicks. However, the spin-offs and prequels have been compared to the main series as indisputably inferior, therefore dragging down the overall universe, even if it is the second highest-grossing horror franchise of all time.

2. Scream (1996)

As one of the first and only self-referential and meta-horror franchises, Scream safely steals the second-place spot. Not just for its distinguishable antagonist, Scream has received resoundingly positive reviews since its original film was released in 1996 and remained the most successful in the franchise by a long shot. Scream follows its main protagonist Sidney Prescott as she repeatedly encounters and survives murderers who adopt the persona Ghostface in order to stalk and kill their victims. Sidney is accompanied by deuteragonist Dewey Riley, a Woodsboro policeman, and tritagonist Gale Weathers, a greedy tabloid reporter.

For its appealing qualities, the Scream franchise mixes irony and self-reference with a bloody good time, making it the most streamlined and consistently refreshing horror franchise on the list. Here are the franchise’s entries so far:

• Scream
• Scream 2
• Scream 3
• Scream 4,
• Scream: The TV Series
• Scream (2022)
• Scream VI

Perhaps the biggest downfall of Scream is its inability to truly change the formula for slashers, using the generic tropes as a crutch, even if it does poke fun at itself. As we plow through the various sequels and analyze the advancement through the central storyline, the sad reality that Scream falls back on overused clichés becomes astoundingly apparent. Scream 3 and Scream 4 were often seen as the weaker sequels, while Scream, Scream 2, and Scream (2022) were held in high regard. The Scream franchise truly explored uncharted territory by being self-aware of horror tropes and using them ironically to generate humor.

1. Halloween (1978)

Even with all its confusing, overlapping timelines, John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise — which consists of 12 films — can be named the best of them all. The original, released in 1978, shares continuity with Halloween II, then branches off into two parallel timelines wherein one Laurie Strode lives and one dies.

The “Laurie lives” timeline follows on from Halloween II with Halloween H20 and Halloween Resurrection and the “Laurie dies” timeline sees Halloween 4, Halloween 5, and Halloween 6 follow the original sequel.

Rob Zombie produced his own separate universe — the “Zombie” universe — including Halloween and Halloween II. Then, in 2018, a direct sequel to the 1978 original, which ignores all other timelines, spawned an all-new trilogy consisting of Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends.

When compared to other horror franchises, Halloween ranks first at the global box office, and rightly so, despite critical acclaim suggesting otherwise. Halloween (1978) and Halloween (2018) both received positive reviews, while the other sequels received mostly mixed and negative. Known to have inspired a long line of slasher films, Halloween has been often mimicked for its originality, creativity, and ability to generate real terror.

Halloween feels almost immersive as if we aren’t watching it happen, but rather it’s happening to us in some sort of surreal parallel reality. John Carpenter does that best. Even if the sequels still manage to hold their own merit as enjoyable continuations, Carpenter’s will always be the gold standard. It goes without saying that Halloween is beautifully made, only flawed by its backhanded sequels that honestly ruin the storyline somewhere along the way. Thankfully, Halloween fans always have the original to fall back on.