Have you ever wondered what it is about horror films that keeps us on the edge of our seats, often laughing nervously between gasps? What’s that fine line between thrilling entertainment and terrifying dread? Horror—especially the supernatural variety—invites us into its eerie embrace, tapping into legends and myths that elude the natural order of our lives. It’s a genre steeped in the unknown, where spirits, curses, and the very monsters of our own creation can chill us to the bone. From spine-tingling tales of possession to stories that explore our darkest fears, supernatural horror feeds our insatiable appetite for the macabre while offering a safe space to embrace the fright. Ready to dive deep into some of the most iconic scripts that defined this genre? Well, let’s explore together and uncover the treasures these spooky stories hold. If you’re eager to learn more, LEARN MORE!
Horror has so many dimensions, but one of the most celebrated and explored is the horror of that which is supernatural. It’s not enough to be an extension of the natural—the horror we mean is the stuff of legends, myths, or creatures beyond the veil. Spirits, curses, devils, psychic disturbances, and living products of the mind all create stories we shudder to tell. That means they also provide the fuel for some of the most terrifying or fun horror films in history!
Scripts from this Article
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The Exorcist (1973)
Screenplay by: William Peter Blatty
In one of the biggest horror stories to ever hit Hollywood, The Exorcist started as a novel by William Peter Blatty. Based loosely on actual events, the story shows Linda Blair as Regan, a little girl whose suddenly strange antics soon escalate into a full-blown demon possession—one so heinous that the movie itself is still believed to be affected by a curse.
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The Babadook (2014)
Screenplay by: Jennifer Kent
Straight out of a twisted storybook, Mister Babadook disturbs Amelia (Essie Davis) enough that she takes the book from her son Sam (Noah Wiseman) and destroys it outright. But as the creature (played by Tim Purcell) appears to her, Amelia soon learns the hard way: You can’t get rid of the Babadook.
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Poltergeist (1982)
Screenplay by: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor
Another classic for the ages, Poltergeist might be one of the most-quoted horror films in history, with the infamous “They’re here” from young Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) as a strange presence makes itself known in her family’s house, little by little. With some of the most iconic imagery to boot, this film stayed in the minds of audiences for decades, always something extra odd to the usual supernatural horror stories out there.
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The Witch (2015)
Screenplay by: Robert Eggers
Set in 17th-century New England, a Puritan family faces more than the harsh elements as Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) becomes the pariah of her household for losing her youngest brother outdoors. The real culprit, Thomasin claims, is a witch, and that question raises the family’s hackles as they begin to succumb to religious paranoia and psychological infighting.
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Candyman (1992)
Screenplay by: Clive Barker and Bernard Rose
When an urban legend borne of racial violence becomes the subject of an academic investigation, student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) has to connect the dots and distinguish the real figure known as the Candyman (Tony Todd) from his misappropriated myth.
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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Screenplay by: Wes Craven
Slashers aren’t all psychos from off the street or out in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes, the real psycho was in your dreams all along. At least, that’s the way it is with Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund), the embodied spirit of a disfigured murderer, whose current method of killing pierces the veil between dreams and reality.
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Hellraiser (1987)
Screenplay by: Clive Barker
In a truly original and visually shocking horror film for the ’80s, Frank (Sean Chapman) returns from the dead after being torn apart by extradimensional beings. During heinous acts of murder to rejuvenate himself, Frank’s niece Kirsty (Ashley Laurence) takes the puzzle box he used to unleash the beings in the first place, finding herself now stuck in the middle of their otherworldly altercation.
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Final Destination (2000)
Screenplay by: Jeffrey Reddick, Glen Morgan, and James Wong
Accidents or fate? Machinations of Death itself? The answer to all of the above might just be “yes,” at least in the case of Final Destination. In a franchise famous for envisioning the worst-case scenario in every humdrum setting, the people escaping their doom learn they can only stave off disaster for so long.
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House (1985)
Screenplay by: Ethan Wiley
In the wild horror flick House, Roger Cobb (William Katt) is beset by horrendous war flashbacks and visitations of vicious creatures. This author just can’t get a break in his dead aunt’s old home, it seems. As events escalate, the truth about his time at war emerges—and the truth, as usual, isn’t pretty.
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Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Screenplay by: Roman Polanski and Ira Levin
The psychological and social components of this 1968 masterpiece make it a much-lauded horror story, having been adapted from the Ira Levin novel of the same name. Rosemary’s Baby combines paranoia with a demonic cult’s quest to bring the Antichrist into being, with reality in question the whole time.
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Friday the 13th (1980)
Screenplay by: Victor Miller and Ron Kurz
Ever wonder where the “camp in the woods” horror archetype got its legs? You may see this film as a perfectly natural slasher flick, all the way until the end. Let’s just say this: the mantle of killers runs in the family, and Jason (Ari Lehman) had to get his start somewhere.
Read More: Top 10 Most Influential Slasher Films
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The Evil Dead (1981)
Screenplay by: Sam Raimi
An isolated cabin, a group of friends, and the Necronomicon—now that’s a vacation you can watch. Sam Raimi’s 1981 flick was a rough low-budget raised-dead horror that became a cultural phenomenon, but it all starts with the usual idea of finding and touching something you really, really shouldn’t have.
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The Grudge (2004)
Screenplay by: Stephen Susco and Takashi Shimizu
This ghost story felt so original and fresh that it even warranted a remake only sixteen years later, revealing the truth behind the haunting events in a house in Tokyo like peeling layers. The thing about those layers is that the more you peel, the more you find… and those layers may not have a real end.
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Krampus (2015)
Screenplay by: Todd Casey, Michael Dougherty, and Zach Shields
A conscious comedy-horror about the monstrous Santa Claus counterpart, Krampus depicts the frightening beastly creature (Luke Hawker) that tortures families who lose their Christmas spirit. This film acts as a looming, tongue-in-cheek reminder that good old Santa isn’t the only one who “sees you when you’re sleeping.”
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It (2017)
Screenplay by: Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman
In Derry, Maine, the sudden disappearance of little Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) kicks off a violent cycle that happens every 27 years. A group of friends, including Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), start discovering the inhuman presence that’s behind all the terror in this little town—a seemingly unstoppable and omnipresent clown, demon, or something else entirely (Bill Skarsgård).
Read More: How To Write a Flashback
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The Conjuring (2013)
Screenplay by: Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
With clear signs of a malevolent visitation, this film arises from the Perron family’s real-life reports and interactions with the Warrens, a supernatural investigation couple (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) whose studies and talents are used to try and resolve the Perron haunting.
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Annabelle (2014)
Screenplay by: Gary Dauberman
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren documented and held for safekeeping many artifacts related to demonology, and none is so famous as Annabelle, a seemingly innocuous doll whose history inspired this spiritual prequel (pun intended) for The Conjuring.
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The Omen (1976)
Screenplay by: David Seltzer
Another film so fascinating it launched a decades-long franchise, The Omen centers on the idea of a young boy being the Antichrist—armed with signs galore of that possibility. When the truth comes upon him, Robert (Gregory Peck) might have to take action with his adopted son Damien (Harvey Spencer Stephens).
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The Ring (2002)
Screenplay by: Ehren Kruger, Scott Frank, Kôji Suzuki
Sometimes, the scariest thing you can do in a horror film is give someone a deadline—emphasis on the “dead” part. A remake of the Japanese film, The Ring shows the reality of an urban legend where watching a specific video gives you one week to live. Finding out why may be the only way that Rachel (Naomi Watts) can prevent the worst from happening to her.
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It Follows (2014)
Screenplay by: David Robert Mitchell
Passing the risk of death from person to person doesn’t just come from cursed videotapes. In It Follows, a supernatural presence passed on by sexual encounters seems to be the thing responsible for oncoming deaths. Die or pass it on. Can there be another option?
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Insidious (2010)
Screenplay by: Leigh Whannell
Astral projection might sound impressive, but it comes with risks. For Dalton (Ty Simpkins), who inexplicably enters a coma in his parents’ new home, it’s a life-threatening problem. In steps Josh (Patrick Wilson), Dalton’s dad, whose own unknown abilities might give him the best chance of returning Dalton’s spirit to the real world.
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Carrie (1976)
Screenplay by: Lawrence D. Cohen, and Stephen King
The onset of dangerous powers as a result of puberty and severe repression? Sounds like a Stephen King novel. And it is! The film adaptation of King’s first big literary success is a true visual cacophony and a symbolic masterpiece in the realm of 1970s horror cinema, so iconic that its imagery has become adopted in film language ever since.
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The Shining (1980)
Screenplay by: Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick, and Diane Johnson
Also based on a Stephen King novel, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining depicts Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) as strangely sensitive to the paranormal nature of the Overlook Hotel, where he acts as a caretaker during the winter season. This sensitivity, shared by his son (Danny Lloyd) as well, makes Jack wake up to a darker side of himself that his family begins to encounter in spades.
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Fright Night (1985)
Screenplay by: Tom Holland
So, your next-door neighbor is a killer? Plenty of films out there like that, right? Well, what if your killer next-door neighbor is a vampire? Now we’re getting somewhere special. Fright Night, a pulpy and campy horror film starring Chris Sarandon as Jerry “The Vampire Neighbor” Dandrige, is one of the more supernatural vampire films out there, exploring an established vampire mythos in a more modern setting.
Read More: The Fang-tastic Complexity of Vampire Movies
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Hereditary (2018)
Screenplay by: Ari Aster
In some families, you’ll notice the kids inherit their parents’ worst traits. Other times, the bad traits are the learned ones. But is it nature or nurture when someone in your family turns out to be grooming you for a mysterious outcome? You’ll get the answer to that by watching Ari Aster’s legendary horror-thriller, Hereditary.
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With every new story told about something that pierces the veil or evades natural law, there’s another chance to horrify someone. The fantasy of horror is part of what makes it so evocative, be those horrors from a dream, the astral, or the embodiment of vengeance itself. Have a look at the scripts here to get a taste of what supernatural horror has to offer in several different flavors!
Read More: Horror Redux: The Most Terrifying Horror Movie Remakes Ever
