Script to Scream: The Best Horror Movie Scripts You Can Read (If You Dare)

October isn’t only the season for pumpkin spice lattes and cozy blankets. It’s also the season for zombies, serial killers, space monsters, and blood-sucking parasites! We’ve put together a nice, long list of horror movie scripts to download and read during the spooky season, so put on some comfy sweatpants, curl up with a cozy blanket, and get to reading! (And finish that PSL before you start getting calls from inside the house!)

All of these scripts are available on The Script Lab.

Horror Films That Feel Way Too Real

The real world is a scary place, and it doesn’t always make sense. From serial killers to the stranded and lost, anything can happen if you’re not careful. It’s with movies like this that we feel the sense that we’re being watched, that we’re not alone, even when we are the only person in the room. For every night you don’t want to walk to your car, for every flickering sodium streetlight on the corner, for every time you felt something touch your toes while swimming, there’s a movie that has inspired that fear.

Check out these horror movie scripts:

• Misery
• Psycho
• Jaws
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• Green Room
• Hostel
• Saw
• Black Christmas
• The Purge (2013)
• Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
• Cujo

Read More: These are the Scariest Movies According to Science

The Culty and Occulty

Anyone can see that horror has huge potential in various situations — but while the mundane can bring horror to your mind, many terrors lurk within the demonic, the occult, and the machinations of groups with malevolent beliefs. Using superstition, witchcraft, or outright brainwashing helps make these horrifying situations feel all the more intrusive. That’s partly why we can’t get enough of them.

Download these culty horror movie scripts:

• The Conjuring
• Get Out
• Hereditary
• The Evil Dead
• Insidious
• Annabelle
• The Invitation
• Candyman (1992)
• The Wicker Man
• The Witch
• Rosemary’s Baby
• Dead Silence
• Wish Upon
• Midsommar

Hilarity in Horror

Every now and then, someone will think to put horror stories into a funny light — and it works. Turns out, humans very much enjoy putting terror and laughter together. Whether it’s a dark comedy with meta-references to the genre or an outright parody, there are a few movies that really exemplify the use of “tongue-in-cheek” or other schticks in the horror milieu.

These horror movie scripts mix laughter with the macabre:

• Shaun of the Dead
• Scream
• Freaky
• Gremlins
• Happy Death Day
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space
• Krampus
• The Menu
• Death Becomes Her
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• An American Werewolf in London

Read More: The Delicious Marriage Between Horror and Comedy

Terrible Knowledge, Terrible Tidings

You can see where this is going: Science fiction stories and cosmic horror both lead to the outlandish, the otherworldly, and the horrific, all usually thanks to a breakthrough of some kind. For every horror movie that brings dangers unknown to the forefront, there’s a chance that it uses science fiction to do it, whether that means genetic abominations, undiscovered species, or infected hordes of once-human creatures.

These horror movie scripts are perfect for fans of both horror and sci-fi:

• 28 Days Later
• The Fly
• Prometheus
• Shivers
• Nope
• Annihilation
• Leviathan
• Scanners
• Stranger Things

Horrors of the Human Mind

While serial killers are one of the most striking examples, they’re not the only way that the human mind can manifest in horror. From psychological terror to the utmost reaches of psychic power, there’s a lot that can come from the brain to fuel your nightmares time after time.

These horror movie scripts are sure to tickle your brain:

• The Shining
• Pi
• Carrie
• American Psycho
• The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
• Jacob’s Ladder

The True Creatures of the Night

The most well-remembered staple of gothic horror, the vampire holds a special place in the hearts of movie lovers. Whether it’s the Prince of Darkness himself, a band of bloodthirsty bandits, or your new neighbor, there’s something truly awe-inspiring about a horror movie that holds to one of the oldest cinematic horror traditions of all time. And no, just because a movie has vampires doesn’t make it a horror movie.

Check out these horror movie scripts that feature bloodsuckers:

• Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• Fright Night (1985)
• 30 Days of Night
• The Lost Boys
• From Dusk Till Dawn

Read More: How to Make a Monster

The Most Iconic Horror Classics

The moment you’ve been waiting for: the movies that go on in our minds — and in Freddie Krueger’s case, in our nightmares — iconic horror classics. From Jason to Michael Meyers, from the Creeper to Pennywise, all the way to Captain Howdy himself, there are just some creatures and beings that instill ultimate fear within us every time.

Check out these classic horror movie scripts:

• Halloween
• Night of the Living Dead
• Alien
• It (2017)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• Jeepers Creepers
• Friday the 13th
• The Thing (1982)
• The Exorcist

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No matter where it comes from, fear is a powerful tool for storytelling. Whether it’s combined with science, comedy, or the outright supernatural, it has become a steady source of screenplays worth reading. But remember — there’s a whole library out there waiting for you. The Script Lab carries many more than just these stories. These lists may include the cream of the crop, but you get to harvest whatever you like from the dozens of horror screenplays at your disposal!

HAVE A GREAT HORROR MOVIE SCRIPT? GET SCRIPT NOTES FROM THOSE WHO REALLY KNOW HORROR!

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