I started this countdown several years ago as a Facebook thing and brought it to my blog in 2015. This is the 2019 version, with a few updates for 2020. Remember, these are my favorite horror films, not the “best.” You’ll find that I tend to lump certain franchises or original/remakes together. Invariably, there will be more than 100 films on this countdown.
In the 1930s, prior to select showings of the titular Frankenstein, actor Edward Van Sloan would give a bit of a speech to the audience. I will borrow a line.
“[Mr. Jerry Knaak] feels that it would be unkind to present this countdown without a word of friendly warning … I think it will thrill you, it may shock you, it might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now’s your chance to, uh, well, we warned you.”
So It Begins, Again
Folk Horror, Giant Snakes and a Young, Witchy Kelly Preston
Demons and Boogeymen
Night Terrors, Science Gone Wrong and Bloody Revenge
Three Very Different Monsters
Three Films that Get Better Each Time You View Them
Sometimes They Come Back – From the Dead That Is
Unique Vampires and the Devil in a Can
Werewolf! Where Wolf? There – Wolf!
An Homage to the Great Ingrid Pitt and a Forgotten Hammer Classic
Hammering Home More Vampire Tales
Friday Night Bloodsuckers for Your Viewing Pleasure
Freeze-Dried Dracula, Zombie is His Name and the Candyman Can
Ghost Stories – Truly Frightening Ghost Stories
An Ancient Shape-Shifter, Rage Zombies and Another Stephen King Adaptation
German Expressionism, Neighborhood Ghouls and Denzel Washington
A Whole Lot of Stephen King, Plus the Most Accurate Dracula Adaptation
Barbara Crampton Night
Science Gone Wrong, Cutting Edge Haunts and the Dawn of Torture Porn
Phantoms and Deranged Birds
The Unmistakable Influence of F.W. Murnau
Mad Scientists, Souls for Sale and a Creature Feature for the Ages
Oliver Reed’s Best Performance, the Best Horror Anthology Ever, the Best Japanese Horror Film Remake, and a Giant Spider
Avant Garde French Horror, Two Films in One and Universal Monsters Run Amok
A Trio of Universal Classics and Satan Fathers a Child
Bullied Teens, the Greatest Jumpscare Ever Filmed and the Birth of a Franchise
Undead, Shapeshifters and a God
The Countdown of My 100 Favorite Horror Movies Winds Down
Three Groundbreaking Films Break Us Into the Top 10
The Pillars of the Universal Monsterverse
Drum Roll Please … The Top Three