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Frankenstein
He first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein." And even though one of the most famous portrayals of the monster was in the 1931 movie, he first appeared in a 16-minute short in 1910. -
Dracula
He first appearing in Bram Stokers 1897 novel "Dracula," and has been the basis of all vampire lore from multiple Dracula films, to modern day vampire films such as "Twilight" and "The Vampire Diaries." -
Norman Bates
"Psycho" has one of the most iconic scenes from any more; the screams in the shower along with the score are tough to beat. -
Regan/Pazuzu
Easily one of the scariest movies ever created, "The Exorcist" pulls out all the stops to fully scare the pants off the audience. It was the first horror film to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
Picture source: https://exorcist.fandom.com/wiki/Pazuzu -
Leatherface
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre" might be about a family of psycho killers who eat them victims, but the star of the show was definitely Leatherface, who was inspired by real life serial killer Ed Gein. Netflix recently just made a sequel the the original film and it came out February 2022.
Picture source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/11/08/gunnar-hansen-actor-who-played-leatherface-killer-texas-chainsaw-massacre-dies-68/75409968/ -
Michael Myers
"Halloween"
Michael has been terrorizing the same town since 1978 and, somehow, no one has been able to beat him considering there are an abundance of sequels to this classic horror movie, much more than I can list here.
Picture source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Myers_(Halloween) -
The Predator
A story about a Special Ops officer on a rescue mission in the Central American jungle ends up having to deal with an alien species he was not prepared to handle. Predator later appears in 1997's "Predator 2," 2004's "Alien vs. Predator," 2007's "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem," 2010's "Predators." -
Alien
Probably one of the most disgusting villains to look at from this list, "Alien" is full of both jump scares and stomach turning gore. -
Jason Voorhees
Even though Jason wasn't physically in the first "Friday the 13th," he has been in every other movie in this franchise since then. He is quintessentially one of the most notorious horror movie legends.
Picture source: https://www.indiewire.com/2016/06/friday-the-13th-reboot-jason-voorhees-origin-story-1201684056/ -
Jack Torrance
"The Shining" showcases a mans decent to madness while being plagued by the haunting in the hotel he, his wife, and child are staying in. -
Freddy Krueger
"Nightmare on Elm Street" is one of my favorite horror movies. It does a great job of scaring the audience while also including some dark humor thanks to Freddy himself. Once again, another horror movie that has an abundance of sequels, the newest 2010 version happening to be my favorite of them all. -
Chucky
"Child's Play"
What I could categorize as the original Annabelle doll, the soul of a serial killer gets transferred into a doll and starts to terrorize those around him. Once again, another horror movie franchise that has a ton of sequels.
Picture source: https://childsplay.fandom.com/wiki/Chucky -
Hannibal Lecter
Arguably one of the scariest villains for different reasons than the other horror movie leads listed. This character from "Silence of the Lambs" didn't need to chase you with a weapon, or possess you like a demon, to scare you. -
Candyman
"Candyman" is slightly different than the other movies listed here as it has a baseline plot of racism and gentrification. His urban legend relates to Bloody Mary: if you say his name 5 times in a mirror, he will appear, with a hook for a hand and chest full of bees, to murder you. -
Ghostface
My first time watching "Scream" I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a serious horror movie or a satire. Either way, it was fun all around. The 5th installment came out came out January 2022.
Picture source: https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/screams-ghostface-is-coming-to-call-of-duty-for-halloween-3064026 -
Samara
"The Ring" really put the fear into the audience by implying warning them that they would die in 7 days after watching the film. -
Jigsaw Killer
First seen in "Saw," the Jigsaw Killer uses the puppet Billy, to terrorize his victims. So far, he has been seen in "Saw," 2005's "Saw II," 2006's "Saw III," 2007's "Saw IV," 2008's "Saw V," 2009's "Saw VI," 2010's "Saw 3D," and 2017's "Jigsaw." -
Annabelle
She first appeared in the movie The Conjuring which came out in 2013, but since then she has had three of her own movies that came out in 2014, 2017, and 2019. -
Pennywise
The original "It" was Tim Curry's version of the character in the 1990 ABC miniseries. The character came back into light with the newer adaption made in 2017.