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Whether you're a fan of the genre or just enjoy testing your limits, horror films have a unique way of captivating audiences. At some point, everyone has experienced the thrill of watching a horror movie.
Many of these terrifying tales are rooted in actual historical events, adding an extra layer of fear. Below, we explore the real-life stories that inspired some of the most popular scary films. Be prepared: spoilers lie ahead.
10. The Exorcist
The Exorcist follows the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Regan and her actress mother, Chris. After experimenting with a Ouija board, Regan becomes demonically possessed, exhibiting signs of anxiety and depression. Her bizarre actions, including claiming her bed was shaking, alarm Chris, who eventually seeks medical help. Doctors, baffled by Regan's condition, propose exorcism as a last resort to treat what they believe is a psychological disorder.
Chris returns home one day to find a man dead on her doorstep, suspecting Regan's involvement. Desperate, she contacts a priest to arrange an exorcism. Initially skeptical, the priest eventually agrees and enlists an expert to perform the ritual. Tragically, both priests die during the exorcism, but Regan is cured and remains oblivious to the chaos. Chris and Regan flee before authorities can uncover the truth behind the deaths.
The Exorcist, adapted from its同名 novel, draws inspiration from a 1949 The Washington Post article about a 14-year-old boy named “Robbie.” Living with his grandmother, Robbie frequently used a Ouija board. One night, he reported seeing a religious icon move as if something was hitting the wall behind it. Shortly after, his grandmother passed away.
Following her death, Robbie experienced paranormal phenomena similar to those in the film. His mattress shook, and objects levitated. After an exorcism, Robbie was hospitalized until the word “exit” appeared on his body, and the supernatural events stopped. While some attribute these occurrences to paranormal activity and exorcism, others argue Robbie was simply grieving his grandmother's death, leading to erratic behavior.
9. A Nightmare On Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street revolves around four teenagers: Tina, Nancy, Glen, and Rod. The film opens with a man crafting a deadly weapon—a glove fitted with knife-like blades. When Tina ventures into an alley, he attacks her, slashing her stomach. However, this turns out to be a dream, though Tina wakes up with real injuries. Discovering her friends share similar nightmares, they decide to have a sleepover. Tragically, Tina is killed during another dream attack, and her boyfriend Rod flees, fearing he’ll be blamed.
Rod is later arrested, and Nancy realizes the dreams are deadly. Soon after, Rod is murdered in his cell by the dream figure, prompting Nancy to seek her parents' help. They admit her to a sleep clinic, where she uncovers the name of her attacker: Freddy Krueger. It’s revealed that Freddy was a serial killer who escaped justice and was killed by the townspeople, only to return in the children’s dreams for vengeance. After Glen’s death, Nancy devises a plan to pull Freddy into the real world. She succeeds, but her mother is killed before she wakes, realizing it was all a dream. In a chilling twist, Freddy claims the children and Nancy’s mother in the end.
The film draws inspiration from several Los Angeles Times articles published in 1981. One story details Laotian refugees who died in their sleep after arriving in the US. These deaths, affecting only young men, baffled medical experts, as autopsies revealed no clear cause for the 13 unrelated fatalities.
Another article focuses on a Cambodian family relocated to the US. Their son suffered recurring nightmares and feared sleep. After days of staying awake, he finally slept, giving his family hope the ordeal was over. However, they woke to his screams and found him dead, leaving them devastated.
8. Psycho
Psycho follows Norman Bates, the proprietor of Bates Motel, where Marion stays after embezzling $40,000 from her employer. As Marion’s fiancé, sister, and a private investigator search for her and the stolen cash, Marion meets a grim fate at the hands of what seems to be Bates’s mother. The investigator also meets a similar end.
The fiancé and sister grow suspicious and consult the sheriff, uncovering that Mrs. Bates poisoned her lover and herself in a murder-suicide a decade earlier. However, it’s later revealed that Norman killed his mother out of guilt, preserving her body and adopting her persona to keep her “alive.” While impersonating her, he murders Marion, the investigator, and likely others, only to revert to Norman to cover his tracks.
This chilling tale, adapted from its同名 novel, is inspired by the real-life crimes of Ed Gein, one of history’s most infamous killers. Gein’s atrocities not only influenced Psycho but also The Silence of the Lambs. He exhumed corpses to craft clothing and displayed their preserved faces in his home, showcasing his utter derangement.
Gein was apprehended when blood traces led authorities to his home after he was the last customer at a hardware store. Upon questioning, police discovered the horrors within his residence. Isolated throughout his life, Gein developed a morbid fixation on his mother, which intensified after her death. This obsession became the foundation for the character of Norman Bates.
7. The Conjuring
This chilling film follows a cheerful couple and their five daughters as they move into a new home plagued by supernatural occurrences. After their dog is killed and one child exhibits bizarre behavior, the parents call in paranormal experts to investigate. They uncover the home’s dark history: a woman once attempted to sacrifice her baby, cursed the land, and took her own life. Her demon now haunts the property, targeting mothers to possess and use them to sacrifice their daughters. When the mother nearly kills two children, the experts perform an exorcism to banish the evil presence.
Ed and Lorraine Warren, the real-life paranormal investigators depicted in the film, were involved in the actual case. While Ed passed away before the movie’s production, Lorraine served as a consultant. Unlike the film, the real family endured the farmhouse in Rhode Island for nine years before fleeing its demonic spirits. Although the house was haunted and a seance led to the mother’s possession, the film added dramatic elements like the attempted sacrifice and exorcism. Lorraine emphasized that she and Ed never performed exorcisms, only seances.
6. Annabelle
Annabelle opens with Mia and John Gordon recounting their encounter with a haunted doll named Annabelle to Ed and Lorraine Warren. The doll’s name comes from a neighbor’s daughter, Annabelle, who murdered her parents and committed suicide, releasing a demonic spirit that inhabits the doll. The demon targets the Gordons’ daughter, Lea, aiming to claim her soul.
After numerous terrifying incidents, the demon locks Mia out of the baby’s room and begins its assault. Evelyn, a neighbor grieving her own daughter’s death, is present during the attack. Believing the demon demands a soul to stop, Evelyn sacrifices herself by taking the doll and committing suicide, hoping to atone for her past.
A real Annabelle doll exists, though the eerie wooden version in the film, with its exaggerated makeup and sinister grin, bears little resemblance to the original. The actual doll is a simple Raggedy Ann doll with button eyes and red yarn hair. It now resides in the Warrens’ museum, blessed weekly by a priest and encased in glass.
The doll’s paranormal activity began in the 1970s when a mother gifted it to her daughter. Strange incidents followed, including a family friend nearly being strangled. Years later, after the doll was placed in the museum, a couple mocked it and were escorted out by the Warrens. Legend says their motorcycle crashed into a tree on the way home. Would you dare to face Annabelle in person?
5. The Rite
In this film, Michael Kovak, weary of working in his father’s funeral home, joins a seminary intending to leave after earning a free degree. When he tries to quit, Father Matthew, his superior, intervenes, leading to a tragic car accident that claims a young woman’s life. Dressed as a priest, Michael is asked to perform last rites for her, which he does reluctantly. Impressed by his composure, Father Matthew sends Michael to Rome to study exorcism, promising to fund his education even if he quits.
In Rome, Michael observes an exorcism performed on a girl pregnant with her father’s child. He assists the priest but fails to save her, and both she and her baby die. Later, Michael discovers his mentor is possessed by the same demon and must perform the exorcism alone. Succeeding, his faith is renewed, and he returns to the US to finish his studies and become a priest.
The narrative draws inspiration from Father Gary Thomas, a priest from the Sacred Heart parish in Saratoga, California. As one of only 14 certified exorcists globally, he served as the model for Michael Kovak. Father Gary earned his certification after rigorous training at the Vatican’s Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum in Rome. A journalism student documented his journey, later published as The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, which inspired the film. The harrowing tale of the young girl carrying her father’s baby was based on a real case that profoundly impacted Father Gary. He even spent a week consulting on the film to ensure accuracy.
4. The Haunting In Connecticut
The Haunting in Connecticut follows Sarah and her son Matt, who suffers from terminal cancer and undergoes treatment at a Connecticut hospital. Exhausted from the long commutes, Sarah searches for a nearby rental. She encounters a man posting a “For Rent” sign and inquires about the property. The owner warns her of the house’s dark past but offers the first month free. Despite initial hesitation, Sarah rents it due to desperation. Soon after moving in, the family experiences a series of terrifying events.
After weeks of nightmares and visions, Matt confides in his sister, and they uncover the house’s grim history. A former resident hosted seances, resulting in the deaths of all attendees except one, who vanished. Years later, construction workers unearthed the bodies, finding they were never buried. It’s revealed that a spirit is possessing Matt to free other trapped souls. In a climactic scene, Matt escapes the hospital, destroys the walls with an ax, and burns the missing corpses, curing his cancer as the spirit departs.
The Haunting in Connecticut is based on the Snedeker family, who moved into an old Southington, Connecticut, home. While exploring, Carmen Snedeker discovered mortician tools in the basement. They later learned the house once served as a funeral parlor. Their eldest son began seeing ghosts and experiencing nightmares, prompting Carmen to contact Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens confirmed the house was haunted by malevolent spirits. The family has since shared their story on numerous talk shows, insisting it was all true.
3. The Possession
The Possession follows a young girl who purchases an antique box at a yard sale with her father, Clyde, and sister, Hannah. After discovering the hidden key and unlocking the box, she unknowingly unleashes an evil spirit that possesses her. Clyde soon notices his daughter’s strange behavior but struggles to convince others, leading to a restraining order filed by his ex-wife’s new partner.
Determined to save his daughter, Clyde consults a professor who reveals the box is a dibbuk box, designed to trap malevolent spirits and never be opened. Armed with this information, Clyde seeks help from a Jewish community and enlists the rabbi’s son to perform an exorcism. After a fierce battle, the spirit is expelled and returns to the box.
This tale was inspired by a Los Angeles Times article about a small wooden cabinet sold on eBay. The box contained mysterious items like locks of hair, granite, a rosebud, and a goblet, along with a dybbuk—a malevolent spirit from Yiddish folklore. Listed as a “haunted Jewish wine cabinet box,” it came with a history of paranormal activity experienced by its previous owners.
The box was eventually sold for $280 to a university museum. Its trail of terror included unexplained strokes, hair loss, property damage, and hallucinations, all attributed to the box. This story might make you reconsider what treasures you bring home from garage sales.
2. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
Emily Rose, a young girl, dies after Father Moore attempts to exorcise a demon possessing her soul. The priest is arrested, suspected of causing her death. Represented by a skeptical lawyer, Father Moore struggles to convince the jury of his innocence. Throughout the trial, he recounts how the first exorcism revealed the demons’ names. Emily refused further exorcisms and stopped her antipsychotic medication, accepting her fate. Her story is told through flashbacks, heightening the film’s horror.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose is inspired by Anneliese Michel, born in Bavaria in 1952. Raised in a devout family, Michel suffered a seizure at 16 due to epilepsy. Prescribed medication that caused suicidal thoughts and depression, her condition worsened. She began hallucinating and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Her aversion to religious symbols led her family to believe she was possessed, prompting them to seek an exorcism.
After 67 exorcisms, Anneliese Michel died. The priest claimed the demon had triumphed, but her autopsy revealed she was malnourished, dehydrated, and had pneumonia. Her parents and the priest were convicted of manslaughter.
1. The Strangers
The Strangers follows Kristen and James, a couple who retreat to James’s parents’ vacation home late at night after a wedding. Their peace is shattered by a knock at the door from a woman asking for someone named Tamara. Dismissing it, James leaves Kristen alone to buy cigarettes, during which she is terrorized by a man in a sack mask and a woman with a doll-like face.
James returns to find Kristen hiding, screaming at the intruders to leave. After searching the house and finding nothing unusual, he doubts her story—until he encounters the doll-faced woman himself. When their phone and car are sabotaged, they attempt to flee, only to face a third stranger. The trio torment the couple all night, eventually knocking them out, binding them to chairs, and killing them mercilessly.
Director Bryan Bertino drew inspiration from real-life events, including a childhood incident where he and his sister answered a knock on the door from strangers inquiring about someone who didn’t live there. These individuals were reportedly scouting empty homes to rob.
The Manson Family murders also heavily influenced the film. They broke into a home, tied up a sleeping couple, and stabbed them repeatedly while stealing valuables. Bertino merged this horrifying event with his own experience, leading to the chilling tagline, “Because you were home.” The film poses a haunting question: What if intruders found you at home?
