Since birth, we’ve been indoctrinated with a love of horror, whether we knew it or not. The first game your mother would play with you involved her hiding behind her hands and then shouting, “Boo!” We would get taught folk tales that involved a witch wanting to eat children or a wolf wearing the skin of an elderly woman. Some of us were warned of the Krampus, who’d kidnap misbehaving little boys and girls. We’d play Bloody Mary and watch old Disney films. You know, the scary ones. It was a lifetime of preparation for horror. Because deep down, we all have an innate desire to be frightened. We crave it and these characters scare us better than any others. Since this list encompasses the entire history of horror, every genre (and subgenre) is represented. Everything from creature features to kinder trauma, action movies to horror comedies are eligible. I combined characters if they worked as a duo or a group and I excluded animals (save for one) unless they were supernaturally possessed or if they had an internal monologue so that we could understand their motivations. I also only included characters from thrillers if they targeted children. This list is a celebration of horror and the icons that help us lose sleep at night.
These are the 500 Greatest Horror Characters of All Time.
50. Adelaide Wilson and Red (Lupita Nyong’o) | Us (2019)
The film Us can be interpreted in a number of different ways— it could be about Democrats versus Republicans (which would explain the red jumpsuits), the homelessness problem (which would explain the tethered all living underground) the 1% going after the 99%, the haves vs the have nots or some other wacky ass theory I didn’t find on Reddit but whatever it’s about, the strength of the film isn’t it’s ambiguity but the strength of its lead actress. Lupita Nyong’o’s duel performance as Adelaide Wilson and Red, the leader of the tethered (identical-looking copies of the main characters who want their lives, by any means necessary) will go down as one of the great Oscar snubs of all time.
I know the academy doesn’t honor multiple performances by the same actor within the same movie and I also know the academy doesn’t give a shit about horror but they should’ve broken their garbage ass rule this one time because no other performance that year came close to matching it. She completely transformed into two different people. One was fragile like porcelain and the other was jagged like broken glass. It’s a remarkable achievement and is another example of the academy not knowing what the fuck they’re doing.
49. Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) | Scream (Franchise)
In a film filled to the brim with memorable characters, the film-obsessed nerd Randy Meeks might be the most important. The audience needed to root for Sidney (Neve Campbell) to survive, be shocked by Casey Becker’s (Drew Barrymore) death, and instantly love the villain (gotta sell that merch) but most importantly, they needed to relate to Randy. For the first time in a horror movie, the audience had a mouthpiece. Skating right up to the fourth wall, Randy comments on horror cliches as they’re happening in real-time. He was such an immediate hit, that slashers had no choice but to become self-aware from that point forward.
48. Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) | Maniac (1980)
Film critic Gene Siskel was so disgusted by the infamous “shotgun head explosion” scene, that he immediately got up and walked out of the movie theater. Which means he only made it about 15 minutes into the film. If that made him leave, I can’t imagine what the other 80 minutes would have done to him. There are certain performances that feel like the actor isn’t acting; they are just the character. R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket or Erwin Leder in Angst come to mind. Joe Spinnell is so good in Maniac, you pray to God he’s just acting. It doesn’t even feel like a performance. It feels like we’re trapped in the theater with a psychopath and we have no idea what he’s going to do next.
47. The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) | Phantasm (Franchise)
The original Slenderman, Angus Scrimm’s Tall Man is the only horror villain that’s iconic due to the performance and not the costume. Outfitted with nothing but a suit that’s far too tight, the Tall Man doesn’t have a mask or any facial deformities; which make it nearly impossible to dress like him for Halloween but he’s been a fan favorite for 40 years and it’s all thanks to Scrimm’s God given face and voice.
“BOOOOY!”
46. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) / Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) | Frankenstein (Franchise)
“Now I know what it feels like to be God!”
Although the imitators often misquote him (he says “it’s alive!” not “he’s alive!”), Colin Clive’s manic performance is so gloriously over the top, its forever etched itself into the fabric of pop culture. The Hammer films version is arguably more fun–somebody told Peter Cushing to be an asshole and he dials that shit all the way to 11. But Clive’s is far more iconic and ultimately sympathetic. With his sidekick Fritz (later called Karl in the sequel but never Igor), Frankenstein is responsible for some of the most quotable dialogue of any movie as well as the creation of two cinematic icons. Pretty good for a glorified grave robber.
45. Godzilla (Haruo Nakajima) | Gojira (1954)
Before he became the most famous character in Japanese history, Gojira (or Godzilla if you’re nasty) was created as a cautionary tale. The Dark Side of the Atomic Age. Godzilla is a large, destructive, and irradiated dinosaur that appears out of nowhere with the sole purpose of destroying mankind with his radioactive breath and big ass feet. Unlike the sequels that turned him into a world-saving superhero, Godzilla is destruction incarnate. Much like Fatman and Little Boy–he came without warning, destroyed everything he saw and immediately changed history forever.
44. Sally (Marilyn Burns) | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
While most horror fans have appointed Jamie Lee Curtis as the first official scream queen, Marilyn Burns’s importance to cinema is unquestionable. Laurie Strode is like the band Nirvana, she got the ball rolling but without the Pixies, there would be no Nirvana. For those of you that aren’t good at figuring out analogies, Sally is the Pixies. She’s the proto final girl but ironically, even though she’s only technically considered one, she goes through more shit than arguably any of the others. Stalked, mocked and tormented by an entire family of cannibals, the film puts her ass through the ringer. She might not fight back or even “defeat” the villain like every other final girl but her simply surviving is victory enough.
43. R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) | The Thing (1982)
Snake Plissken has the eye patch and Jack Burton has the tank top but MacReady has the hat. The best film out of the Russell/Carpenter collaborations, The Thing is not only the greatest horror film ever made, it has one of the best protagonists in film history. Cool without feeling machismo, Mac is a Scotch-swigging loner who’s thrust into the role of hero when an alien is slowly assimilating everyone around him. But even after the shit hits the fan, he never goes full-action movie badass. He’s smart enough to test the blood but still fallible in that he accidentally kills an innocent person. He may not have been able to save his teammates but he was willing to sacrifice his life in order to save the world. Just don’t ever play chess with him.
42. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) | The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Sometimes a film is too effective in its depiction of horror. There’s a multitude of reasons why a film flops at the box office but in the case of The Night of the Hunter, I truly believe it was a case of right place, wrong time. Critics tore it apart and audience’s had no idea what to do with it. Because they had never seen anything like it. Audiences could handle the Universal movies because there was an automatic disconnect. They were scary but they weren’t real. These were fictitious monsters that don’t live in our world. Harry Powell is a monster that does. He hides behind the visage of a holy man to commit truly terrible crimes but it’s his unwavering need to chase two young children to collect some money, that makes him unforgettable. There are times throughout the film where he is depicted as more of a darkly cartoonist boogeyman but you never question what would happen if he caught those kids. He’d kill them.
41. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) | American Psycho (2000)
It’s 1987 and Patrick Bateman works for an extremely successful investment banking firm. He wears the slickest suits and is in peak physical shape. He’s a yuppie that bitches about other yuppies and has a strong affinity for Huey Lewis and the News. He flaunts his business cards as a sign of vanity and ego and enjoys the company of prostitutes.
He also murders people.
There’s been much debate on whether or not the events of the film actually take place or if they are just the delusions of insanity but the writer and the director both maintain that the majority of the evil Bateman commits throughout the film actually happened. I’m assuming that includes the scene with the ATM demanding payment in the form of a sacrificial kitten. Or maybe ATMs in the 80’s were actually evil. It was a different time.
40. Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) | Carrie (1976)
Based on Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie tells the story of the worst-treated teenage girl in cinema history. She gets bullied at school, tormented at home and even her own body is betraying her by leaking copious amounts of blood from her lady parts. She can’t catch a break.
As the film progresses, you start to wonder if there was a real Carrie White that made fun of Stephen King’s penis or something because goddamn, she is put through the ringer. But the more punishment she goes through, the sweeter the revenge is.
High school is hell. That’s a universal truth but this high school might actually qualify. Every student or faculty member is either a prick or indifferent to her, which all culminates in the most memorable prom ever.
39. Father Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) | The Exorcist (1973)
Although the poster only shows one of the priests, make no mistake, this film belongs to both of them. Their dynamic is not unlike a cop drama–Merrin is the old pro that’s seen it all before and Karras is the wet-behind-the-ears rookie but no amount of training or faith could prepare either of them for the horrors they’re about to witness. When they see the full extent of Pazuzu’s power, the shit–to quote the greatest line in a buddy cop film ever–just got real.
Pazuzu uses their weaknesses against them. Karras’s weaker faith and guilt over his dead mother and Merrin’s age but as powerful as the demon is, it’s mere existence is its ultimate downfall. Because if a demon exists, that means God exists and that’s all Karras needs to eventually save the day.
38. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) | The Sixth Sense (1999)
“I see dead people.”
Good god, was “I see dead people” infuriatingly everywhere. I see [blank] people was the overused meme of its day. In fact, I saw a “I see dumb people” T-shirt at Wal-Mart just the other day. The shit still never ends. As annoying as it is, that just goes to show how much of a footprint this film left on pop culture. Everyone knows the quote and most know the twist. They’re indelibly burned into the public conscience.
As amazing as M. Night Shyamalan’s script and directing were, the lion’s share of the credit belongs to Haley Joel Osment because, without his performance, the film falls flat on its face. Child actors, by and large, are almost always terrible. They’re usually used as an adorable prop to keep the audience entertained but Osment ain’t no puppy. He went toe to toe with every actor in the film and he held his own.
37. The Gill Man (Ricou Browning & Ben Chapman) | Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Of all the Universal monster films, Creature is the only one that has never been remade. Not from a lack of trying (both John Carpenter and Joe Dante have worked on different versions of a remake) but since every iteration of the remake has failed, a part of me believes the movie gods are protecting it from failure. The rest of the Universal monsters were based on novels, so their stories are instantly timeless but Creature is an original story that can’t be improved upon. Like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or King Kong, it’s a love story in which you’re rooting for the monster to get laid.
36. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) | The Fly (1986)
For some reason, Cronenberg has spent his entire career obsessed with body horror. The betrayal of the flesh. It’s a recurring theme in almost every one of his films but none have come even remotely close to The Fly. After a mishap with a teleportation device leaves him with part fly DNA, Seth Brundle gains the abilities of said fly and from that point forward, he dedicates his life to eradicating crime and injustice.
Just kidding. His skin falls off and he has to vomit acid on to food and then suck it up to eat because he ain’t got no teeth anymore. Although the films visual effects are second to none, his slow deterioration would just be gross and not heartbreaking if it wasn’t for Goldblum. He gives the performance of his career as a man who fucked with science, only for science to fuck back. He’s effortlessly charming and his romance with Geena Davis is believable. Their chemistry is palpable, which makes his story all the more tragic.
35. Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson) | Let the Right One In (2008)
Based on the acclaimed Swedish novel of the same name, Let the Right One In is a love story that’s equal parts darkly sinister as it is beautifully nuanced. There might not be a more fully realized or believable love story in all of horror, which is astonishing considering on top of the leads being unknowns with no acting experience, they’re also children. Oskar is a constantly bullied youth, who fantasizes about becoming a serial killer to get revenge. Eli is a vampire who kills to survive. It’s a tale as old as time.
You immediately understand why Oskar is attracted to the mysterious Eli and because of the exceptionally well-written script (adapted by the novelist himself), you never question why he would fall in love with her. This is a fairy tale that, in addition to being one of the best modern films – horror or otherwise stands – shoulder to shoulder with the best of the Brothers Grimm. It’s a story that will live on for all time.
34. Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) | An American Werewolf in London (1981)
In a parallel universe, this film was almost a vehicle for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Because the script is primarily comedic, the studio wanted well-known comedians to star in it and if they offered Landis just a little bit more money, it might’ve happened. And while I could totally see Belushi as a wise-ass ghost trying to talk Aykroyd into suicide, Griffin Dunne owns the role. Everything his character does, from the constant decomposing to his incessant bitching about the other corpses he’s forced to converse with to his desperate attempts at getting the main character to kill himself are side-splittingly hilarious.
33. Henry (Michael Rooker) | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Loosely based on real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer might be the most accurate depiction of a serial killer ever caught on film. Henry doesn’t have a clever MO like John Doe in Se7en or the charisma of the killer in Man Bites Dog nor is there an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between him and a clever detective. He’s just an evil man in an uncaring world. He doesn’t get caught because nobody cares about his victims and he doesn’t stop because he can’t. He was built wrong. He has no backstory, so he lacks any empathy or sympathy. All there is are his actions. Actions so horrific, that this film is still one of the only films to be rated X for violence.
32. Pennywise the Clown (Tim Curry & Bill Skarsgård) | IT (Franchise)
Before I got around to watching the miniseries proper, my mother decided to give me an extremely detailed plot synopsis that involved a sewer dwelling clown that eats a child by popping up out of a shower drain. If you’ve seen the film, you know I got some of the details mixed up but to make a long story short, I flooded the bathroom by clogging the shower drain with towels.
Clowns were already on my “no fucking thank you” list thanks to Poltergeist and an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, so the prospect of a supernatural one that can shapeshift was too much for me to handle. Curry scared an entire generation with his unmistakable voice and trademark Curry-isms and based on Skarsgård’s fantastic performance in the 2017 film, Pennywise will be scaring audiences for generations to come.
31. Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) | Misery (1992)
In a career spanning over 40 years, Stephen King has created a number of horrific monsters. There’s even an intricate chart a fan made that connects all the evil within his novels. Child-eating aliens to eldritch monstrosities that exist outside of our universe to all-powerful wizards that could destroy the world 10× over, through Easter eggs and references, he’s connected all of these supernatural beings. The world within King’s novels is terrifying beyond belief but this is the real world and within the real world, sometimes true horror could come disguised as your best friend. Or in the case of Misery, your number 1 fan.
Annie Wilkes is a nurse who saves the life of her favorite author and does everything in her power to tend to his wounds. She’s a bit quirky but nothing off-putting until she realizes her favorite author intends to kill off his most famous literary creation. Then the facade fades away and we see that true evil doesn’t come from other dimensions or supernatural entities, it’s hidden in plain sight. Behind a smile and a warm personality.
30. Count Orlock (Max Schreck) | Nosferatu (1922)
The last time I compiled this list, I lumped Orlok in with Dracula because they’re technically the same character. Nosferatu is an unauthorized adaptation of that novel. It’s a shameless rip-off that doesn’t make a single change to the source material and because of this, I couldn’t justify counting them as separate entities. But historically, we’ve always counted them as separate entities. If you’ve seen this movie, odds are, you saw the Nosferatu cut. Even though those copies were legally ordered to be destroyed and replaced with the title Dracula, one copy made its way around the world and became the dominant version.
Orlock refused to go silently into the night. And his influence can be seen everywhere. Kurt Barlow from Salem’s Lot is the most obvious lift (his look is literally all he has to offer and since it’s just a poor imitation of Orlock, he didn’t make the cut) but Max Shreck’s look and mannerisms have inspired countless characters. And with the Eggers remake just around the corner, I think it’s time to officially count them as separate characters. I also don’t think a single version of Dracula can hold a candle to what Schreck does here (he’s so good, he was legendarily rumored to be a real vampire) and if it wasn’t for the fact that Dracula has a much bigger footprint in pop culture, I’d switch the two characters.
29. Quint (Robert Shaw) | Jaws (1975)
When he’s first introduced, he scratches his nails down a chalkboard as loud and annoying as humanly possible to get everyone’s attention, which includes the audience. He gives a short speech about who he is, what he does, and what they’re up against. From that point forward, the film no longer belongs to Sheriff Brody.
Quint is a hard-drinking, sea-shanty singing, rip-roaring maniac but unlike any other film of this ilk, he’s not a shark-hunting badass or the comedic relief. He’s a broken human being who–not unlike Captain Ahab–lives for revenge. In the film’s scariest scene, he relates (in extreme detail) the story of what happened after the Indianapolis sank. It’s terrifying, it’s harrowing and it tells you everything you need to know about his character. He hunts monsters.
28. Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) | The Invisible Man (1933)
It’s deeply ironic that Universal keeps trying and failing to chase the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) money train because they did it first almost 100 years ago. They were the first studio to connect their films through sequels and character overlap. It wasn’t unusual to see Dracula talking to the Wolfman or the Wolfman fighting Frankenstein’s monster. It was revolutionary and for a film fan, it was the bee’s knees (or whatever the antiquated term the 30’s had for hip is.)
But one character was suspiciously absent from the fun. While all the monsters were a-talkin’ or a-tusslin’, the Invisible Man was sitting on the bench. It couldn’t be because of a lack of popularity either. The Invisible Man would eventually get more sequels than any other monster. I have a theory as to why he was never invited to join the crossover and it’s actually pretty obvious.
It’s because he would’ve straight-up murdered everyone else in the film.
Every other monster is slightly sympathetic. Frankenstein’s Creature never asked to be created, the Wolfman just wants to die and Dracula just wants some love but Jack Griffin just wants chaos. He revels in madness and leaves a trail of corpses in his wake. He once derailed a train killing hundreds just for funsies. He’s also invisible, which means that not only is he hard to find but he’s naked and crazy. And there’s nothing worse than an insane naked person running towards you.
27. Candyman (Tony Todd) | Candyman (1992)
Clive Barker’s other famous creation; Candyman will forever live in the shadow of Pinhead and the Cenobites. Which is a shame considering his mythology is far more interesting. Starting life as a painter who had the audacity to look at a white woman, he was eventually captured and tortured to death. His captors turned his ass into a figurative honey-baked ham in order to get ants to eat him alive. They also replaced his hand with a hook. I have no idea why but that’s pretty fucking cool. Freddy was burned alive, Jason drowned but Candyman was eaten alive by fucking ants. That’s an origin so tragic, you kind of sympathize with him. Plus, his entire arc consists entirely of him trying to get laid, so is he truly that bad?
26. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) | The Silence of the Lambs (1992)
Enlisting the help of a notorious serial killer to help catch an equally dangerous monster, Clarice bites off a little more than she can chew when she agrees to Hannibal’s offer of quid pro quo. She’s makes a deal with the devil but due to her resourcefulness and intelligence, she keeps her head above water.
Jodie Foster received her second Oscar for her portrayal of the inexperienced FBI agent; a first for a genre film. Horror is often overlooked at the Academy Awards, with few films winning any of the major awards but Silence is one of the only films to win the big five–Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was a historic win but equally as impressive is the fact that Foster is the only hero of a horror film to win the Best Actor/Actress award.
75-51 | 25-1
What do you think of the list so far? Which characters do you hope will make the cut?
