100 Horror Screenplays to Download and Study for Free
Yes, you read that correctly: 100! Halloween is around the corner, so I thought I'd take you on an epic journey through six decades of cinematic terror to help in your screenwriting education
Cinematic horror comes in so many shapes and sizes. It can involve anything from reanimated corpses and stop-motion monsters to unstoppable serial killers and demonic possessions - and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes it’s painfully grounded in the real world, sometimes it’s operatic and soaked in garishly red buckets of blood, and sometimes it makes you piss yourself with laughter. On occasion, it’s even fun for the whole family. Rules don’t do well in this environment, you might say.
Many try to distinguish between crowd-pleasing horror and more “elevated” forms, and there is some difference, I suppose. Yes, some horror achieves a degree of sophistication that is more obviously “art” as most people label it. But the reality is, even the most gory, vile, nauseating slashers reflect something about our cultures and who we are and what we think of ourselves - not to mention what dark things get us off. Take for example the history of women being victimized in these films, even if they often rise up to triumph over some terrible evil. Even more troubling are the rape-vengeance horrors such as I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978), which shines a spotlight on our cultural misogyny.
Art does not have to be “elevated” to confront us and show us truths we don’t want to face. Even our positive reaction to such art, enjoying its most thrilling, grotesque, or lurid qualities, is something worthy of our consideration.
The point is: horror is one of our most important storytelling genres and one as old as human culture. All mythology is steeped in it, including the Bible - which, if you actually read, is filled with unimaginable violence and misogyny and sadism. Maybe we find some of the same complicated, often disturbing emotional gratification from it as we do, say, watching THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) or horny teenagers trying to survive an unstoppable killing machine in the woods (the FRIDAY THE 13TH series). Studying it in all its cinematic forms, how it’s evolved over the decades, even how different perspectives write it is an incredibly important and valuable exercise even if you don’t actually want to write horror screenplays.
Below you will find links to 100 horror scripts for you to download and study for free.
Honestly, I started out only intending to share forty or so, but then I I found I couldn’t help myself. It’s a bad habit of mine with this Substack, to just dive headfirst down rabbit holes. But the result of that is probably one of the most comprehensive lists of horror screenplays out there. I hope you find much enjoyment in them and learn even more.
All these screenplays tend to vanish, as all things do on the Internet. Download ASAP for your educational purposes. If you want more resources like this one, be sure to check out my articles “60 Great Comedy Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”, “30 Brilliant BBC Drama Scripts to Download and Study for Free”, “50 Essential 21st-Century One-Hour Pilot Scripts to Download and Study for Free”, “50 Great Screenplays by Women”, “50 Great Screenplays by People of Color ”, and “40 Great Action Screenplays”.
28 DAYS LATER (2002) by Alex Garland
Arguably, this script resurrected the zombie genre. Though I will say, George A. Romero once groused to me that the dead don’t run. I’m of the same mind as him, but this film is terrifying all the same.
28 WEEKS LATER by Rowan Joffé, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique López Lavigne, and Jesus Olmo
ALIEN (1979) by Dan O'Bannon; story by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Claustrophobia, a small ensemble, a singular creature.
ALIENS (1985) by James Cameron
Claustrophobia, a new mother and daughter theme, and a teeming horde of creatures.
AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner
“I'm into, oh, murders and executions mostly. It depends.”
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) by John Landis
A deceptively simple screenplay. Hilarious, vicious, romantic.
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) by Sandor Stern
ANTEBELLUM (2020) by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz
ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992) by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi
“This is my boom stick!” Such an unbelievably quotable script.
THE BABADOOK (2014) by Jennifer Kent
When people say they like their horror with something to say, that’s what Jennifer Kent does. And she does it better than almost anyone else.
BARBARIAN (2022) by Zach Cregger
A structurally unsound film that nonetheless works…and terrifies.
BEETLEJUICE (1988) by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren; story by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson
Pure, delirious fun. Every second of its script — and film — fueled by Tim Burton’s love for the macabre.
BIRD BOX (2018) by Eric Heissesrer
THE BIRDS (1963) by Evan Hunter
BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) by A. Roy Moore
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992) by Joss Whedon
This was a valiant first stab — pun intended — at Buffy Summers. Joss Whedon got it right when he adapted this film to TV.
CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard
Stick around for the twist.
CANDYMAN (1992) by Bernard Rose
CANDYMAN (2021) by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and Nia DaCosta
CARRIE (1976) by Lawrence D. Cohen
I’m less convinced the script is as good as Brian DePalma’s direction…but maybe you’ll disagree.