30 of the Best Horror Movies Based on True Stories

The Strangers (2008)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Psycho (1960)

Zodiac (2007)

The Haunting In Connecticut (2009)

Compliance (2012)

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The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

Monster (2003)

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

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The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

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Devil's Knot (2014)

Child's Play (1988)

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Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

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The Rite (2011)

Annabelle (2014)

What is it about children’s toys that can be so terrifying? Based within The Conjuring universe, Annabelle is a vintage porcelain doll cursed by a demonic spirit, causing hauntings and violent ends to those that would wrong her. In real life, Annabelle is a supposedly haunted Raggedy Anne doll owned by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. She was originally gifted to a student nurse in 1970 but according to a psychic medium, the doll was inhabited by the spirit of a dead girl named Annabelle and is said to be responsible for two near-death experiences, one fatal accident, and many demonic activities in the past 30 years. Under the glass case in which the real Annabelle sits reads the words: “Warning: Positively do not open”.

horror movies based on true stories — Everett

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

For a killer that hunts teenagers in their sleep, it’s surprising to know that the Freddy Krueger murders in Nightmare on Elm Street are based on a series of articles published by The LA Times in the 70s. Hmong refugees had fled war torn Southeast Asia for the United States. One young boy, whose family had survived the killing fields of Cambodia, had terrible nightmares of something chasing him in his sleep. “He was afraid that if he slept, the thing chasing him would get him, so he tried to stay awake for days at a time,” director Wes Craven told Cinemablend in 2014. “When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought this crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. By the time they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare.” Truly terrifying.

Borderland (2007)

Three recent Texas graduates, Ed, Henry, and Phil, head down to Mexico for a week of loose fun, but things take a sinister turn when one of them goes missing. It’s revealed that Phil has been kidnapped by a serial killer/cult leader who’s preparing a human sacrifice to bless their drug-smuggling racket. The murderous cult leader is based on Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, a Cuban American drug dealer and cult leader whose sect performed multiple ritualistic killings in Matamoros, Mexico, during the 80s.

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Dahmer (2002)

Actor Jeremy Renner’s breakout role came in the form of portraying sadistic killer Jeffrey Dahmer in this independent film. Talk about jumping in the deep end. Dahmer’s case is particularly gruesome, in case you’re not familiar. He murdered, mutilated, and partially consumed 17 boys and young men during the late 70s to early 90s. Dahmer is told in a mix of present-day and flashbacks to the killer’s early years, as well as his troubled relationship with his father. While undoubtedly horrifying, the film was both well received and criticized for its attempt to “rationalize the monstrous”, per a New York Times review.

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Poltergeist (1982)

“They’re here,” the little blonde girl says as the TV flickers with static. It’s an iconic moment in scary cinema to be sure and the events in Poltergeist are based on the terrifying things that happen at the Herrmann House in 1958. Bottles containing various substances began to pop and move about the house. The Herrmann’s bottle of holy water tipped over for no apparent reason. Other household objects were thrown across the room with “no devices that could have propelled them”, per a story in LIFE magazine. News of the strange occurrences made the news, but after about a month and 70 documented reports of unusual activity, everything stopped. The Stephen Spielberg-produced Poltergeist is more sensational than what happened to the Herrmann’s, but a classic nonetheless.

Scream (1996)

It’s one of the most iconic horror films of all time but few may know that Scream is based on a true story. A string of murders committed by Danny Rolling, aka the Gainesville Ripper served as the basis for Ghostface in the classic slasher flick starring Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, and Drew Barrymore. Rolling murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida, in quick succession, raping, stabbing, and mutilating his victims. He claimed he wanted to be the next Ted Bundy and pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and was sentenced to death in 1994.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family in their home in Long Island, NY. After the crimes, George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into the house but merely a month later, they’d fled. They said they were being terrorized by evil spirits and other paranormal phenomena; like experiencing cold spots in the house and finding sons Daniel and Christopher levitating in their beds. When a priest came to bless/exorcise the house, he allegedly heard a voice scream “get out” and vowed never to return. The events, which have since been labelled a hoax, served as inspiration for the best-selling book, and a film The Amityville Horror.

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The Birds (1963)

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most iconic films, The Birds centers on a small Californian coastal town terrorized and rendered hopeless by a flock of malevolent birds. It’s based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier but has roots in history, when residents in Capitola, Calif., awoke to a scene straight out of a horror movie. Inexplicably, “hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns,” according to local news reports. It was a complete mystery at the time, but scientists now believe a neurotoxin domoic acid was to blame for the birds’ bizarre behavior.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

An intelligent court drama with scary supernatural elements starring Laura Linney (love her), The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the story of a young woman who dies during an attempted exorcism. Father Richard Moore is charged with negligent homicide and an investigation into her death via his trial ensues. The character of Emily is based on the real experiences of German woman Anneliese Michel who at 16 began hallucinating and shaking uncontrollably. She was diagnosed with epilepsy and psychosis, but her Catholic devout family believes she was possessed by demons. Six years after her symptoms first showed, a local pastor was granted permission to perform an exorcism twice a week. After initial improvements, she deteriorated and died of starvation at age 23.

The Exorcist (1973)

Still regarded as one of the most terrifying films of all time, The Exorcist is based on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty. The film told the story of a young girl possessed by a demon and the priest tasked with exorcising the evil presence from her body. The novel and subsequent film are based on the true story of Roland Doe, 13-year-old young boy from the late 1940s whose aunt had taught him about spiritualism like how to use an Ouija board. Shortly after his aunt died, strange things began happening around the house, including dripping noises and scratch marks found on the boy’s body and mattress. Multiple priests were enlisted to perform exorcisms and the events were reported on in an article for The Washington Post, published August 1949.

Snowtown (2011)

This Australian film is based on the true story of the horrific Snowtown murders committed by Robert Joe Wagner, James Spyridon Vlassakis, and John Justin Bunting in the early to late 90s in South Australia. Otherwise known as ‘the bodies in the barrels murders’, the remains of eight victims were discovered in steel drums in Snowtown on 20 May 1999. While at the cinemas, some audiences actually walked out due to the gruesome torture and violence depicted in the film which told the story of John Bunting’s life, but overall, Snowtown was critically well-received.

The Stepfather (1987)

Though of course a sensationalized version, slasher movie The Stepfather is based loosely on the true story of murderer John List, who killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in New Jersey and then disappeared. He assumed a new identity as Bob Clark, settling in Denver and remarrying. He eluded justice for close to 18 years before he was finally apprehended in 1989 thanks to an episode of America’s Most Wanted. In The Stepfather, the fictional killer Jerry Blake marries a widow with a teenage daughter and continues his murderous tendencies, however in real life, List expressed remorse for what he'd done, and he died of complications from pneumonia in prison in 2008.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

The Phantom of Texarkana is an unidentified serial killer that attacked eight people, five of whom died, over a 10-week period in the spring of 1946 around the Texarkana region of Arkansas and Texas. The slayings caused a state of panic through to the summer and served as the inspiration for the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown and was remade in 2014. While the prime suspect was petty criminal Youell Swinney the killer was never identified.