Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton star in this ’80s-set horror comedy written by Diablo Cody and directed by music-video alum Zelda Williams. Newton plays a high schooler with a crush on a dead guy (Sprouse) who comes back to life after a fit of mad science. Together, they unleash pandemonium. Think of it like Heathers meets Valley Girl with a Mary Shelley twist. Also featuring a rad soundtrack and saturated neons that bring to mind Lisa Frank Incorporated, the film is a gift for Valentine’s Day.

In theaters February 9.

It’s 43,000 BCE—read: nothin’ but animal hide as clothing—and a group of early nomads are on the move. Confronted with dangers, both natural and mystical, they find themselves hunted by a demon and forced to do whatever it takes to stay alive. So you can imagine things get savage in this Stone Age survival tale. But where Andrew Cumming’s debut really shines is in its atmospheric mood and the bone-chilling attention to detail in every crunch, kill, and scream. Surround sound, for sure!

In theaters February 9.

Quite possibly the freakiest thing you will lay eyes on this year, Stopmotion is nothing like the idiosyncratic wonder-worlds that spring from the mind of Wes Anderson. Rather, this psychological assault comes from puppet master Robert Morgan, telling the story of an animator terrorized by her creations. A gloriously grotesque watch, with some of the most disturbing frame-by-frame animation you’ll ever see, this one will likely sear its imagery onto the wrinkles of your brain.

In theaters February 23.

After M3GAN, Chucky, and Annabelle, you’d think folks would have learned their lesson with cozying up to creepy toys. But apparently not yet, as the little girl in this Blumhouse offering finds herself an attic teddy named Chauncey. Little does she know this stuffie is really just a host for the imaginary friend the home’s previous tenant left behind. And now he’s full of rage.

In theaters March 8.

On the heels of her rom-com hit Anyone but You, Sydney Sweeney returns to the big screen as star and producer. This time, however, she’s promoting a psychological horror story set in an Italian convent. Immaculate unfolds through its protagonist, Cecilia, a devout nun who learns she is pregnant with a “miracle” child. Whether the seed is that of God, man, or something way worse is for us to find out come spring.

In theaters March 22.

Set in 1977, this refreshingly innovative take on found footage features a late-night talk show kicking off its sixth season on Halloween night and inviting one of its guests—13-year-old Lilly, the sole survivor of a Satanic mass suicide—to conjure the devil on live television. A SXSW 2023 favorite from Aussie brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, the occult film is a nerve-frazzling nightmare that would send the ghost of Johnny Carson running.

In theaters March 22; streaming April 19.

Starring Jordan Cowan and Brendan Rock, this two-handed chamber piece premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last June, where it was acquired by Shudder; and come late March, it will finally be available to stream. The story, a well-crafted tension-builder, hits its stride when a paranoid man invites a sopping-wet young woman into his RV to wait out a raging thunderstorm. The interactions and conversations that follow leave a trail of clues, lies, and hair-raising reveals.

Streaming March 22.

When the copyright for Steamboat Willie—the 1928 animated short in which Mickey Mouse made his debut—expired in January 2024, the House of Mouse’s iconic rodent entered public domain, and creative minds wasted no time. The villainous force behind at least two upcoming horror films, Mickey will first take lives in this indie slasher about a theme park worker who spends her 21st birthday working the late shift from hell.

In theaters March 2024.

Arkasha Stevenson—an episodic director whose credits include Brand New Cherry Flavor, Channel Zero, and Legion—makes her feature-film debut with a prequel to Richard Donner’s revered 1976 original Omen. Starring Servant’s Nell Tiger Free as nun-to-be Margaret, the origin story of the devil incarnate takes place in Rome, where the young novitiate’s faith is tested when she learns the church is meddling in dark matters.

In theaters April 5.

The guys behind the new Scream franchise and Ready or Not, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, are back, with another horror film that looks to be a blast on the docket. Abigail, a genre-blender that stars a ton of familiar faces (Melissa Barrera, Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, and the late Angus Cloud), features a kidnapping gone wrong, when a seemingly innocent ballerina morphs into fanged bloodsucker in a tutu, hell-bent on maiming her abductors.

In theaters April 19.

A movie about a spider attack is heading to Shudder, but this time, there’s no John Goodman in a pest-control uniform to save the day. Infested (original title: Vermin) is a French film from Sébastien Vanicek that impressed audiences on the festival circuit last year. But if Arachnophobia was too much back in 1990, then this creature feature about a man who brings a venomous spider home on his birthday and unleashes a cluster of creepy crawlies will definitely bug you out.

Streaming April 26.

In 2006, Christopher Gans adapted Konami’s survival horror video game for the screen, resulting in a monster thriller starring Radha Mitchell as a mother looking for her daughter in the foggy titular town. A cult following was born, and though the fans didn’t care for the disjointed sequel from another director in 2012, they are getting hyped over this Return. Gans comes back to the world of Silent Hill, too, this time with a story about a man who ventures into the fog to find his long-lost love.

In theaters April 26.

Representation in horror is getting good. With every Jordan Peele instant classic, Julia Ducournau mind-bender, and Ryan Murphy scream, marginalized groups have gone from purged bodies to characters who matter. Here, Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer stars in Tilman Singer’s thriller as Gretchen, a 17-year-old who moves with her family to a German resort where creepy things happen. We can’t wait to add Cuckoo to the growing list of great examples of onscreen representation.

In theaters May 3.

A Ouija board, a videotape, a cell phone, a doll—the list of portals through which evil is unleashed is never-ending. Here, malevolent forces pierce the thin veil that separates the living from the dead through a set of tarot cards. The users? A group of friends who blatantly disregard the boundaries they’re warned about. One shuffle of a cursed deck later, and each pal is confronted with his, her, or their fate.

In theaters May 10.

The third film in the franchise, The Strangers: Chapter 1 bears striking similarities to the 2008 original. But according to Collider, this summer release is not a sequel, nor a reboot, nor a remake. Rather, it broadens the backstory and offers more information about the mythology’s characters. Chapter 1 is the first in a trilogy whose collective time range spans only a few days, and Chapter 3 will tap into the history of the original’s masked murderers.

In theaters May 17.

Shadowing her father, M. Night, as a writer, director, and producer on Apple TV+’s Servant, Ishana Shyamalan makes her big-screen directorial debut this summer with The Watchers. She and her dad adapted the screenplay from A.M. Shine’s 2021 novel of the same name. The narrative proper unfolds around a young artist who seeks shelter from night monsters with three strangers in Ireland, and stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell, and Hannah Howland.

In theaters June 7.

John Krasinski, who directed the previous two Quiet Place films, returns to the series with this prequel, this time as a cowriter and coproducer. Relative newcomer Michael Sarnoski (Pig) is directing. Another big change? The story focuses on an entirely new cast of characters. As its title suggests, the movie is set on the first day of the alien invasion that drives the horror, and reveals the why we’ve been pondering since 2018. Stars include Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff, and Djimon Hounsou.

In theaters June 28.