Historically, horror movies have been greatly overlooked when it comes to awards season. There’s always been a bias against the genre, labeling all films under its umbrella as lowbrow or B-grade.
While Silence of the Lambs is the only horror film to have ever won Best Picture at the Oscars, there have been a few other major awards. Get Out won Best Original Screenplay in 2017, and Kathy Bates won Best Actress for Misery in 1990—two wins I don’t think anyone could ever argue against.
Mostly, however, horror is relegated to the technical categories. While the technical aspects of film are vital, important, and still wholly artistic, those categories lack the prestige granted the so-called top categories.
This year it seems horror has crashed through the coffin it’s been kept in. With four films garnering nominations, two of them are nominated in the top categories, with one of them breaking an all-time record.
Acknowledging this historic awards season, here are all the Oscar nominated horror movies of 2026.
Twin brothers Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start a juke joint with the help of their musically gifted cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton). Unfortunately, there’s more danger about than the KKK, and a desperate vampire gets a whiff of Sammie’s remarkable gift.
This remarkable horror film actually broke records with its Oscar nominations, and with 16 nods, became the most Oscar-nominated film of all time. It’s nominations include Best Picture, Best Directer (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Supporting Actor (Delroy Lindo), Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku), Best Casting (Francine Maisler), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), Best Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter), Best Film Editing (Michael P. Shawver), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, and Shunika Terry), Best Original Score (Ludwig Goransson), Best Original Song (“I Lied to You” — Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson), Best Production Design (Hannah Beachler and Monique Champagne), Best Sound (Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor, and Steve Boeddeker), Best Visual Effects (Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, and Donnie Dean), and Best Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler).
In Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s timeless classic, the egomaniacal genius Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) conducts a monstrous experiment to bring a creature (Jacob Elordi) to life. As the creature navigates the cruel world around him, the tragedy of his condition has rippling consequences.
This film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Jacob Elordi), Best Cinematography (Dan Laustsen), Best Costume Design (Kate Hawley), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey), Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat), Best Production Design (Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau), Best Sound (Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, and Brad Zoern), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Guillermo del Toro).
One night at exactly the same time, all the children in the same class mysteriously disappear—except for one. The rattled community is left to question who or what is behind such an awful thing.
This movie earned one nomination through Amy Madigan for Best Supporting Actress.
In this Norwegian satirical body horror film, Elvira (Lea Myren) lives in a realm where beauty is the ultimate determination of worth. In order to compete against her gorgeous stepsister for the attention of the prince, Elvira goes through extreme and gruesome measures to achieve physical perfection.
This film was nominated for Best Makeup and Styling (Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg).