Simply put, the anthology is a collection of stories blended into one complete work. Some of the best-known and most celebrated stories have been told in this manner on both the big and small screens. Telling stories through an anthological style often allows for more creative freedom, as directors and producers weave together a multitude of creative elements to build a body of work. They also tend to hold the audience’s attention for longer periods of time, keeping them guessing with every twist and turn – especially when each story contributes to a greater and more collective narrative. Horror is a genre that has historically followed this pattern of success.
Many anthology stories work best as television shows, while others find greater success as films. For example, The Twilight Zone has long maintained popularity, with each individual episode following a different unfortunate happening, while American Horror Story takes its audience into a new realm with each new season. Capitalizing on cult followings and the must-see nature of movie magic, some of the most successful horror stories are conglomerations of a few terrifying tales within one film. Take a look at the best horror anthology movies, ranked.
‘V/H/S’ (2012)
Released in 2012, V/H/S is a found-footage anthology that stitches together several short films under the framing device of a group of criminals breaking into a house to steal a mysterious videotape. Each tape reveals a different nightmare, like a disturbing encounter with a predatory woman in “Amateur Night,” a scary Skype call in “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger,” and a road trip gone wrong in “Second Honeymoon.”
The handheld style and grainy visuals give all stories an immediacy, making us feel like we’ve stumbled upon something forbidden. Every segment feels like a battle for survival, with ordinary people suddenly stuck in terrifying situations. Though critics were divided, audiences embraced its rough edges, and the movie’s success spawned several sequels. Its popularity also lies in how it made anthologies more accessible to modern audiences.
‘Black Sabbath’ (1963)
Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath is a series of gothic tales, each introduced by Boris Karloff with a theatrical flair. “The Telephone” tells the story of a woman terrorized by anonymous calls, “The Wurdulak” is a vampire story set in rural Russia with Karloff himself as the cursed patriarch, and “The Drop of Water” follows a nurse haunted after stealing from a dead person.
Bava has a mastery of using color, shadow, and atmosphere to transform each vignette into a nightmare, with the stories ranging from psychological to supernatural. There’s also a variety in his works. One story is about familial tragedy, while the other is about ghostly vengeance. Over time, Black Sabbath has been celebrated for its influence on Italian horror and its bold use of color, and it has inspired generations of filmmakers. Today, the horror anthology is regarded as one of Bava’s finest achievements.
‘Dead of Night’ (1945)
Dead of Night, produced by Ealing Studios, is a landmark in British cinema and one of the earliest anthology movies to achieve lasting acclaim. The story centers on an architect who arrives at a country house and realizes he’s trapped in a recurring nightmare. Within this structure, five different tales are told, and there’s a circular narrative that creates a sense of inevitability that was really groundbreaking for its time.
The anthology’s reputation comes largely from Michael Redgrave’s performance in the ventriloquist segment, where the dummy possesses its owner. It’s one of the most unsettling portrayals of a psychological breakdown in the history of cinema. Released just after World War II, its themes of repetition and dread were fitting. And decades later, Dead of Night is still celebrated for giving the world some of the most uncanny tales, influencing anthology storytelling, and proving horror can be sophisticated and unnerving at the same time.
‘Kwaidan’ (1964)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi, Kwaidan is an adaptation of Lafcadio Hearn’s Japanese ghost stories, which are divided into four visually stunning segments, titled “The Black Hair,” “The Woman of the Snow,” “Hoichi the Earless,” and “In a Cup of Tea.” Each story is staged with meticulous planning, using various backdrops and sets and a sound design that creates a dreamlike atmosphere.
Kobayashi’s background in war films informs the sense of discipline to a story that’s otherwise supernatural. The anthology’s highlight, “Hoichi the Earless,” shows a blind musician caught between human duty and spectral armies, which feels epic and otherworldly. Critically acclaimed upon release, Kwaidan earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and has since become a treasure for cinephiles.
‘Holidays’ (2016)
The anthology Holidays takes a darkly comic approach to festive traditions, with each part themed around a different holiday. Directors like Kevin Smith, Gary Shore, and Scott Stewart contribute segments that range from grotesque Easter imagery to Valentine’s Day obsession. The Christmas Entry, starring Seth Green, follows a father desperate to secure the hottest tech gift for his daughter, only to discover that the device has sinister consequences.
Other segments explore Mother’s Day, Halloween, and New Year’s Eve, each with its own twisted spin. Holidays are memorable because of their willingness to play with tone. The Christmas short captures the frenzy of holiday consumerism, while the Easter and Valentine’s segments feature surreal imagery. Even though mainstream reception was mixed, horror fans embraced its boldness and variety.
‘The Mortuary Collection’ (2019)
This Shudder original, a relatively new entry into the horror genre, is full of cautionary tales and unforeseen twists. In The Mortuary Collection, a young woman looks for work at the Raven’s End Mortuary and embarks on a tour of the place led by Montgomery Dark (Clancy Brown), the head mortician. Montgomery begins to spin some stories about the unfortunate souls who have ended up there.
Each of these is more horrifying than the next, featuring outlandish creatures and increasingly dark imagery. One memorable segment titled “Unprotected” follows a frat boy (Jacob Elordi) with unsavory intentions who soon reaps the consequences of his actions, with monstrous results.
‘Trick ‘r Treat’ (2007)
Trick ‘r Treat is a spooky tale about Halloween night gone horribly wrong. The film blends together five different stories, all encroached upon by Sam, a pint-sized trick-or-treater draped in a burlap outfit. Sam seems to follow people who don’t respect the rules of the holiday, exposing the audience to the harrowing demise of those who don’t subscribe to its time-honored traditions. Poisoned candy, the awakening of ancient creatures, and terrible tricks follow as a result.
Released in 2007, this film has become somewhat of a cult classic that encourages viewers to double-check who’s outside their door before they open up. Fans have clamored for a sequel, which director Michael Dougherty says may happen eventually if the stars align just right.
‘The ABC’s of Death’ (2013)
The ABCs of Death is an absolute whirlwind, highlighting 26 different scary stories and drawing upon a new horror director for each individual letter of the alphabet. From the imaginations of big names across the globe, like Ti West and Nacho Vigalondo, every chapter details a different manner of death with a letter corresponding to it.
“E is for Exterminate” positions a man against a disappearing spider, who is much closer than he realizes.”T is for Toilet,” a claymation segment, features a commode hungry for human flesh. The film has been praised for its absurdity but also called poorly connected, with a review from NPR stating, “while some of the directors are able to make that simplicity work for them, some … not so much.”
‘Body Bags’ (1993)
John Carpenter’s Body Bags is a campy and creepy salute to the horror renaissance of the ’90s. This made-for-TV movie features a star-studded cast that includes Wes Craven and Sam Raimi. John Carpenter plays the coroner, who takes the audience on a trip through three stories – “The Gas Station,” “Hair,” and “Eye” – whose characters have recently ended up in the titular body bags within his morgue.
The first of these harrowing happenings takes place close to Haddonfield, Illinois, a nod to Carpenter’s highly successful Halloween movies. This atmospheric anthology spotlights some big names in horror while still maintaining a sense of fresh originality through its terrifying tales.
‘Creepshow’ (1982)
The original iteration of Creepshow is indeed “the most fun you’ll ever have being scared.” Written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, this cult classic follows the style of immensely popular horror comic books from the 1950s. The audience takes a seat for five spooky tales, each led by the Creep himself, the ugly undead host of the series.
Stephen King stars as Jordy Verrill in the short “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” which was adapted from his own short story, “Weeds.” Creepshow went on to become a more recent horror anthology television series of the same name, produced by Shudder. It was recently renewed for its fourth season.