Horror Fans Are Not a Monolith

Written By Ranker PR

There’s a common misconception that all horror movies are alike, when in truth, horror fans gravitate to the genre for vastly different reasons. Some enjoy it as an endurance test for unthinkable levels of gore, others relish psychological torment and unsettling supernatural atmosphere, some seek the vicarious traumas of true crime, and a bunch more love the thrill of facing freaky, unfamiliar creatures. 

Horror’s sub-genres are in fact so wide-ranging that we here at Ranker have devoted an entire subsection of our site (reverently dubbed Graveyard Shift) to all things macabre. And what we’ve discovered from the millions of votes on these polls is that while many horror fans certainly share a handful of favorite films, your top horror movie reveals not only which horror sub-genres you prefer, but also your unique taste in movies beyond the genre.

Using Ranker Insights data, we’ll explore the nuanced ways our audience engages with horror across our most popular sub-genre polls. Valuable insights like these are what enable advertisers to understand which horror categories resonate most, and which diverse pathways they can take to reach new viewers across any genre.

Which Horror Titles Define Each Sub-genre According to Ranker’s Voters? 

Photo: Halloween (1978), Compass International Pictures

Before we dive into which titles top our horror sub-genre polls, you may be wondering what horror fans consider to be the The Best Horror Movie Of All Time (1.4M votes). The Answer? The Exorcist, 1973’s chilling tale of demonic possession. In true possessive fashion, The Exorcist also claims the top spot on a number of our hottest horror sub-genre polls, including The Best Horror Movies Based On True Stories (65.5K votes), The Best Religious Horror Movies, Ranked (1.4K votes), and, you guessed it – The Best Movies About Demonic Possession (43.4K votes). 

But which films represent horror’s other popular categories? After looking at the top titles from dozens of our niche polls, we've identified five that consistently secure the #1 spot: 

What Does Your Top Horror Movie Say About Your Favorite Horror sub-genres?

Photo: The Conjuring (2013), New Line Cinema / Warner Bros. Pictures

Assuming your favorite horror movie is one of the six popular titles in our sample, we can harness Ranker’s psychographic data engine to discover what that favorite film says about your favorite sub-genres of horror. 

For example – fans of 28 Days Later have shown a penchant for an apocalyptic / creature combo, as they’re at least 6x more into Romero’s “Dead” zombie series, District 9, and The Mist than the average horror buff. The fact that they’re also 5x more drawn to The Thing and The Fly and at least 3x more into Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland shows they also enjoy a nice dose of body horror and comedic relief to go with their scares.

Similarly, fans of Alien also have a thing for body and creature horror – in addition to loving the above titles, they’re at least 5x more into the visceral Hellraiser franchise and 6x more into creature flicks like Predator and Jaws. Halloween fans also love these body/creature horror titles, but slightly less so, averaging at twice as little of a preference. They’re more into violence and gore via slasher flicks, showing at least 7x more interest in franchises like Friday the 13th, Scream, and Nightmare on Elm Street. 

On the other hand, fans of supernatural horror like The Conjuring and The Exorcist are way more drawn to spiritual scares than the stuff that gets you on a gut level. They especially love when demonic or devilish forces plague a family: Conjuring stans are 10x more into the Insidious franchise and both Conjuring and Exorcist fans are at least 6x more into The Ring and Amityville franchises. Meanwhile The Silence of the Lambs fans also gravitate towards psychological horror, but more so from a cerebral perspective–they’re at least 6x more into suspenseful thrillers like Se7en, the Psycho franchise, and Stephen King’s Misery and The Shining. 

What Does Your Top Horror Movie Say About Your Favorite Movies in General?

Photo: 28 Days Later (2003), Searchlight Pictures

Now that we’ve learned which sub-genres most appeal to horror fans of differing persuasions, it’s time to find out what fans of these movies love to watch outside of the horror genre. Thanks to Ranker Insights, we’ve uncovered valuable taste correlations you might not have predicted. 

28 Days Later  

While fans of 28 Days Later are definitely into the non-horror genres you’d expect – they love dystopian action movies like Children of Men and the Mad Max franchise at least 4x more than the average viewer and sci-fi flicks like Gattaca, Ex Machina, and The Fifth Element 3x as much – they also love coming-of-age movies centered around music:  they’re 4x as into 8 Mile and 2x as into Almost Famous and School of Rock.

Alien

Sure, Alien fans love a good sci-fi space movie – they’re 5x more obsessed with 2001: A Space Odyssey and 4x more into the Star Trek franchise than the next guy – but did you know that they also have a thing for kids’ movies? They’re at least twice as nostalgic for Toy Story and The Muppet Movie than the average movie lover, and 3x as into WALL-E, which injects the sci-fi space elements they love into the kids genre.  

The Conjuring

Just as Conjuring fans love to watch a family survive malevolent spirits, you might not be shocked to learn they’re 2x as likely to watch protagonists surviving forces of nature in films like 127 Hours and Jurassic Park. But what you might not have guessed is that they’re also twice as likely to love erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, and Single White Female–the latter two of which also feature survival elements. They also love a survival film rooted in historical oppression, as they’re 2x as likely to watch dramas like 12 Years A Slave and Schindler’s List. 

The Exorcist

Given The Exorcist’s moralizing undertones on the consequences of losing faith, it may not surprise you to learn its fans are 2x as likely to love Disney movies promoting wholesome family values, like Finding Nemo and Bambi. Though conversely, Exorcist fans are also huge proponents of crime movies – they’re 4x as likely to favor films like Dog Day Afternoon, Taxi Driver, and Bonnie and Clyde. Their fear of religious repression also translates towards a love of raunchy comedies: they’re 3x as into Fast Times at Ridgemont High and National Lampoon’s Animal House, and 2x as into South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Halloween

As you may have guessed, Halloween fans are 4x as likely to love other teen movies like Sixteen Candles and American Pie. But they’re also quietly into superhero movies, showing at least 3x more interest in the Spider-Man Trilogy, Superman, Batman, and the wider DCEU franchise. They’re also 4x more into inspirational sports movies like Rocky and Remember the Titans, and 2x as into Pixar movies like Monsters Inc. and Ratatouille. 

The Silence of the Lambs 

Just as Silence of the Lambs fans love to watch Hannibal Lecter describe his crimes in a prison setting, so too are they 5x as likely to love prison dramas like The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, as well as crime films like Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, and Fargo. But what you might not know is that they also really love war movies – they’re at least 3x more drawn to Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan and Platoon. And most surprisingly, we’ve learned they’re obsessed with stoner comedies: 3x as much with The Big Lebowski and 2x as much with Wayne’s World, Friday, and Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke. 

These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.

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