Horror movies have a way of crawling under your skin, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. 

But some haunting on-screen stories are truly chilling because their plots were inspired by disturbing true events, eerie coincidences, and inexplicable mysteries.

From the 2010s’ The Conjuring franchise to the 1980s classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, these 20 horror films prove that sometimes the scariest stories aren’t imagined, they’re relived.

#1 The Exorcist (1973)

The 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist remains one of the most terrifying films ever made.

The story, adapted from William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, was inspired by the possession of a 14-year-old boy known under the pseudonym Roland Doe.

In the late 1940s, Roland, who lived in Maryland, began experiencing strange and violent phenomena soon after his aunt gifted him a Ouija board.

Objects reportedly moved on their own, scratches appeared on his body, and guttural voices echoed through the house.

His family, desperate for answers, turned to priests after doctors and psychiatrists failed to help.

Multiple exorcisms were eventually performed by Catholic priests in different locations, including Georgetown University Hospital and The Alexian Brothers Hospital.

During one of these rituals, Roland allegedly tore off a piece of mattress spring and hurled it at a priest, forcing the ceremony to stop.

Days later, red scratches appeared on his skin, spelling out the word “LOUIS.”

That message led the family to St. Louis, where priests Walter Halloran and William Bowdern performed the final exorcism, which they claimed successfully freed Roland from the possession.

Decades later, the boy was identified by researchers as Ronald Hunkeler, who went on to work as an engineer for NASA, even contributing to the 1969 Apollo mission.

Image credits: allthatsinteresting

#2 The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976 And 2014)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown, first released in 1976 and revisited in a 2014 sequel, was based on the infamous Texarkana Moonlight homicides of 1946, carried out by an unidentified assailant dubbed ‘The Phantom Ki**er.’ 

Over a span of three months, he terrorized the small town on the Texas-Arkansas border, attacking couples in secluded areas and eventually escalating to home invasions. 

Some victims survived, while others were brutally attacked and succumbed to their injuries, in some cases, the bodies were even posed in grotesque arrangements. 

Despite extensive investigations, no one was ever arrested, and the Phantom Ki**er seemingly vanished into the night, leaving behind a chilling legacy that became part legend, part terror.

While the 1976 film took liberties, including a climactic chase and other fictionalized scenes, it retained the unnerving open ending, suggesting the culprit still roamed free among the townspeople. 

Moviegoers at the time were reportedly terrified, hesitant even to leave the theater and return home.

Image credits: American International / Photofest

#3 Scream (1996)

While the 1996 creation Scream is celebrated for revitalizing the slasher genre with its witty dialogues and chilling suspense, the film was actually rooted in a truly terrifying real-life case.

Screenwriter Kevin Williamson found his inspiration after watching a television special about a series of gruesome crimes that occurred in Gainesville, Florida, in 1990.

Over just a few August nights, five young students passed away after being brutally attacked in their homes, leaving the town and its college community paralyzed with fear.

Residents armed themselves, dormitories went into lockdown, and curfews were imposed as police raced to catch the culprit.

Williamson later revealed that the story of a masked, knife-wielding intruder haunted him so deeply that he began imagining a similar scenario unfolding in his own neighborhood, an idea that eventually gave birth to the film’s Ghostface character.

The Gainesville crimes were committed by a man named Danny Rolling, who was arrested in January 1991.

Rolling had a history of violence, having previously attacked his own father nearly a year before terrorizing the town of Gainesville.

In a book he wrote while awaiting sentencing in prison, Rolling claimed that a “demonic entity” called Gemini resided within him “who thirsted for blood.”

Image credits: Paramount Movies / YouTube

#4 A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven’s 1984 creation A Nightmare on Elm Street may be one of the most iconic slasher films ever made, but the inspiration behind Freddy Krueger’s terror came from something far more unsettling, and real.

In a 2014 interview, the late director revealed that the film’s concept was drawn from a series of mysterious demises reported in the Los Angeles Times during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The victims were young Southeast Asian refugees, mostly Hmong men from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, who passed away suddenly in their sleep after suffering terrifying nightmares.

In 1981 alone, 26 men were found deceased under similar circumstances, all reportedly healthy before they went to bed.

Some of them had even refused to sleep, fearing their dreams would cost them their lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control at the time, more than 100 unexplained nocturnal demises were reported among Southeast Asian immigrants, most occurring between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.

Later, the phenomenon was linked to a condition called Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal D**th Syndrome (SUNDS), believed to be caused by a mix of stress, genetics, and trauma experienced by war refugees.

These chilling real-life cases inspired Craven to create a film that turned sleep itself into the ultimate source of fear for moviegoers in the 1980s.

Image credits: newspapers

#5 The Conjuring (2013)

The 2013 film The Conjuring was based on one of the most chilling cases undertaken by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the haunting of the Perron family in Rhode Island during the 1970s.

In real life, Roger and Carolyn Perron moved into a farmhouse in Harrisville in 1971 with their five daughters.

Soon after settling in, they began experiencing a series of inexplicable events, strange noises, foul odors, and sightings of shadowy figures.

According to one of their daughters, Andrea Perron, who later wrote a three-volume memoir titled House of Darkness: House of Light, the family encountered multiple spirits, some benign, some menacing.

When the disturbances escalated, the Warrens were called to investigate. 

They believed the Perrons were being tormented by a malicious entity tied to a local woman named Bathsheba Sherman, who was rumored to have practiced witchcraft.

During a séance led by the Warrens, Carolyn allegedly began speaking in a strange voice before being thrown across the room, an event later depicted in one of the film’s most chilling scenes.

While the Perrons eventually left the house in 1980, Andrea later suggested in an interview with Global News that Bathsheba had likely been wrongly accused, implying that the true cause of the haunting may have been another presence entirely.

The success of the first film led to the creation of a franchise with four Conjuring films, all inspired by the Warrens’ real-life case files.

Image credits: Dark Zone Network / YouTube

#6 The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005)

The 2005 horror film The Exorcism of Emily Rose loosely depicts the harrowing real-life story of Anneliese Michel, a young German woman who underwent multiple exorcisms before her tragic demise.

Anneliese grew up in a deeply religious family in Bavaria, and by her teenage years, she began experiencing disturbing hallucinations, terrifying visions, and intense physical symptoms that led doctors to diagnose her with epilepsy and severe psychological distress. 

Over time, her condition worsened, manifesting in violent outbursts, self-harm, and bizarre behaviors such as barking, hiding under tables, and consuming inedible objects.

Her family, convinced she was possessed, sought help from the Church. 

In 1975, she underwent nearly 70 exorcism sessions conducted by two priests, during which she reportedly displayed signs of possession, including speaking in strange voices and showing marks resembling those of Christ’s crucifixion. 

Her physical health deteriorated rapidly due to malnourishment and dehydration, and she passed away in 1976.

Her parents and the priests were charged with negligent homicide but received lenient sentences. 

The case led to reforms in the Catholic Church’s exorcism practices, including requiring priests to undergo medical training before performing the rite.

In a 2013 interview, Anneliese’s mother shared, “I know that we did the right thing because I saw the sign of Christ in her hands… and that was a sign from God that we should exorcise the demons. She d**d to save other lost souls, to atone for their sins.”

Image credits: Anneliese Michel / Wikipedia

#7 The Haunting In Connecticut (2009)

The 2009 horror hit The Haunting in Connecticut is loosely based on the unsettling real-life alleged haunting of the Snedeker family in the mid-1980s.

In 1986, Carmen Reed, who was then known as Carmen Snedeker, moved with her family into a rented home in Southington, Connecticut, unaware that their new residence had once been a mortuary.

According to Reed, strange occurrences began almost immediately after they moved in.

Her young son claimed to see a mysterious man with long black hair who would speak to him. When his condition worsened, doctors attributed the experiences to schizophrenia, but Reed believed something far darker was at play.

She also claimed that unseen forces would often touch or shove them, objects would move on their own, and shadowy figures were frequently spotted roaming the halls.

Desperate for answers, she contacted priests and paranormal investigators, including John Zaffis and the Warrens.

Zaffis later described the case as one of the most disturbing he’d ever encountered, claiming he once saw an apparition descend the staircase and whisper, “Do you know what they did to us?”

Reed said two priests fled the house in fear before a third successfully performed an exorcism that finally ended their torment.

“It has been very emotional for me seeing that time in my life play out on the big screen,” Reed told PEOPLE when The Haunting in Connecticut premiered.

Image credits: Chasing the Frog

#8 The Entity (1982)

Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity shocked audiences in the 1980s with its chilling portrayal of a single mother tormented by an unseen force.

While many dismissed the premise as pure fiction, the story was actually inspired by the real-life experiences of a California woman named Doris Bither, whose case remains one of the most controversial in paranormal history.

In 1974, Bither, who lived in Culver City with her four children, approached parapsychologists Dr. Barry Taff and Dr. Kerry Gaynor from UCLA, claiming that her home was haunted by violent entities.

She alleged that invisible forces would move objects, emit strange odors, and even physically exploit her.

At first, the researchers were skeptical, until they witnessed odd occurrences firsthand, including flickering lights, sudden drops in temperature, and furniture shifting on its own.

They even captured mysterious arcs and orbs of light in photographs taken during their investigation.

Though skeptics argued that the photographic evidence might have been caused by camera interference or dust particles, author Frank De Felitta, who reportedly documented parts of the case, later adapted it into his 1978 novel The Entity, which became the basis for Furie’s film.

Image credits: imdb

#9 The Amityville Horror (1979 And 2005)

One of the most infamous haunted house stories in history, The Amityville Horror, takes its inspiration from the alleged real-life terror faced by the Lutz family.

During the 28 days they lived at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, the family was haunted by something they could not escape.

The story of the house began over a year before they moved in, when former resident Ronald DeFeo Jr. took the lives of six members of his family there, setting the stage for what became one of America’s most chilling legends.

According to the Lutzes, they experienced everything from levitating beds and swarms of flies to unseen forces lurking in the dark, forcing them to flee less than a month later.

Their account inspired a series of bestselling books and multiple film adaptations.

Almost four decades later, the eldest Lutz child, Daniel Lutz, shared his testimony in the 2012 documentary My Amityville Horror.

He spoke to several journalists and paranormal investigators, including demonologist Lorraine Warren, all of whom had examined the house in the 1970s.

While none of them could explain what was truly happening, they all seemed to agree that something about that house was undeniably unsettling.

Image credits: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

#10 The Birds (1963)

While 1963 The Birds is often remembered as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most terrifying masterpieces based on Daphne du Maurier’s novella, few realize that the film was actually inspired by real events that occurred just two years before its release.

In 1961, residents of the Monterey Bay area in California were left horrified when flocks of disoriented seabirds began crashing into homes and streets, seemingly without reason. 

The bizarre incident caught Hitchcock’s attention, ultimately inspiring his chilling thriller about a coastal town under siege by violent birds.

For decades, no one could explain what caused the bizarre chaos, until scientists uncovered the truth decades later in 2011. 

Researchers discovered that the birds had ingested toxin-producing algae, which caused symptoms like amnesia, confusion, and seizures, explaining their aggressive behavior.

Oceanographer Sibel Bargu, who helped uncover the mystery, described her fascination with the case, recalling how the 1963 film had terrified her as a child. 

“When I was a kid, they showed it on TV and my parents didn’t let me watch it. While they were watching in the family room, I was outside, trying to see the movie from the keyhole. What I saw was so scary,” Bargu said in an interview. 

Image credits: imdb

#11 Annabelle (2014)

First introduced in The Conjuring (2013), the cursed doll Annabelle quickly became one of horror’s most recognizable icons, spawning a spine-chilling trilogy of its own.

What makes her story even more haunting is that it’s rooted in real-life events tied to a seemingly harmless Raggedy Ann doll.

According to the New England Society for Psychic Research (NESPR), the doll was purchased in 1970 by a mother who gifted it to her daughter, Donna, a nursing student. 

Not long after, Donna and her roommate Angie began noticing strange occurrences, like the doll appeared to move on its own, change positions, and even leave behind handwritten notes on parchment paper.

Troubled by the unexplained activity, they invited a medium to their apartment, during which they were told that the spirit of a 7-year-old girl named Annabelle Higgins was attached to the doll.

One of their friends, Lou, allegedly had a violent encounter with it, leaving him injured and terrified. 

Seeking help, Donna contacted a priest, who in turn reached out to renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who concluded that the doll was not inhabited by a child’s spirit at all, but rather manipulated by an inhuman presence pretending to be one. 

They took the doll into their custody, and to this day, the real Annabelle doll remains locked inside a glass case at the Warrens’ Occult Museum, with a warning sign that reads, “Positively do not open.”

However, the mystery was again reignited in July 2025, when Dan Rivera, a senior investigator with NESPR, suddenly passed away while on tour with the doll in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 

Though medical examiners ruled it as a heart attack, some followers of the case still connect his passing to the doll’s dark history.

Image credits: imdb

#12 The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

The Mothman Prophecies blurs the line between supernatural folklore and psychological horror, drawing inspiration from John Keel’s 1975 book of the same name.

While the film follows Washington Post reporter John Klein, played by Richard Gere, as he investigates eerie sightings of a winged, red-eyed creature in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, its roots lie in true events that occurred in the real town decades earlier.

Between 1966 and 1967, multiple residents reported seeing a towering, moth-like figure lurking near the Ohio River.

Then tragedy struck, the Silver Bridge collapsed in December 1967, claiming dozens of lives. Many came to believe the two events were connected and that the mysterious creature was a harbinger of doom.

In the movie, Klein’s encounters with paranormal researcher Alexander Leek deepen the intrigue when Leek warns that the Mothman appears before catastrophic events.

Through phone calls, prophecies, and eerie coincidences, the film mirrors the author’s own unsettling claims of receiving otherworldly messages foretelling real-life tragedies.

“I was called by all kinds of voices. They would give me information, they would give me prophecies that came true. It was a very scary time,” John told Entertainment Weekly in 2002.

Though director Mark Pellington later admitted the film was “very fictionalized,” it still remains one of the most chilling examples of a horror story “inspired by true events.”

Image credits: snopes

#13 Poltergeist (1982)

The 1982 supernatural classic Poltergeist, co-written by Steven Spielberg, tells the story of a suburban family whose peaceful home turns into a nightmare after it’s revealed to be built on a burial ground.

The film’s supernatural chaos was actually loosely inspired by a real-life haunting that took place on Long Island, New York.

In 1958, the Hermann family claimed their home in Seaford was plagued by unexplained phenomena like bottle caps popping off on their own, heavy furniture toppling over, and religious statues flying across rooms.

Even police officers and journalists who visited the site reportedly witnessed objects moving without explanation.

The disturbances persisted for several weeks before mysteriously stopping on their own.

Soon after, the Hermanns eventually moved, convinced their home’s proximity to a Native American burial site was to blame for the eerie events.

Image credits: Mystery Archives / YouTube

#14 The Strangers (2008)

The 2008 psychological slasher film The Strangers follows a young couple who become the targets of a terrifying home invasion by three masked intruders.

While the film never explicitly claims to be a true story, its premise stemmed from several real-life inspirations.

Bertino revealed that the story drew from three key sources, the infamous Manson Family crimes of 1969, the unsolved 1981 Keddie Cabin homicides, and a personal childhood experience.

The Manson Family’s brutal attacks, including the home invasion that led to the demise of actress Sharon Tate, directly influenced the film’s premise of random violence within a domestic space.

Similarly, the Keddie Cabin case, which involved the mysterious slaying of four people by unknown assailants in a California resort town, mirrored the film’s haunting portrayal of senseless brutality.

Adding to these, Bertino recalled a night from his youth when strangers knocked on doors in his neighborhood, searching for empty homes to rob, an incident that left a lasting mark on him.

By grounding its horror in disturbing events that could happen to anyone, The Strangers instilled viewers with fear and an unsettling unease that lingered even within the safety of one’s own home.

Image credits: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

#15 Winchester (2018)

The 2018 horror mystery film Winchester was inspired by the real-life Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.

In the film, Helen Mirren starred as heiress Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearm magnate William Winchester. 

After the passing of her infant daughter and husband, Sarah relocated to California in the late 1800s, where she began renovating an eight-room farmhouse that would eventually become one of the most mysterious homes in America.

Construction on the mansion reportedly continued without interruption until her demise in 1922. 

By then, the sprawling estate featured more than 160 rooms, 40 staircases, 13 bathrooms, and doors that opened to nowhere, all part of its labyrinth-like structure that continues to puzzle architects and paranormal enthusiasts alike.

According to long-standing legends, Sarah believed her family was haunted by the spirits of those who had lost their lives to Winchester rifles. 

Guided by a medium, she allegedly built the ever-expanding house to appease these restless presences and trap them within its walls.

While historians remain divided on whether Sarah’s architectural choices stemmed from superstition, grief, or creativity, the Winchester Mystery House has since become a historic landmark and one of America’s most visited haunted attractions.

Even more than a century later, visitors and paranormal investigators have reported experiencing cold spots, flickering lights, mysterious music, and self-slamming doors, adding to the mansion’s long-standing eerie reputation.

Image credits: Taber Photographic Co. / Wikipedia

#16 The Serpent And The Rainbow (1988)

The 1988 psychological horror The Serpent and the Rainbow, directed by Wes Craven, heavily drew inspiration from real anthropological research into Haitian voodoo practices.

The film follows an anthropologist, played by Bill Pullman, who travels to Haiti to investigate a mysterious substance said to turn people into zombies.

The story was loosely based on Harvard ethnobotanist Wade Davis’ 1985 book The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist’s Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombies, and Magic.

Davis’ research centered on the real-life case of Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian man who claimed to have been buried alive and later revived through voodoo rituals involving potent toxins.

While Davis argued that certain compounds found in pufferfish could induce a deathlike state, his theories drew skepticism and even outrage from the scientific community.

Despite the controversy, Craven’s fascination with the mix of science, mysticism, and fear led him to transform Davis’ work into one of the rare horror films rooted in a real anthropological mystery.

Image credits: YouTube Movies / YouTube

#17 Wolf Creek (2005)

Greg McLean’s 2005 Australian horror film Wolf Creek is a violent and unnervingly realistic thriller that follows three backpackers, Kristy, Ben, and Liz, traveling through the remote Australian outback. 

Their journey takes a terrifying turn in the isolated Wolf Creek National Park when a seemingly friendly local, Mick Taylor, offers to help, quickly turning into a nightmare for the friends.

The film was partly based on the crimes of two notorious Australian homicidal criminals, Bradley Murdoch and Ivan Milat. 

Murdoch, in 2001, lured two backpackers under the guise of car trouble and brutally attacked the man while abducting the woman, who later managed to escape. 

Murdoch was arrested and sentenced to life in prison, serving until his demise in July 2025.

Milat, active between 1989 and 1993, had at least seven victims and was sentenced to serve seven life terms, passing away in October 2019.

Mick Taylor, the film’s sadistic villain, mirrored both Murdoch and Milat.

Like Murdoch, Taylor approached tourists under the pretense of assistance. And like Milat, he enacted horrifying violence, including sh**ting victims at point-blank range, paralyzing them, and in some instances, decapitating them.

Image credits: Fairfax Media / Getty Images

#18 Borderland (2007)

The 2007 film Borderland, starring Rider Strong and Sean Astin, follows three friends who travel to Mexico to celebrate their college graduation and was loosely based on the life of Adolfo Constanzo.

Constanzo was an American-born cult leader and serial perpetrator who moved to Mexico City and recruited followers who would become part of his sinister sect.

Unlike many horror films that claim to be inspired by true events for marketing purposes, Borderland draws from a specific real-life case: the Narco-Satanist cult led by Constanzo and the fatal demise of Mark J. Kilroy in 1989.

Constanzo convinced his followers that human sacrifice would make them invincible, and the cult’s crimes shocked both Mexican and U.S. authorities.

His cult followed Palo Mayombe, a religion related to Santería, which, in deviant forms, has been linked to grave robbing, extortion, illegal substance-related crimes, and homicide.

The film was based on heavily researched real evidence, including D**g Enforcement Administration and Mexican police files, Constanzo’s personal journals, and interviews with cult members and investigators.

Image credits: Wikipedia

#19 The Sacrament (2013)

Ti West’s 2013 found-footage horror film The Sacrament follows journalists Sam and Jake as they visit a remote commune led by a charismatic leader known as The Father. 

The community, Eden Parish, seems idyllic at first, but the journalists quickly witness the cult-like devotion of its members, culminating in mass homicides. 

The film’s found-footage style adds to its realism, making the on-screen horror feel deeply unsettling.

The story is partially inspired by true events, most notably the 1978 Jonestown Massacre, where Reverend Jim Jones led the Peoples Temple, a socialist commune in South America. 

Following an investigation by California Congressman Leo Ryan, Jones sent armed followers after those trying to leave, resulting in the passing of Ryan, his team, and several defectors. 

Later, Jones compelled hundreds of his followers, including children, to take their own lives using poisoned drinks.

While the film fictionalizes aspects of Jonestown, such as only the two journalists surviving, the broader themes of manipulation, blind faith, and mass exploitation mirror the real-life tragedy.

West deliberately crafted the story to highlight the dangers of cults, emphasizing that the forces driving such communities remain relevant even today.

Image credits: Nancy Wong / Wikipedia

#20 Ravenous (1999)

The 1999 cult horror film Ravenous depicts the story of an U.S. Army captain in the 1840s who encounters a mysterious colonel in a remote Sierra Nevada outpost, only to discover the man’s horrifying secret. 

The colonel heavily participated in and gained unnatural strength through cannibalism.

While the film is not entirely based on a specific incident, it is said to have been inspired by several real-life cases of survival cannibalism in 19th-century America.

Notably, the screenwriter Ted Griffin drew particular inspiration from the infamous Donner Party, where a group of pioneers became trapped in the Sierra Nevada during the brutal winter of 1846–1847.

Stranded without food, some reportedly resorted to consuming those who had perished from starvation and extreme cold.

Griffin also referenced Alferd Packer, a 19th-century prospector and Civil War veteran accused of consuming his fellow travelers after becoming stranded in the Rocky Mountains in the 1870s.

Though Ravenous blends gruesome horror with frontier survival, its premise is rooted in true historical events that reveal how desperation can drive humanity to extreme measures for survival.

Image credits: Wikipedia

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