Horror remains one of Hollywood's most reliable genres, both critically and commercially, and 2026 is shaping up to deliver plenty of new scares. Here's a rundown of the most anticipated horror releases of the year.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple kicks things off on January 16. Danny Boyle hands directing duties to Nia DaCosta (Candyman) for this rapid follow-up to the divisive third installment, which ended with a chilling introduction to Jack O'Connell's cult leader character, Sir Jimmy Crystal.
Return to Silent Hill continues the franchise's track record of visual ambition over narrative clarity. Adapting the second game in the series, it follows a man searching for a lost romantic connection in the eerie town, only to encounter disturbing phenomena along the way.
Primate joins the growing list of killer-animal horror films, this time starring a chimpanzee turned hunter. Set in Hawaii, it follows teenage girls fighting to survive after their once-friendly pet turns violent.
Do Not Enter, directed by Mark Klasfeld, follows explorers investigating a haunted, abandoned hotel while a rival group hunts for hidden treasure inside.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 wraps up Renny Harlin's trilogy on February 6. Despite lukewarm reception to the first two films, Madelaine Petsch returns as the lead facing off against the masked killers once more.
A new Dracula film from Luc Besson stars Caleb Landry Jones as the cursed 15th-century prince, with Christoph Waltz playing the priest determined to destroy him, marking Waltz's second monster-hunter role after Frankenstein.
Cold Storage, a dark comedy from Jurassic Park writer David Koepp, follows two military contractors trying to contain a mind-controlling fungus that escapes a storage facility. Joe Keery and Liam Neeson star.
Whistle, directed by Corin Hardy, centers on a cursed artifact, an ominous whistle that summons death for anyone who blows it, discovered by a group of high schoolers including Sophie Wilde and Dafne Keen.
Psycho Killer marks producer Gavin Polone's directorial debut. A Midwest cop hunts her husband's killer, who turns out to be exactly as advertised. Malcolm McDowell joins the cast.
This Is Not a Test, from Adam MacDonald, follows a group of students sheltering in their high school during a zombie outbreak.
Scream 7 brings back Neve Campbell as a new Ghostface killer targets her daughter. Former villains Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley return as well, with Sydney working to identify the new threat.
Bride of Frankenstein sees Maggie Gyllenhaal direct a monster movie musical set in 1930s Chicago, loosely inspired by the 1935 classic. Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale star in a campier, stylized take rather than a straightforward horror story.
Ready or Not: Here I Come brings back Samara Weaving's bride-turned-survivor for a sequel that pits her against the world's wealthiest families in a deadly hunt. Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, and David Cronenberg join the cast.
A new, unconnected Mummy reboot from Blumhouse and Warner Bros, directed by Evil Dead Rise's Lee Cronin, aims for a scarier tone than the 2017 version, starring Jack Reynor and Victoria Pedretti.
Oddity director Damian McCarthy returns with a new supernatural thriller starring Adam Scott as a man who encounters strange events while scattering his parents' ashes in West Cork.
Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi, stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as feuding coworkers who survive a plane crash and must work together to stay alive on a deserted island.
Dolls is a gritty throwback to '70s horror. A couple hiking in the woods discovers an unsettling altar of dolls before encountering Dolly herself, who has her own plans for one of them.
Undertone, a Canadian horror film, follows a podcaster whose investigation into unsettling audio recordings spirals into terror.
They Will Kill You, starring Zazie Beetz, follows a woman who takes a housekeeping job at a New York high-rise, unaware of its history of mysterious disappearances.
The Dreadful is a gothic horror film about a woman and her mother-in-law living in isolation until a figure from their past resurfaces and changes everything.
Iron Lung is set in a future where stars and habitable planets have vanished. A convict searches an ocean of blood on a remote moon using a small submarine called the Iron Lung.
