These 21 Horror Movies Are Apparently Based on True Stories, So…Have Fun Sleeping

Buh-bye to my eight hours, it was nice knowing ya.

I'm quite possibly the WOAT (roll with it, plz) at watching horror movies. You know that person in the theater who shrieks and jumps obnoxiously early before anything remotely scary even happens on screen? ?Yep, hi, it's me. Find me curled up in my seat with my hands covering my eyes within the first five minutes. I like to think that my inability to see scary movies is due to my overactive imagination, not the fact that I'm a wimp. Because here's the thing: I don't just watch a movie, I fully picture myself in the movie, right alongside the characters. So when Jack Torrance pokes his head through the door and says "Heeeeere's Johnny," I'm over there screaming in the corner with Wendy.

You're probs thinking "c'mon girl, it's just a movie," but that logic is utterly useless when you realize all the most horrifying disturbing sh*t is actually based on a true story. Don't @ me until you've watched these 62 horror films inspired by real-life events, from rampant serial killers to unexplained supernatural experiences. If these movies don't spook you, you win.

P.S. Don’t forget to look under your bed before you go to sleep tonight. You also probs want to lock all your doors and windows and share your location with your group chat too. The Zodiac Killer is still out there...

By undefined

18 May, 2021

These 21 Horror Movies Are Apparently Based on True Stories, So…Have Fun Sleeping

Buh-bye to my eight hours, it was nice knowing ya.

I'm quite possibly the WOAT (roll with it, plz) at watching horror movies. You know that person in the theater who shrieks and jumps obnoxiously early before anything remotely scary even happens on screen? ?Yep, hi, it's me. Find me curled up in my seat with my hands covering my eyes within the first five minutes. I like to think that my inability to see scary movies is due to my overactive imagination, not the fact that I'm a wimp. Because here's the thing: I don't just watch a movie, I fully picture myself in the movie, right alongside the characters. So when Jack Torrance pokes his head through the door and says "Heeeeere's Johnny," I'm over there screaming in the corner with Wendy.

You're probs thinking "c'mon girl, it's just a movie," but that logic is utterly useless when you realize all the most horrifying disturbing sh*t is actually based on a true story. Don't @ me until you've watched these 62 horror films inspired by real-life events, from rampant serial killers to unexplained supernatural experiences. If these movies don't spook you, you win.

P.S. Don’t forget to look under your bed before you go to sleep tonight. You also probs want to lock all your doors and windows and share your location with your group chat too. The Zodiac Killer is still out there...

Not for the faint of heart (or anyone who thinks dolls are even a lil bit creepy), Child’s Play tells the story of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a doll. I know what you're thinking: So how is this based on a true story? Welp, allow me to introduce you to Robert the Doll.

1Child’s playNot for the faint of heart (or anyone who thinks dolls are even a lil bit creepy), Child’s Play tells the story of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, who uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a doll. I know what you're thinking: So how is this based on a true story? Welp, allow me to introduce you to Robert the Doll.

K, so apparently ghosts are real. An American Haunting tells the real story of a man whose death was caused by a spirit. It’s fortunately (unfortunately? IDK!) the only case in U.S. history where that has ever happened. Set in Tennessee, this movie showcases the horrors of the Bell Witch and how she killed John Bell

2an american hauntingK, so apparently ghosts are real. An American Haunting tells the real story of a man whose death was caused by a spirit. It’s fortunately (unfortunately? IDK!) the only case in U.S. history where that has ever happened. Set in Tennessee, this movie showcases the horrors of the Bell Witch and how she killed John Bell

The iconic baddie Freddy Krueger kills teenagers via their dreams in Wes Craven’s franchise-launching film. Craven told Vulture that the idea stemmed from an article he read in the Los Angeles Times about a family of Cambodian refugees with a young son who reported awful nightmares. “He told his parents he was afraid that if he slept, the thing chasing him would get him, so he tried to stay awake for days at a time,” said Craven. “When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought this crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. By the time they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare. Here was a youngster having a vision of a horror that everyone older was denying. That became the central line of Nightmare on Elm Street.”

3a nightmare on elm streetThe iconic baddie Freddy Krueger kills teenagers via their dreams in Wes Craven’s franchise-launching film. Craven told Vulture that the idea stemmed from an article he read in the Los Angeles Times about a family of Cambodian refugees with a young son who reported awful nightmares. “He told his parents he was afraid that if he slept, the thing chasing him would get him, so he tried to stay awake for days at a time,” said Craven. “When he finally fell asleep, his parents thought this crisis was over. Then they heard screams in the middle of the night. By the time they got to him, he was dead. He died in the middle of a nightmare. Here was a youngster having a vision of a horror that everyone older was denying. That became the central line of Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Set in the swamps of Australia, this movie follows a group of vacationers who are attacked by a humongous crocodile while on a fishing tour. It's inspired by an actual crocodile attack in the Australian outback in 2003 that killed a man named Brett Mann in an area where his friends said they’d “never, ever” seen a crocodile before.

4black waterSet in the swamps of Australia, this movie follows a group of vacationers who are attacked by a humongous crocodile while on a fishing tour. It's inspired by an actual crocodile attack in the Australian outback in 2003 that killed a man named Brett Mann in an area where his friends said they’d “never, ever” seen a crocodile before.

In David Cronenberg’s movie, Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists who do messed-up things to their patients. Cronenberg adapted the movie from Bari Wood and Jack Geasland’s novel Twins, which was inspired by the lives of actual twin gynecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus. The New York Times notes that the Marcuses enjoyed “trading places to fool their patients” and they ultimately “retreat[ed] into heavy drug use and utter isolation.”

5 dead ringersIn David Cronenberg’s movie, Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists who do messed-up things to their patients. Cronenberg adapted the movie from Bari Wood and Jack Geasland’s novel Twins, which was inspired by the lives of actual twin gynecologists Stewart and Cyril Marcus. The New York Times notes that the Marcuses enjoyed “trading places to fool their patients” and they ultimately “retreat[ed] into heavy drug use and utter isolation.”

Set in Mexico City, this movie is loosely based on the story of Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, a drug-lord-slash-satanic cult leader who thought it was a chill idea to do things like human sacrifices. The movie follows three college students who go to Mexico for a good time, but after a night partying with two local women, one of them goes missing.

6borderlandSet in Mexico City, this movie is loosely based on the story of Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, a drug-lord-slash-satanic cult leader who thought it was a chill idea to do things like human sacrifices. The movie follows three college students who go to Mexico for a good time, but after a night partying with two local women, one of them goes missing.

This film follows some terrifying sightings of an alleged “mothman” who acts as an omen of impending disaster. This one will make you scared of the dark and anything with wings. Sorry!

7 the mothman propheciesThis film follows some terrifying sightings of an alleged “mothman” who acts as an omen of impending disaster. This one will make you scared of the dark and anything with wings. Sorry!

Hungry for some pretty messed-up sh*t? Look no further. This film is about cannibal Alfred Packer who confessed to murdering and eating his fellow travelers when stuck in the chilly Colorado mountains during the brutal winter. Disturbing is an understatement.

8ravenousHungry for some pretty messed-up sh*t? Look no further. This film is about cannibal Alfred Packer who confessed to murdering and eating his fellow travelers when stuck in the chilly Colorado mountains during the brutal winter. Disturbing is an understatement.

This movie follows serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who murdered hundreds of people in the 1980s. It will probably keep you up for a month straight, and I'm not even exaggerating.

9henry: portrait of a serial killerThis movie follows serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who murdered hundreds of people in the 1980s. It will probably keep you up for a month straight, and I'm not even exaggerating.

This horror film follows three Australian travelers who are terrorized during their travels by a psychopath. It is inspired by the separate true crimes of Ivan Milat and Bradley John Murdoch, who both were found guilty of murdering backpackers in outback Australia.

10wolf creekThis horror film follows three Australian travelers who are terrorized during their travels by a psychopath. It is inspired by the separate true crimes of Ivan Milat and Bradley John Murdoch, who both were found guilty of murdering backpackers in outback Australia.

Alfred Hitchcock’s essential film traces a woman who embezzles money from her employer and runs off to a mysterious hotel where she is (58-year-old spoiler alert) murdered by the man running it, Norman Bates. Bates is said to have been based on Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who was convicted for one murder in the 1950s but suspected for others. He also was a grave robber, and authorities found many disturbing results of that in his home, including bowls crafted from human skulls and a lampshade made from the skin of someone’s face

11psychoAlfred Hitchcock’s essential film traces a woman who embezzles money from her employer and runs off to a mysterious hotel where she is (58-year-old spoiler alert) murdered by the man running it, Norman Bates. Bates is said to have been based on Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who was convicted for one murder in the 1950s but suspected for others. He also was a grave robber, and authorities found many disturbing results of that in his home, including bowls crafted from human skulls and a lampshade made from the skin of someone’s face

The classic ’90s slasher flick uses dark humor to tell the story of a group of teens and a mystery man named Ghostface who wants to murder them. But the real story ain’t funny. The movie was inspired by the Gainesville Ripper, real name Danny Rolling, who killed five Florida students by knife over a span of three days in August 1990.

12screamThe classic ’90s slasher flick uses dark humor to tell the story of a group of teens and a mystery man named Ghostface who wants to murder them. But the real story ain’t funny. The movie was inspired by the Gainesville Ripper, real name Danny Rolling, who killed five Florida students by knife over a span of three days in August 1990.

The movie stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as ghost hunters helping out a family in a haunted 18th-century farmhouse. The hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, are real people, as is the Perron family they assist. Lorraine was a consultant on the movie and insists that many of the supernatural horrors really happened, and one of the daughters who is depicted in the film, Andrea Perron, says the same. She recalled an angry spirit named Bathsheba to USA Today: “Whoever the spirit was, she perceived herself to be mistress of the house and she resented the competition my mother posed for that position.”

13the conjuringThe movie stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as ghost hunters helping out a family in a haunted 18th-century farmhouse. The hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, are real people, as is the Perron family they assist. Lorraine was a consultant on the movie and insists that many of the supernatural horrors really happened, and one of the daughters who is depicted in the film, Andrea Perron, says the same. She recalled an angry spirit named Bathsheba to USA Today: “Whoever the spirit was, she perceived herself to be mistress of the house and she resented the competition my mother posed for that position.”

The creepy porcelain doll from The Conjuring gets her terror on in this spin-off of The Conjuring. The ghost-hunting Warrens have claimed there was a real Raggedy Ann doll that moved by itself and wrote creepy-ass notes saying things like, “Help us.” The woman who owned it contacted a medium, who claimed that it was possessed by a 7-year-old girl named Annabelle who had died there.

14annabelleThe creepy porcelain doll from The Conjuring gets her terror on in this spin-off of The Conjuring. The ghost-hunting Warrens have claimed there was a real Raggedy Ann doll that moved by itself and wrote creepy-ass notes saying things like, “Help us.” The woman who owned it contacted a medium, who claimed that it was possessed by a 7-year-old girl named Annabelle who had died there.

The movie’s title character is a 19-year-old girl who dies following an exorcism, and the film focuses on the trial of the priest who performed it. It’s based on the real 1976 case of Anneliese Michel, a German woman who died at the age of 23 from starvation following 67 exorcisms to rid her of supposed demons.

15the exorcism of emily roseThe movie’s title character is a 19-year-old girl who dies following an exorcism, and the film focuses on the trial of the priest who performed it. It’s based on the real 1976 case of Anneliese Michel, a German woman who died at the age of 23 from starvation following 67 exorcisms to rid her of supposed demons.

Two priests attempt to remove a demon from a young girl in this box-office smash. The movie was based on a 1949 Washington Post article with the headline “Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held in Devil’s Grip.” Director William Friedkin spoke about the article to Time Out London: “Maybe one day they’ll discover the cause of what happened to that young man, but back then, it was only curable by an exorcism. His family weren’t even Catholics, they were Lutheran. They started with doctors and then psychiatrists and then psychologists and then they went to their minister, who couldn’t help them. And they wound up with the Catholic church. The Washington Post article says that the boy was possessed and exorcised. That’s pretty out on a limb for a national newspaper to put on its front page….You’re not going to see that on the front page of an intelligent newspaper unless there’s something there.”

16the exorcistTwo priests attempt to remove a demon from a young girl in this box-office smash. The movie was based on a 1949 Washington Post article with the headline “Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held in Devil’s Grip.” Director William Friedkin spoke about the article to Time Out London: “Maybe one day they’ll discover the cause of what happened to that young man, but back then, it was only curable by an exorcism. His family weren’t even Catholics, they were Lutheran. They started with doctors and then psychiatrists and then psychologists and then they went to their minister, who couldn’t help them. And they wound up with the Catholic church. The Washington Post article says that the boy was possessed and exorcised. That’s pretty out on a limb for a national newspaper to put on its front page….You’re not going to see that on the front page of an intelligent newspaper unless there’s something there.”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick co-star as a couple with a young daughter who becomes fascinated with an antique wooden box found at a yard sale. Of course, the box turns out to be home to a spirit. The flick’s “true story” basis came from an eBay listing for “a haunted Jewish wine cabinet box” containing oddities such as two locks of hair, one candlestick, and an evil spirit that caused supernatural activity. The box sold for $280 and gained attention when a Jewish newspaper ran an article about its so-called powers.

17 the possessionJeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick co-star as a couple with a young daughter who becomes fascinated with an antique wooden box found at a yard sale. Of course, the box turns out to be home to a spirit. The flick’s “true story” basis came from an eBay listing for “a haunted Jewish wine cabinet box” containing oddities such as two locks of hair, one candlestick, and an evil spirit that caused supernatural activity. The box sold for $280 and gained attention when a Jewish newspaper ran an article about its so-called powers.

Helen Mirren stars in this movie as a firearm manufacturer’s widow who thinks she is being haunted by the ghosts of people who were killed by the rifles of her husband’s company. The mansion she lives in is based on a real place, known as the Winchester Mystery House, which the real-life woman who Mirren plays spent 38 years constructing and renovating as she lived there. Legend has it she was taking building direction from spirits, with a tour guide telling Vanity Fair that Ms. Winchester would have séances at night and then give new building plans to her foreman in the morning.

18 winchesterHelen Mirren stars in this movie as a firearm manufacturer’s widow who thinks she is being haunted by the ghosts of people who were killed by the rifles of her husband’s company. The mansion she lives in is based on a real place, known as the Winchester Mystery House, which the real-life woman who Mirren plays spent 38 years constructing and renovating as she lived there. Legend has it she was taking building direction from spirits, with a tour guide telling Vanity Fair that Ms. Winchester would have séances at night and then give new building plans to her foreman in the morning.

Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece is about a man who is driven to insanity by supernatural forces while staying at a remote hotel in the Rockies. The movie is based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, which was inspired by the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, where plenty of guests have reported paranormal sightings. The Stanley wasn’t actually used in the movie, however, because Kubrick didn’t think it looked scary enough.

19the shiningStanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece is about a man who is driven to insanity by supernatural forces while staying at a remote hotel in the Rockies. The movie is based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, which was inspired by the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, where plenty of guests have reported paranormal sightings. The Stanley wasn’t actually used in the movie, however, because Kubrick didn’t think it looked scary enough.

Ed Gein also reportedly inspired elements of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its remake. The movies are about groups of friends who come into contact with the murderous cannibal Leatherface. The original film memorably features a room filled with furniture created from human bones, a nod to Gein’s home.

20the texas chainsaw massacre (1974 andEd Gein also reportedly inspired elements of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its remake. The movies are about groups of friends who come into contact with the murderous cannibal Leatherface. The original film memorably features a room filled with furniture created from human bones, a nod to Gein’s home.

The original film follows a Texas Ranger as he tracks down a serial killer threatening a small town, and the 2014 sequel of the same name essentially revives the same plot. Both are based on the Texarkana Moonlight Murders of 1946, when a “phantom killer” took out 5 people over 10 weeks. The case remains officially unsolved.

21the town that dreaded sundown (1976 and The original film follows a Texas Ranger as he tracks down a serial killer threatening a small town, and the 2014 sequel of the same name essentially revives the same plot. Both are based on the Texarkana Moonlight Murders of 1946, when a “phantom killer” took out 5 people over 10 weeks. The case remains officially unsolved.

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