horror movies based on real life

A well made horror movie can scare you to death (Yes, I mean it, Death!). What if you know that some of these stories really happened? Here are 30 Horror Movies Based on Real Life (Read over if you dare to)

1. The Possession (2012)

The movie is based on an allegedly haunted wine cabinet that originally belonged to a 103 year old Holocaust survivor. The box houses a Dybbuk, a malevolent Jewish spirit. Dybbuks are capable of haunting and possession of human beings.

2. The Silent House (2010)

The story is based on an actual incident that happened in Uruguay. A young woman, Florencia Colucci and her father Gustavo Alonso began renovating a country cottage that hid a dark secret.

3. Ravenous (2009)

The film is about Cannibalism and bears minor similarities to the real-life story of Donner Party and Alfred Packer who were believed to be cannibals.

4. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

The movie was inspired by the Parker family that moved to Connecticut in 1986. Their 14 year-old son, Paul suffered from Cancer and was treated by specialists from Connecticut. It was discovered that their house had been a Funeral Home owing to the embalming equipment discovered in the basement. The family also reported unexplained phenomena. Worst of all, Paul was possessed by an evil force that made him attack his own family. An exorcism had to be performed to settle things down.

5. Black Water (2007)

The story was inspired by a real-life crocodile attack that occurred in Australia in December 2003.

6. The Girl Next Door (2007)

The movie is based on the true story of Sylvia Likens who was left with a family friend, Gertrude Baniszewski while her circus performer parents traveled. Gertrude terrorized Sylvia much like it was depicted in the movie ultimately leading to Sylvia’s death.

7. Them (2007)

Them is based on the true story of an Austrian couple that were murdered by a bunch of teenagers while vacationing in Czech Republic.

8. Primeval (2007)

The story is inspired by a 20 foot long crocodile living in Burundi named Gustave. It is believed to be the largest crocodile to have walked the African continent. It is rumored to have killed 300 people, which is certainly exaggerated.

9. An American Haunting (2006)

The film is based on the popular legend of the Bell Witch. This story originated in Tennessee in the 1800s and is believed to be fictitious. According to legend, John Bell was poisoned by the ghost which led to his death.

10. The Zodiac (2005)

The film was inspired by a real life serial killer called the ‘Zodiac Killer’. He is known to have murdered 7 people in Northern California.

11. Wolf Creek (2005)

The film is inspired by two real-life Australian killers that attacked tourists and travelers. Bradley John Murdoch killed a British tourist and tried to abduct another in 2001 while Ivan Milat picked up hitchhikers, tortured and killed them in the 90s.

12. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

The film is based on the story of a 16 year-old girl German girl, Anneliese Michel who displayed symptoms of demonic possession. She suffered from paralysis, starvation and demonic vision for years. In 1975, two priests tried to exorcise her over a period of 10 months. Anneliese barely ate and ultimately died of starvation in July 1976. Her parents and the two priests found guilty and sentenced to six months in jail.

13. Open Water (2003)

A married couple, John and Eileen Lonergan disappeared of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. This unfortunate incident took place in January 1998 after the couple was accidentally left behind by a diving company. A search was conducted but their bodies were never found.

14. Dahmer (2002)

The inspiration for this film was an American Serial Killer by the name of Lionel Dahmer, also called the Milwaukee Cannibal. He was guilty of rape, murder and dismemberment of 17 boys and men from 1978 to 1991. He was also a necrophiliac and a cannibal.

15. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

Between 1966 and 1967 there were reported sightings on an unidentified winged creature dubbed the Mothman. The Mothman was seem in Point Pleasant, West Virginia for 13 months. Co-incidence or not, the Silver Bridge connecting Point Pleasant to Ohio collapsed, killing 46 people.

16. From Hell (2001)

Inspiration for this movie, Jack the Ripper.

17. Child’s Play (1988)

This film was inspired by the story of a possessed doll named Robert that once belonged to a painter named Robert Eugene Otto. Robert could speak and Eugene’s parents would often hear their son talking to the doll in his bedroom.

18. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

This movie is an adaptation of a book by a Canadian scientist Wade Davis. Davis shared his true experience with zombification in Haiti in this 1985 book. The movie was definitely a highly exaggerated adaptation.

19. Dead Ringers (1988)

The decomposing, emaciated bodies of 45 year-old twin gynecologists were found in July 1975. The bodies were found in their apartment and the cause of death was stated as extreme withdrawal due to an addiction to barbiturates.

20. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

The movie was inspired by the story of a serial killer named Henry Lee Lucas. Lucas confessed to 600 murders but most of his confessions could not be proved. However, he was convicted of 11 murders.

21. Gothic (1986)

In the summer of 1816, Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin visited Lord Byron at his Swiss Villa. It rained that day due to which they stayed indoors and discussed German ghost stories. Lord Byron suggested that they come up with their own supernatural stories. Godwin came up with Frankenstein while Percy wrote what was later adapted by Polidori into The Vampyre.

22. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The film was inspired by Cambodian immigrants who died while having nightmares.

23. The Entity (1981)

The movie is inspired by a woman named Doris Bither who lived in Culver City, California. She claimed to have been physically and sexually assaulted by an unknown entity. Paranormal researchers Kerry Gaynor and Berry Taff investigated the case in 1974 and witnessed unexplained activity. However, they never seen the entity assault her nor did they try to capture it. According to Gaynor, the attacks diminished after she moved from the place.

24. The Amityville Horror (1979)

George and Kathy Lutz witnessed disembodied voices, demonic imagery, walls bleeding green slime and inverted crucifixes in a house they bought.

25. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The inspiration for this horror flick was the legend of Alexander Sawney Bean, a Scotsman of the 15th and 16th century. He was reported to be the leader of a 40 people clan that killed and ate over a thousand people. They lived in caves for 25 years but were eventually caught and put to death.

26. Audrey Rose (1977)

The movie was adapted from a book written by Frank De Felitta. He believed in reincarnation when he learned that his son Raymond could play the piano too well in spite of never taking any piano lessons.

27. Jaws (1975)

In 1916, four people were killed by a seven foot long shark. This incident took place in the New Jersey shore. The shark was eventually killed and human remains were found in its stomach.

28. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The movie was inspired by a serial killer named Ed Gein who killed several people in Wisconsin and was arrested in 1957. He was arrested for murdering two and digging up the corpses of many other women that reminded him of his dead mother. He skinned the bodies and made lamp shades and socks out of them. He also made a ‘woman suit’ hoping to become a woman. He spent the rest of his life in a mental institution.