No matter how many years have elapsed since your last graduation, the first crisp chill of fall on the air still has the power to evoke one of the most potentially terrifying traditions in modern society: Going back to school. Halloween gets all of autumn’s ghoulish glory, but for some, nothing is more haunting than those hallowed halls.
Even die-hard academics who look forward to heading back each fall have to admit that there is something inherently spooky about school: The winding, labyrinthine halls, and unfamiliar buildings; the forgotten corners of the library filled with evil, eldritch tomes; the teachers and fellow students who harbor dark desires, deadly grudges, or secret supernatural abilities. The potential for macabre mayhem simply can’t be overstated.
Whether you’re going back to school yourself this year, sending your kids, or simply looking to catch some sinister scholastic vibes in the spirit of the season, here are a dozen school-set horror movies to watch as the last sparks of summer fade into fall:
Burn, Witch, Burn! (1962)
Also known as Night of the Eagle, this black-and-white British film, based on a story by Fritz Lang, about an ambitious college professor whose wife uses black magic to advance his career is rich in witchy atmosphere.
Perfect for fans of classic slow-burn horror.
Satan’s School for Girls (1973)
Delightfully campy and dated in all the right ways, this made-for-TV movie follows a woman who sets out to investigate her sister’s suspicious suicide and ends up unmasking an on-campus Satanic cult in the process.
The equally campy 2000 remake starring the late, great Shannen Doherty is also worth a watch.
Black Christmas (1974)
Sure, it’s holiday horror, but it’s also school-set holiday horror! This bleak Canadian chiller, about a sorority house menaced by obscene phone calls, created the template for all slashers to follow, including not one but two remakes.
Whatever you do, don’t go in the attic!
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Three Australian schoolgirls and one of their teachers go missing during a Valentine’s Day picnic at a mysterious locale. And then one of the girls returns—with no explanation, no memory of what happened, and no clue where the rest of the missing may be.
A gauzy, disorienting fever dream.
Carrie (1976)
You know you’re in for a ride when a movie opens on the most potentially horrifying place in the entire school—the locker room showers—and only gets more traumatic from there.
Often imitated, never duplicated, Sissy Spacek’s Carrie White is the best in the biz…if the biz is taking gruesome telepathic revenge on your classmates after a gory prom prank gone wrong. Also: That ending!
Suspiria (1977)
An Italian film about an American girl at a German ballet school that happens to be run by a coven of witches, this gorgeous candy-colored nightmare from cult icon director Dario Argento draws its inspiration from Disney’s Snow White—and still boasts some of the most memorable murder set pieces ever committed to celluloid.
Ghoulies Go to College (1991)
Silly, dumb, and fun—everything you’d expect from a franchise that achieved its notoriety by plopping its titular monsters squarely in a toilet on the poster art.
Fun fact: This is Matthew Lillard’s film debut!
Scream 2 (1997)
You can take the girl out of Woodsboro, but you can’t take Woodsboro out of the girl; so finds Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, our unfortunate heroine who can never quite outrun Ghostface—even on her college campus—in this first sequel to the biggest slasher of the ‘90s.
Halloween H20 (1998)
Technically, the first Halloween could be on this list too, but number seven (!) in the series is set entirely at the boarding school where Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode now serves as headmistress, and where her only son (Josh Hartnett) is a student.
Can he and his friends escape the long, knife-wielding arm of Michael Myers on Halloween night?
The Faculty (1998)
For any high school kid who’s ever felt like their teachers are so weird they must be aliens, From Dusk Till Dawn director Robert Rodriguez and Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson are here to affirm your darkest suspicions.
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)
Nearly a decade before Longlegs, director Osgood Perkins directed this deeply dark tale about two students stuck at a boarding school over winter break that deals with many of the same Satanic themes.
Not since Freddy Krueger first came on the scene has a boiler room been used to such terrifying effect.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Groundhog Day, but make it stabby! Wrap up your excursion into school-set scares on a lighter note, with this college-set horror-comedy about a young woman who is murdered on her birthday and has to live the day over and over again until she can free herself from what must be the world’s most unpleasant time loop.
