Horror encompasses a wide range of films, and while there may be a few regrettable omissions, we tried our best to capture the diversity of the genre — from silent era touchstones, Giallo slashers, supernatural shockers, J-horror ghost stories, and elevated psychodramas from all kinds of eras and countries. So, in the interest of fairness, we had to lay down a few ground rules: a director or franchise could only be represented once, and no comedy spoofs were allowed (sorry, 'Shaun of the Dead' fans!). Not all the entries in this list strictly abide by the standard genre norms, but all 20 are guaranteed to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Proceed with caution.
