Haunted House Movies

The top 10 scariest haunted house movies to watch online. Some of these films are based on true stories.

1. The Shining

The Shining is probably the greatest haunted house movie ever made. Based on a novel by Stephen King, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson, the movie depicts a scary haunted hotel that is infested with manifestations of the evil. The iconic images are nightmare-inducing, the acting is intense and the sense of dread builds to a terrifying climax. Best bits: The little boy cycling down hallways on his tricycle, talking to his finger and writing the word Redrum on the bedroom door!

2. The Changeling

After his wife and child are killed in a freak car accident, a man moves into an old house that seems to be haunted. The ghost is a sickly young boy in a wheelchair. The man has to solve the mystery behind the boy’s untimely death. Best bit: The red ball bouncing down the stairs.

3. The Others

Nicole Kidman plays a woman who lives in an old, dark house with her two children. The kids have a medical condition that makes them sensitive to light, so they have to live in darkness. The woman becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.

4. Poltergeist

5. Paranormal Activity

After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

6. The Innocents

Based on “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, this classic black and white film from 1961 is about a governess who comes to believe the two young children she’s taking care of are possessed by ghosts. Is she right or is she slowly going insane? Some of the scenes are genuinely chilling.

7. The Haunting

8. The Amityville Horror

This classic haunted house film from 1979 was supposedly based on a true story. Best bits: The bleeding walls and the disembodied voice yelling “Get out!”

9. What Lies Beneath

Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford play a married couple who move into a new house. The wife comes uses a ouija board and comes to believe that the house is haunted by the ghost of her murdered next-door neighbor. This has the classic feel of an old-fashioned murder mystery. Best bits: The ouija board scene and the ghost of the murdered girl returning from her watery grave.

10. Stir of Echoes

Based on a novel by Richard Matheson, Stir of Echoes tells the story of a man who sees the ghost of a girl after being hypnotized by a friend.