10 Greatest Horror Icons of All-Time
By: David Williams
It’s that time of the year when the weather starts to cool down, the leaves start to change into a variety of different colors, pumpkin spice has global domination for about 60 days, and the best part, horror movies flood every television screen. If you’re like me then you nerd out to all different kind of films that go bump in the night that gets your blood pumping into the festive holiday season. But that got me thinking about who are the greatest horror icons in film history and what should the criteria be for determining who is the king of the hill on all things spooky.
First, this should be a list compiled of antagonists, people with knives in their hands doing all the heavy lifting, and the main attractions for getting asses in the seats at movie theaters. So this would eliminate your Laurie Strode’s and your Sidney Prescott’s even though they are just as important to the main stories of each individual film it's best to have them watching on the sidelines taking them out of harm’s way for once. Next should be about staying power within the cultural zeitgeist in pop culture, how relevant is each icon in today’s landscape has it grown in time or diminished? If it’s the latter your chances of making it on my list will disappear faster than Bruce Willis when he realized he was a ghost in the Sixth Sense.
The last point of reference for me is quality films and creativity in kills, the movie part is evident because this will make you keep wanting to revisit the character no matter how grotesque the kills are (looking at you Art the Clown), also this being the entertainment business I feel being an artist of killing someone in movies is a particular art form that should be respected. Anyone can stab someone, but can you throw chains into people’s warm flesh while wearing leather bondage gear like Pinhead or insert a pot of gold into someone’s empty money-hungry stomach like the lovable imp the Leprechaun (I wouldn’t steal his Lucky Charms, I’d wind up missing an arm or leg).
To select 10 legends out of a 100-year history of horror is an incredibly daunting challenge, there will be some left on the cutting room floor. I would like to name some honorable mentions that almost splattered on my list like the peeping Tom mama’s boy Norman Bates from Psycho, the gothic monster who could never find the right fitting blazer, Frankenstein, chainsaw-wielding man child Leatherface, the buzzing hook-handed “don’t say his name 5 times” Candyman, the book of the dead revitalizer, master of all things groovy Ash from Evil Dead and lastly since there’s no major zombie out there I would put them in a general category this list is more specific to individual characters. With that being said let’s get into the Hall of Gore honorees.
10. Pennywise (2 films and 1 miniseries)
To this day, I and my friends are scared of all things clown-related thanks to the terrifying mind of Stephen King. He created something truly horrifying with Pennywise, an evil entity that takes the form of a clown preying on the fears and hearts of children. IT was a book written by King in the mid-80s then in the early 90s came the miniseries, and followed by the highly effective reboot in 2017. The creature plays on our fears as adolescents tapping into our most primal fears growing up like how as a kid everyone was scared to walk downstairs to the creepy basement. What is it about clowns that make them so scary? Is it the white face paint or the incessant giggling or maybe even those giant big red shoes that they are always wearing? Either way, when I see a clown walking towards me I cross the street thanks to Pennywise.
9. Ghostface (5 films and 1 television show)
Scream the mid-90s satirized slasher film brought to us by Wes Craven introduced us to the Ghostface mask, which took inspiration from an Edvard Munch painting. This is a perfect introduction to people who are unfamiliar with the slasher genre with its Meta commentary on horror in each film and quality fast-paced sequels (I’m willing to forget the MTV show ever happened if you are) stretching the life span of the character past the 26-year mark with Ghostface still being as relevant today since its creation. You see the mask itself on almost every street corner during the Halloween season and with another film in the works coming out next year there is no slowing down for the phone-calling killer.
8. Chucky (8 films and 1 television show)
“Nothing like a good strangulation to get the circulation going,” Chucky says directly after choking the life out of an Army General, not only will he murder you, he’ll trash talk you on your way out as well. The red-headed doll stabbed his way into our hearts in 1988 with the first Child’s Play film entering the horror verse lexicon. Not to mention we got possibly one of the greatest lines delivered in movie history “You don’t fuck with the Chuck!” As homicidal maniacs go Chucky has a great personality, has witty catchphrases, and is even forward-thinking accepting his gender-fluid spawn Glen/Glenda in Seed of Chucky. He is the one on this list you probably would want to have a night on the town with most, as long as, of course, he doesn’t put a knife in your back while out partying. He’s a pioneer in horror and without Chucky standing on his own two plastic feet we probably don’t get a Jigsaw, Annabelle, or even an M3GAN.
7. Jack Torrance (2 films)
The alcoholic psychotic Jack Torrance just wants to finish his writing, but he has cabin fever and just keeps on getting interrupted by family/ghosts that’s enough to drive anyone insane, I can relate maybe not to the insane part though. One of Hollywood’s best actors ever on-screen Jack Nicholson delivered an incredible terrifying performance as someone who’s gone completely mad from his thousand-yard stares at the snowy weather to outbursts at his poor wife (who gets abused verbally and physically almost throughout the entire film). His facial expressions alone while wielding an axe are enough to send a shiver down your spine. Entering a room saying “Here’s Johnny” on Halloween is the equivalent of singing Sweet Child O’Mine by Guns N’ Roses at karaoke, it's a classic that will never go out of style.
6. Jason Voorhees (12 films)
Jason Voorhees has ruined a lot of teenage camping trips going back almost 40 years now, how many teens have to be cut apart for the word to get out about kids stopping coming to Crystal Lake? Make s’mores somewhere else. The machete is his weapon of choice but doesn’t get it twisted Jason is like Salvador Dali at murdering people, a true artist, he’s not afraid to swing you from your sleeping bag into a tree with the speed and power of a freight train, he can punch your head off with one swing, and must we not forget how deadly he can be throwing arrows at people with more velocity than a Randy Johnson fastball. Jason is a man that’s also well cultured too, he doesn’t just sit around the campfire waiting for horny teens to come to visit, he’s traveled to New York and even Space. Everything about the zombified slasher is iconic, his hockey mask, theme song, and kill count will forever be a part of horror culture.
5. Devil in The Exorcist (5 films and 1 television show)
How many times have you seen another television show or movie imitate the iconic scene of Linda Blair’s possessed character’s head spinning around like a rotisserie chicken spewing green vomit? I’m guessing quite a bit, The Exorcist first hit screens in 1973, the film itself was so sinister and horrific that there are multiple reports of people passing out, throwing up, and having heartaches just by watching the movie in theaters. You can still see the ripples of the impact in Hollywood from this movie with a mega-franchise like The Conjuring. The impact of watching someone be possessed by an evil-spirited entity had an effect on the masses, exorcisms in real life were on the rise after this The Exorcist came out. May the power of Christ compel you to come back to revisit the time-honored tradition of watching someone get possessed by the devil this Halloween season.
4. Hannibal Lecter (5 films and 2 television shows)
We have now reached the cannibalism portion of our list with the one and only Hannibal Lecter, where it’s bad enough that he will not only kill you but eat you as well while drinking a nice glass of chardonnay. The deranged, psychotic look in Anthony Hopkins's eyes right before he attacks someone is truly frightening. His blood is as cold as the Arctic Circle, he’s a true sociopath in every sense of the word, but he’s also sophisticated by nature which makes it even scarier because people like this where you can’t tell how certifiably insane actually are could be walking amongst you today. Silence of the Lambs won multiple awards at the Oscars which is extremely rare for a horror film, the popularity spawned sequels and television shows for years to come. The image of Hannibal being wheeled in with that terrifying muzzle will forever be burned into the minds of horror fans forever.
3. Freddy Krueger (9 films)
“One, two Freddy’s coming for you,” here comes the burnt-faced, wise-cracking, Christmas sweater-wearing child molester coming to haunt your dreams. The supernatural slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street hit theaters in 1984, shooting Freddy into pop culture status. The character started out dark and sinister in earlier films, it wasn’t until the 3rd Nightmare on Elm Street that Freddy became the charismatic killer we all know and love today. He possesses the stand-up comedic skills of a seasoned veteran, while also having the best punchlines out of all the horror icons(even though most don’t seem to have a great sense of humor), we can’t get enough of Freddy’s one-liners like when he says “Welcome to prime time bitch!” then throwing someone’s head through tv or turning his trademark razor-knifed glove into needles when confronting a former heroin addict saying “Let’s get high.”
2. Dracula (50 films and 16 Television Shows)
We can’t forget about the original goth god himself Dracula. The first film about the bloodsucker from Translyvania was 100 years ago with Nosferatu. He has the largest volume of movies and tv shows in horror movie history by far. The most famous Dracula would have to be the Bela Lugosi version from the 40s and 50s, he’s the most often cosplayed for people on Halloween, the trademark essentials being slicked-back hair, fangs, and a black cape. Kids on every street corner no matter how young know about the Prince of Darkness, he’s as mainstream as it gets when the spooky season approaches just look around to see Dracula on lunchboxes, happy meal toys, and even commercials. He withstands the test of time across all generations and bet your bottom dollar you’ll still see him turning into a bat for another 100 years.
- Michael Myers (13 films)
The godfather of all slasher films Haddonfield’s own Michael Myers comes into the number 1 slot on my list. We’ve been watching him terrorize the sleepy suburban town for 44 years, he’s even more popular now than he was when the first film premiered in 1978. There would be no Jason if Michael Myers didn’t exist, look at the plethora of imitation-style movies of Halloween that have been made after the original. His iconic white mask should be the symbol of the holiday, the scare factor is also still at an all-time high. This is evident in how well the movies still perform each year at the box office current day, putting up huge numbers with each and every debut. He even found a way to make mechanic overalls look fashionable, there's nothing Michael can’t do well maybe except talk, but that’s beside the point. Myers is the Santa Claus of Halloween except he has no elves or reindeer and all his presents are butcher knives.
