10 of the Most Terrifying Movie Villains to Spook You This Halloween

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Michael Myers

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This villain murdered teenagers and terrorized a young Jamie Lee Curtis in the original 1978 Halloween, making Curtis a movie star and kicking off a long-running horror franchise. He’s now back in theaters and out of prison to terrorize her again in 2018’s reboot.

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Freddy Krueger

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Freddy Krueger first appeared in 1984’s horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street as a terrifying villain with a gloved hand that has razors for fingers, but Krueger earns a spot on our list of creepiest villains because of the disturbing way he kills his victims: in their dreams, while they sleep.

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Pennywise

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The creepy clown from Stephen King’s 1986 novel It and the 1990 and 2017 film versions (the most recent one starring the unrecognizable Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise) terrorizes children of Derry, Maine every 27 years, while remaining invisible to adults. You’ll float too.

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Samara

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The eight-year-old Samara’s haunting pale skin and long, stringy dark hair makes her one of the creepiest child villians ever. Samara was featured in 2002’s The Ring, based on the original Japanese horror franchise.

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The Babadook

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The Babadook, the titular mysterious presence from a children’s storybook, comes to life to haunt the single mom and her son who read it in the 2014 movie The Babadook.

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Hannibal Lecter

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Based upon a series on novels by Thomas Harris, Anthony Hopkins won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the terrifying cannibal and serial killer Lecter in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs.

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Norman Bates

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Norman Bates, the unforgettable villain from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1960 film Psycho has a… complicated relationship with his mother, Norma. Played by Anthony Perkins, the character was based off of a 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.

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Annabelle

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Audiences were so creeped out by Annabelle, a possessed Raggedy Ann doll, in 2013’s The Conjuring, that she got her own spin-off franchise in 2014’s Annabelle and 2017’s Annabelle: Creation. Pretty impressive for a doll.

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Chucky

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Speaking of dolls, the creepy Chucky doll from 1988’s Child’s Play and its sequels contains the sprit of a serial killer who transferred his soul into the doll to avoid capture.

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The Candyman

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Tony Todd portrayed the Candyman, the hook-handed villain from 1992’s slasher film Candyman who is accidentally brought back to life by a grad student researching the Candyman legend.

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10 of the Most Terrifying Movie Villains to Spook You This Halloween

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Michael Myers

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Freddy Krueger

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Pennywise

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Samara

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The Babadook

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Hannibal Lecter

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Norman Bates

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Annabelle

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Chucky

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The Candyman

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10 of the Most Terrifying Movie Villains to Spook You This Halloween

1 of 10

Michael Myers

1 of 10

2 of 10

Freddy Krueger

2 of 10

3 of 10

Pennywise

3 of 10

4 of 10

Samara

4 of 10

5 of 10

The Babadook

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Hannibal Lecter

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Norman Bates

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Annabelle

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Chucky

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The Candyman

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