At a time when massive movie studios are rushing out once-revered IP sequels, prequels, reboots, and the like with little thought to story or coherency, horror has emerged as a boon for the box office. Promising an original story, something surprising, something worth thinking about, and a distinct experience, horror is a huge draw now.

While it began to emerge at cinemas as a valuable genre again in 2024 and 2025, that was predominantly through lazily re-trodden old IPs like Alien: Romulus and 28 Years Later. In 2026, a string of hits – particularly Backrooms and Obsession – have cemented horror as the in-genre and a wildly profitable one.

Encouraging an Embrace of Horror

The story of the first half of the year at cinemas has been Backrooms and Obsession. On a mere $10 million budget, the A24 film about a strange doorway in a furniture showroom has run to over $262 million worldwide. Even more impressively, Obsession was made on just $1 million by Blumhouse and made over $290 million.

Low cost, creative, and easily hyped through word of mouth: those are what have spurred the genre to prominence in 2026. So, it won’t come as a surprise that new horror television shows have enjoyed a spike, too. Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, The Beauty and The Terror have all landed well this year.

From the viewing of stories to playing in the distinct genre, it’s horror that people seek now. You can even see this in the perpetually trend-chasing space of slots at the casino online. Here, games can be made relatively quickly, so studios will identify trends and make slots that suit. This is why Sanatorium Secrets is among the hottest new games on the platform. The spooky slot goes all-in on emulating the kind of horror atmosphere fans expect.

More to Come from Horror in 2026

Source: Unsplash

Obsession and Backrooms are the gems of the genre before the halfway point in 2026. However, they’re not the only ones to do rather well. Scream 7 breached $213.8 million earlier this year, and Disclosure Day opened to nearly $100 million. Throw in indie Iron Lung’s $51.2 million return on a $3 million budget, and it’s clearly already a good year for horror.

That’s just at the box office, though. Some other films had much more limited releases or went straight to platforms like Shudder or Netflix while delivering top-class horror experiences. Exit 8, Undertone, and Hokum headline this cadre that may not have entered or made a splash at the box office, but are top-tier films nonetheless.

Cinemas are expecting this hot streak to continue, given the release schedule, and will likely be earmarking a few more screenings than usual for some hotly anticipated new horrors. Ice Cream Man is the kind of curiosity that could run away as a hit, but it’s Jane Schoenbrun’s new slasher film that’s picking up a lot of praise way before its 7 August release.