The 20 best modern horror villains

Weapons was one of the biggest horror movies of 2025, and a large part of this is thanks to Amy Madigan’s Aunt Gladys. When a classroom of children goes missing on the same night at the same time, Alex is the only child who remains. He is soon visited by his eccentric Aunt Gladys, who is definitely not his aunt. This witchy character drains the life out of her victims and makes them her personal weapons, and has become a surprising camp icon in the horror community. 

M3GAN is the AI doll with both a killer instinct and killer moves. She is gifted to young Cady after the death of her parents by her engineer aunt, but soon turns rogue and violent. Even before the film’s release, when the trailer had just come out, M3gan became an icon thanks to Gen Z-targeted marketing, her sassy one-liners, and viral dance moments. She particularly resonated with those in the queer community and even got a sequel with M3GAN 2.0.

In 2024, director Robert Eggers released the highly anticipated remake of Nosferatu, the 1922 silent German film. The gothic tale tells the story of Ellen Hunter, a haunted young woman, and Count Orlok, an evil vampire who is infatuated with her. The imagery of the original Orlok is famous worldwide, but Eggers made him even scarier by casting Bill Skarsgård. His version of the character is utterly repulsive and creepy, despite being unseen for the majority of the film. 

If you’re one of the few people on the planet who hasn’t seen Jordan Peele’s Get Out, you might want to close this tab. The plot of this groundbreaking horror film follows Chris, an African-American man, who meets his Caucasian girlfriend Rose’s parents on a weekend away. As things grow more sinister, we believe Rose to be as innocent as Chris, until it is revealed that she is involved in her family’s deranged operation. It’s a twist that is as surprising as it is horrifying.

Sinister director Scott Derrickson returned to the horror genre with 2021’s The Black Phone . It follows Finn, a young boy who is abducted by a sadistic serial killer known as The Grabber, and is locked in his basement. There, he can receive phone calls from his past victims. Thanks to Ethan Hawke’s villainous performance and his demon-horned and creepy-smiled mask, The Grabber leaves a real impression and is up there with the likes of Freddy Krueger. 

The Terrifier movies are known for their extreme, highly explicit gore and have launched a franchise and a cult following. Each one features Art the Clown, a demonic and psychopathic serial killer who mercilessly and grotesquely targets his victims. One of the creepiest aspects of the character is that he never speaks, instead communicating through facial expressions and mime. It makes his presence and macabre actions all the more terrifying.

Mia Goth cemented herself as a modern scream queen in X, playing the dual role of Maxine Minx and Pearl. 2022’s Pearl is a prequel that follows the story of the X villain as a young woman living on her parents’ isolated farm. Dreaming of stardom and a better life, she quickly starts to lose her mind. Goth’s portrayal of a woman descending into madness is brilliantly done, with a number of memorable scenes and lines, such as “I’m a star!” and a grisly ending.

James McAvoy gives an acting masterclass in versatility in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split. He plays Kevin, who has dissociative identity disorder and twenty-three personalities. He abducts three teenage girls who must escape before he unleashes his twenty-fourth personality. These personalities include a woman named Patricia and a nine-year-old boy called Hedwig. McAvoy seamlessly transitions between these characters, making Kevin a complex threat.

Jordan Peele followed up his smash-hit Get Out with Us, another thought-provoking horror film. The story follows a family on vacation who are hunted down by their own doppelgängers, dressed in red and disfigured. The matriarch of this monstrous family is Red, played by Lupita Nyong’o, who also plays mother Adelaide. Nyong’o’s performance is entirely unsettling both physically and vocally, making Red a truly frightening figure throughout the film.

Doctor Sleep is a sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining , following Danny Torrance as a grown man and grappling with his past and powers. He meets a young girl who shares his gift and must protect her from the True Knot. This cult-like group brutally takes the souls of children in order to remain immortal, and is led by Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson. This evil sorceress is clever and alluring, making her all the more dangerous.  

Longlegs was one of the most talked-about horror movies to release in 2024, largely thanks to its creepy and mysterious marketing campaign. At the center of the plot is the titular occult serial killer played by Nicolas Cage, who is incredibly elusive. He remains faceless for the first half of the film, helping to build intrigue, dread, and suspense around his character. When the physical form of Longlegs is revealed, it is as shocking as it is slightly amusing, with his face looking like a botched plastic surgery job. 

The Conjuring director James Wan brought out another horror extravaganza with 2021’s Malignant. The story follows Grace, who has visions of strangers being murdered that turn out to be very real. The psychopathic killer at the helm of it all is Gabriel, who ends up being the parasitic twin of Grace and literally lives in her head. He’s an unnatural and abominable creation that is hard to forget once introduced, proving that Wan knows how to craft all kinds of monsters. 

Viewers first met Pennywise through Tim Curry’s portrayal in the ‘90s It miniseries, but the killer clown got a whole lot more frightening when Bill Skarsgård was cast in 2017’s film adaptation. Pennywise is a shape-shifting demonic entity whose most common form is a creepy clown. He feeds on children in the town of Derry, luring them with red balloons and promises of fun. Skarsgård’s version of the character gave viewers all over the world clown phobia, if they didn’t already have one.

Chucky used to be the king of creepy dolls, but a new queen named Annabelle took the throne after appearing in The Conjuring. The haunted doll is a recurring figure in the franchise, and loves to silently appear on a rocking chair with those demonic eyes when characters least expect it. Annabelle became so popular that she even got her own film series, including two prequels and a continuation set after The Conjuring. There’s a reason she’s locked away for good.

Orphan was a breakout horror film when it was released in 2009, and it follows a family that adopts a nine-year-old girl named Esther. Soon, it becomes clear that there is something very wrong with Esther and that she is not who she claims to be. She easily manipulates the adults around her, making it easy for her to lure in victims and seem innocent. Isabelle Fuhrman gives off perfectly creepy kid energy and also returns to play her in the prequel Orphan: First Kill.

When audiences think of Hugh Grant characters, dashing and charming leading men usually come to mind. A murderous lunatic? Not so much. Grant plays against type in Heretic, which sees two young missionaries forced to prove their faith when they become trapped in the home of Grant’s evil Mr. Reed. He is diabolical and unnerving, but also has that Hugh Grant charm, making him a villain with charisma and highly entertaining to watch.

In Abigail, a group of criminals kidnaps the young daughter of a powerful underworld figure. As they hold her for ransom in an isolated mansion, they soon discover that she is no ordinary young girl, but a bloodthirsty vampire. Abigail's character reveal is a lot of fun, as she sucks blood and mauls her victims while wearing a pink tutu and dancing around. Her captors are no match for her supernatural strength, which is the opposite of her sweet and gentle appearance. 

Robert Eggers first burst onto the scene with A24’s folk horror The Witch. Set in seventeenth-century New England, the story follows an isolated Puritan family who become haunted by sinister forces. The film’s villain hides in plain sight, as Satan takes the form of a goat called Black Phillip. His powers force the family to violently turn on one another, and his symbolic nature links to the association between goats and witchcraft during the Middle Ages.

The Philippou Brothers took the horror world by storm with 2023’s Talk To Me, and returned to follow it up with the hopelessly bleak Bring Her Back. The film follows siblings Andy and Piper, who begin experiencing disturbing events at the home of their new foster mother, Laura. While Laura appears sweet and motherly at first, it soon becomes clear that she is seriously deranged and harbors dark intentions. Her unpredictability makes her truly unhinged and threatening. 

The Babadook is an Australian horror film that follows Amelia and her son Samuel. Samuel is behaving erratically and is convinced of an evil entity living in their house, which sends Amelia into deep paranoia. The entity, which manifests from a children’s book called Mr. Babadook, is a representation of grief and trauma. The monster became a surprising icon in the LGBTQ+ community, due to the shared experience of being misunderstood and oppressed.