Get ready! Horror is taking over the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The Academy Museum is bringing us an early Halloween this year. Its upcoming exhibition, “The Horror Show,” is opening September 26 with a scheduled 10-month-long run, ending on July 25, 2027. Curated by Jessica Niebel, with assistance from Assistant Curator Nicholas Barlow and Curatorial Assistant Alexandra James Salichs, the exhibition asks a pivotal question: “Why do horror films matter so deeply to so many?”
Willem Dafoe Comments on the Exhibit
GettyAlong with the curators, “The Horror Show” has an exceptional advisory team including filmmakers Osgood Perkins, Ariel Baska, Tananarive Due, film scholar Angela Marie Smith, prosthetic makeup artist Howard Berger, and none other than the legendary actor himself, Willem Dafoe.
Dafoe is no amateur in horror and has played many intense and nuanced roles such as Donald Kimball in “American Psycho,” Max Schreck in “Shadow of the Vampire,” and Clem Hoately in “Nightmare Alley.”
On “The Horror Show,” he stated: “Cinema in general engages your sense of wonder, but horror can explode it. It is a popular form, born of modest financial resources and with a strong, lasting independent streak. And it has all the same possibilities for originality, inventiveness, and freedom that it did in its infancy.”
What’s Included in ‘The Horror Show’
Getty“The Horror Show’s” mission, stated by The Academy, is to captivate its viewers with the cinematography, emotion, culture, and power that horror movies possess so vibrantly. The exhibition will function as an interactive space, with six themed “rooms“: Gothic, Psychological, Slasher, Ghosts, Science, and Religion, each designed to guide the audience through different horror worlds, complete with props, costumes, unsettling creations, and immersive settings. So you’d better be on the lookout for your favorite monster!
Don’t get scared, “The Horror Show” doesn’t stop there. The exhibition is accompanied by a beautifully terrifying showcase of film screenings. John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness will kick off the horror fest with “Halloween” (1978), “They Live” (1988), and “Assault on Precinct 13” (1976). Other iconic horror films include are “Carrie” the 50th anniversary, “Alien” (1979), “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984), “Black Swan” (2010), “Frankenstein” (1931), “Get Out” (2017), “Ju-on” (1998), “Midsommar” (2019), “Misery” (1990), “Poltergeist” (1982), “Ringu” (1998), “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), “The Exorcist” (1973), “The Shining” (1980), “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974).
Adjacent to “The Horror Show, ” The Academy also has one-of-a-kind spooky-themed nights. If you are a vampire lover, you should definitely check out “Monster Mash.” The event is scheduled with screenings of “Hotel Transylvania” (2012), “Blade” (1998), “Horror of Dracula” (1958), a special effects demo, vampire blood family workshop, monster meet and greet, and a journey into “The Horror Tours” that will be sure to fill your horror dreams.
You can also check out “Museum After Dark,” which features an entrance into “The Horror Tours,” cocktails, bites, and a screening of “The Craft” (1996). Only open to those 21 and older.
While we wait for September to roll around, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ online store currently has “The Horror Show” magazine and behind-the-scenes snapshots of the exhibit available for preorder. It will become available for immediate order in September! If you love gift shops, “The Horror Show” will also have merchandise available for purchase at the exhibition.
