Back to School Hell: 9 Scary Horror Movies That Take Place in High School
“We are the weirdos, mister.”

Is anything scarier than high school? Dealing with homework, grades, puberty, parents and (scariest of all) adolescent peers. High school is one big horror movie. It is actually so scary that dreaming about being back in high school is one of the most common nightmares in adults, even decades after they’ve graduated.

It’s no wonder that high school is a popular setting for horror movies. It is an environment almost everyone is familiar with, there are plenty of reasons for the film’s characters to interact and it’s an excuse for producers to hire young actors to please the palate of a youth-obsessed culture. If you’re heading back to school this fall, or just want to take a trip down memory lane, these are the best high school horror movies to queue up for movie night.
Carrie (1976)

Carrie is a classic high school horror movie from the opening locker room scene to the characters’ obsession with the upcoming senior prom. Sissy Spacek stars as the title character, a shy and bullied girl with budding telekinetic powers. When she is the target of a cruel prank at prom, her rage fuels her powers and she literally burns her high school to the ground.
Scream (1996)

A slasher movie about a killer wearing a Ghostface mask who torments and kills high school students in small town Woodsboro, California. After the first few murders, school is officially cancelled until further notice (cue the film’s excellent use of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”). The teens do what any other teens would do with school cancelled and throw a rager at an isolated home in the country.
The Craft (1996)

This teen horror movie follows Sarah (Robin Tunney) as she starts at a new Los Angeles high school. She meets a group of three misfit girls and the foursome bond over their interest in witchcraft, which Sarah has a special aptitude for. Forming a coven, the girls’ power grows while their friendship splinters.
The Faculty (1998)

The Faculty is a sci-fi horror movie that takes place mostly at a small town Texas high school. An eclectic group of students discover alien parasites are taking over their town and attempt to stop the invasion before it’s too late.
Battle Royale (2000)

Battle Royale is the original version of the dystopian action thriller subgenre that utilizes a “battle royale” plot, later popularized in the U.S. by The Hunger Games franchise. In totalitarian Japan, a group of high school students are forced by the government to compete in a deadly game where only one of them will survive. Pandemonium ensues and some students show they are more willing than others to murder their classmates.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)

A comedy horror movie about small town high school best friends Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried) whose friendship is tested when a botched virgin sacrifice results in Jennifer transforming into a succubus. Jennifer easily adjusts to her new life of eating high school boys while Needy believes she needs to be stopped. On the way to a school dance, the two have an epic showdown.
Ma (2019)

A vet tech (Octavia Spencer) is asked by a group of high school kids to (illegally) buy them alcohol. The group and their friends begin to regularly hang out at her house and affectionately call her “Ma”. However, Ma has a sinister motive for getting close to the high school students.
Thanksgiving (2023)

Eli Roth’s campy slasher movie follows a group of high school students in Plymouth, Massachusetts during two consecutive Thanksgiving weeks. In the first year, a Black Friday riot at a superstore results in the death of several shoppers. The next year, the group finds themselves targeted by a mysterious masked killer who is intent on getting revenge on the students for their role in the Black Friday deaths.
Clown in a Cornfield (2025)

Quinn (Katie Douglas) moves to a small town in Missouri where she will finish her final year of High School. She is immediately thrust into the middle of a rivalry between the town’s older citizens and her fellow high school students. On top of that, the town’s clown mascot, Frendo, is terrorizing her classmates.