Back to School Hell: 9 Scary Horror Movies That Take Place in High School

“We are the weirdos, mister.”

updated on 08/04/25

Robin Tunney was 24 when she portrayed a high school student in The Craft (1997).

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.

A dream sequence in *A Nightmare on Elm Street* (1984) takes place at Nancy’s High School.

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)

Stephen King’s first novel was adapted into this Brian De Palma horror film.

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)

One of the most realistic aspects of *Scream* is that if two high school boys were going to go on a murder spree, they would definitely off their principal in the most savage way possible (like gutting him and hanging him from the goalpost on the football field as Billy and Stu did to Principal Himbry).

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)

Nothing says “high school” like Zeke’s Pontiac GTO with a trunk full of contraband.

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)

Batoru rowaiaru is the original title for this Japanese action-adventure horror film.

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)

Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox star in this feminist high school horror movie.

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)

Roth made a trailer for *Thanksgiving* in 2007 and then spent years getting the script right before the film went into production.

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)

*Variety* promised this movie has the biggest twist since 2011’s *Cabin in the Woods.*

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.

Meet The Author

Chrissy Stockton

Chrissy is the co-founder of Creepy Catalog. She has over 10 years of experience writing about horror, a degree in philosophy and Reiki level II certification.