Horror movies may not command the massive budgets of superhero movies or effects-heavy action slop. In fact, some horror movies with very low budgets become super-successful, ahem…Obsession. Still, the genre has proved repeatedly that audiences will show up when something truly grabs their attention. Not to mention, horror movies saved theaters during and after the pandemic.
Looking at worldwide theatrical box office from 2016 through 2025, the biggest horror hits include killer clowns, demonic nuns, vampires and one particularly iconic Xenomorph. Some were continuations of established franchises, while others became phenomena almost entirely through word of mouth. Here are eight of the highest-grossing horror movies of the last decade and why audiences couldn’t resist buying a ticket.
1. It (2017) — $702.8 Million Worldwide
Pennywise didn’t just return — he became a box-office phenomenon. Stephen King’s novel already had generations of fans, but the trailers for It turned Bill Skarsgård’s version of Pennywise into an instantly recognizable horror icon. The movie also had something many horror films don’t: crossover appeal. Its young cast, coming-of-age story, and 1980s setting attracted viewers who might not ordinarily rush to see an R-rated horror movie. Strong word of mouth did the rest, transforming It into an event and making it the biggest worldwide theatrical horror hit of the decade.
2. The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) — $499.3 Million Worldwide
By 2025, Ed and Lorraine Warren had spent more than a decade investigating demonic forces on the big screen, and audiences weren’t ready to say goodbye. The Conjuring: Last Rites was promoted as the final case for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s Warrens, giving the movie the feeling of a franchise farewell rather than simply another sequel. Years of audience investment in the characters, combined with the popularity of the larger Conjuring Universe, helped turn the supposed final chapter into the franchise’s biggest worldwide hit.
3. It Chapter Two (2019) — $473.1 Million Worldwide
After the extraordinary success of It, audiences already knew they would have to return to Derry to see how the story ended. It Chapter Two added recognizable stars including Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Bill Hader as the adult Losers while bringing Bill Skarsgård back as Pennywise. The first movie had ended with unfinished business, making the sequel feel less like an optional follow-up and more like the second half of one enormous horror story. Curiosity about the final confrontation with Pennywise helped propel the sequel to nearly half a billion dollars worldwide.
4. Sinners (2025) — $370.3 Million Worldwide
Unlike many of the decade’s biggest horror movies, Sinners didn’t arrive as the latest installment of an established horror franchise. Ryan Coogler’s film instead sold audiences on originality, atmosphere and Michael B. Jordan playing twin brothers caught up in a supernatural nightmare. Its mixture of vampire horror, music, history and Southern Gothic storytelling gave moviegoers something they couldn’t easily find elsewhere. Strong reviews and enthusiastic word of mouth gave the film remarkable staying power, turning an original horror story into one of the genre’s biggest theatrical successes of the decade.
5. The Nun (2018) — $366.1 Million Worldwide
Valak only needed a relatively small role in The Conjuring 2 to make a huge impression. By the time the demonic nun received a standalone movie, the character’s pale face and habit had already become instantly recognizable pieces of horror imagery. The Nun also benefited enormously from its connection to the expanding Conjuring Universe. Audiences who had followed the Warrens’ cases suddenly had another piece of the mythology to explore, while the Romanian abbey setting gave the movie the kind of dark Gothic imagery that sold itself in trailers and posters.
6. Alien: Romulus (2024) — $350.9 Million Worldwide
The Alien franchise had been around for 45 years by the time Alien: Romulus arrived, but audiences proved there was still plenty of life — and death — left in the Xenomorph. Fede Álvarez brought the series back toward the claustrophobic horror of Ridley Scott’s original film, placing a younger group of characters inside an environment where escape seemed nearly impossible. Nostalgia attracted longtime fans, while a new cast and largely self-contained story made the movie approachable for younger viewers. The familiar facehuggers and Xenomorphs did the rest.
7. A Quiet Place (2018) — $341 Million Worldwide
The premise could be understood almost instantly: make a sound and you die. That brilliantly simple hook made A Quiet Place incredibly easy to sell, but John Krasinski’s movie offered more than monsters hunting by sound. At its center was a family desperately trying to protect one another, giving audiences an emotional reason to care about every creaking floorboard and accidental noise. The movie also became uniquely suited to the theatrical experience, where an unusually silent auditorium made even the sound of another moviegoer opening a snack feel dangerous.
8. The Conjuring 2 (2016) — $322.8 Million Worldwide
The first Conjuring had already established Ed and Lorraine Warren as horror’s unlikely new franchise heroes, so audiences were ready to follow them into another haunted house. The Conjuring 2 expanded the mythology with the Enfield haunting while introducing images and characters that would become important to the franchise, most notably Valak. James Wan’s reputation for elaborate scares and the chemistry between Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga gave audiences something more substantial than a collection of jump scares. The sequel’s success also helped prove that the Conjuring Universe had the potential to become one of modern horror’s defining franchises.
