There has always been something about a scary story that has excited its audience, no matter the medium. No matter if its horror movies, ghost stories, or chilling novels by the likes of Stephen King or Dean Koontz, or the Grimm brothers for that matter, there is something about being scared that people really seem to enjoy a lot.

When it comes to horrors, there are so many types of stories to scare you. Monster stories, gory films, the silly and wacky horrors, psychological thrillers and ghost stories have kept audiences on the edge of their seats.

Comparing horror movies is always going to be tough. Alfred Hitchcock for example made some of the great classics, films like Psycho and The Birds, but they are very difficult to compare to a movie like A Nightmare on Elm Street for example. But these five films perhaps best define the genre in a whole, the films that inspired thousands more just like them.

The first I have just mentioned, Psycho, perhaps the most eerie of all Alfred Hitchcock\’s masterpieces. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates is absolutely brilliant, and to this day, this classic piece of cinema will scare almost everyone. It is nerve-wracking and the tension is unbearable throughout, and while it may not be as scandalous as it was in 1960, it remains one the iconic horror movies of all time. Who will ever forget that shower scene.

Thirteen years later in 1973, William Friedkin directed The Exorcist, and this is still a movie you had better not watch alone, and even then you may find yourself not being able to sleep afterward. Linda Blair stars as Regan, a girl who is possessed by a demon, while Ellen Burstyn is brilliant as her mother, as is Max Von Sydow as one of the priests who attempt to exorcise her. You will never forget this movie, or some of the music after you watch this.

While not the most traditional of all horror movies, there is no doubt that Steven Spielberg\’s Jaws scared more people out of swimming in the sea than anything before it. It also inspired hundreds of other movies with a similar story, of a real life creature demonizing ordinary people. Still to this day almost four decades later, humming a few bars of the theme at the beach will scare enough people to believe a shark is nearby.

When it comes to slasher horror movies, there are many to consider for the top spot, with Friday theThirteenth\’s Jason and Elm Street\’s Freddie Kruger close contenders. But it is Michael Myers in the 1978 original Halloween that tops the list. Perhaps it was Jamie Lee Curtis\’ scream, or Donald Pleasance\’s creepy psychiatrist, or the fact that it was directed by a true master of suspense, the one and only John Carpenter. Carpenter\’s The Thing and The Fog are two other great scary choices.

Another Steven Spielberg film finishes the list, though this time he was only credited as the producer, though he did cast the movie, direct the actors and do all the storyboards. Toby Hooper was the director though of the classic ghost story, Poltergeist. Starring Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams, this 1982 classic story of a family home haunting remains one of the best ghost horror movies ever made.