10 Horror Screenplays You Can Read Right Now

Are you writing horror this spooky season (or, heck, any time of year)? You should learn from the best writers, who are exploring creative subgenres and playing with conventions to hook readers and scare audiences.

Horror scripts are some of the most instructive screenplays you can study. They teach you how to build tension, create characters you care about, subvert expectations, and keep readers moving forward.

These 10 horror scripts are available online right now and can help you learn how to craft nightmares on the page.

Nosferatu

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Robert Eggers' reimagining of the vampire classic is currently available at Deadline and Script Slug. Eggers is one of modern film's most thorough and dedicated writers, and he reportedly wrote a full novella with backstories that would never appear in the film.

If one thing is certain, Eggers commits to every idea and visual, and line of dialogue.

For more on creating atmosphere in horror, check out our guide on how to write a great horror movie.

Get Out

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Jordan Peele's directorial debut changed what audiences expected from horror. The screenplay is available at Script Slug and StudioBinder, and it's essential reading for anyone interested in social commentary wrapped in genre trappings.

Peele famously wrote over 200 drafts before landing on the final version that won him the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The script shows how to plant clues without telegraphing twists, how to use humor to heighten tension rather than defuse it, and how to make every character interaction feel loaded with subtext.

Learn more from our horror screenwriting tips.

The Exorcist

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William Peter Blatty adapted his novel into one of the most terrifying films ever made. The screenplay is available at Script Slug, 8FLiX, and Cinephilia & Beyond.

Blatty takes time establishing normalcy and human drama before introducing the supernatural, and he treats the possession with documentary-like seriousness rather than exploitation. The scenes between Father Karras and his dying mother add emotional weight that makes the horror hit harder. The script also shows how physical horror (the possession sequences) needs to be grounded in emotional truth.

For insights on creating fear effectively, learn about horror plot devices.

The Conjuring

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James Wan's modern horror classic revitalized the haunted house genre and launched a whole franchise. The script by Chad and Carey Hayes is available through the Internet Archive.

The script very effectively structures two parallel storylines—the Perron family's haunting and Ed and Lorraine Warren's investigation—that eventually converge. The script also shows how grounding one family's supernatural horror in a real-world paranormal investigation gives the story believability.

For more on building tension, check out how to make your horror screenplay more effective.

It Follows

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David Robert Mitchell's indie horror hit has a script that's widely circulated among screenwriting communities, and you can find it on Script Slug.

Mitchell takes a simple, original concept and gets over 100 pages of dread from it. The script never explains the rules completely, leaving enough mystery to unsettle viewers while establishing clear enough stakes to maintain tension.

Doctor Sleep

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The modern follow-up to The Shining was adapted from Stephen King's novel by Mike Flanagan. You can read it at Script Slug.

I recently re-watched this one—the director's cut, which is super long but worth it—and it's a film that stands on its own while still keeping the tension and horror of its predecessor in the wings at all times. You'll note the script is incredibly long at 139 pages, like many of King's original works, and as a writer, you'd be taking a huge risk with this length. Thankfully, Flanagan had the source material to justify the runtime.

For guidance on building atmosphere in your scripts, see our tips on making your horror screenplay more effective.

Barbarian

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Enjoy Zach Cregger's early genre-bending nightmare from Script Slug. This one is a must-read if you want to know how to pull off multiple tonal shifts without losing your audience.

The film essentially restarts twice, first following Tess, then shifting to AJ's perspective, then diving into the house's history. Each section recontextualizes what came before, deepening the dread. You can break conventional structure if you're confident enough in your story's momentum.

Read our guide to screenwriting tricks that don't work anymore to avoid stale conventions.

The Fly

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You can read this sci-fi classic on Script Slug. Co-written by David Cronenberg and Charles Edward Pogue, the script transforms a B-movie premise into a tragedy. The descriptions of Seth Brundle's transformation are beautiful in themselves, showing us how voice can be so important to setting a story's mood and tone.

See our horror story ideas and prompts for more on crafting effective horror narratives.

The Babadook

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Jennifer Kent's debut feature uses a children's book monster to explore grief and maternal ambivalence. It's the movie that helped set off elevated horror as a subgenre, and it does it well. You can read this one on StudioBinder or Script Slug.

The script has amazing pacing. The drama of an imploding mother/son relationship carries the story forward until the monster starts terrorizing their home. The writing isn't overwrought, which could have easily slowed things down. Intimate, character-driven horror can be just as disturbing as spectacle.

We've got a horror screenwriting crash course if you're ready to tackle the genre for the first time.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

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A bit of a left turn on this one. You can find the original 1978 script from George A. Romero, for sure, through sites like Simply Scripts. But we're opting to highlight the 2004 remake, which was written by James Gunn. You can find it on Script Slug.

It follows well in Romero's footsteps, plus you get an early example of Gunn's work before he was leading the DCU. The script balances action with character development and a sense of humor. I love the dialogue here.

For more on finding fresh approaches to horror, check out our horror writing prompts.

What are your favorite horror screenplays you've read?