10 Horror Anthologies You Must See Before You Die

For horror hounds the world over there’s only one thing more
satisfying than a good horror movie and that’s a good horror anthology. After
all, what other format offers such a blood-spattered bundle of mini scary
movies that you can watch in one go? It’s like all our Christmases – or rather,
Halloweens – have come at once!

Beyond the five horror movies for the price of one appeal of
the horror anthology, there’s something they offer that other horrors just don’t.
They bring together a treasure trove of talent from ensemble casts to multiple directors
and often feature a number of different horror sub-genres – they’re practically
a veritable feast of all things horror.

It goes a little deeper than that too and that’s because
horror anthologies mimic the kind of communal storytelling we did as kids,
gathered around a campfire or snuggled in sleeping bags trying to out-spook each
other with the scariest stories we could think of. Except with better dialogue
and story development, naturally.

And though the popularity of horror anthologies may have
waxed and waned over the years, if a smattering of recent releases like Ghost
Stories and XX are anything to go by the genre is still going strong.

So, in honour of the horror anthology let’s take a tour of
the very best – from older offerings and recent additions to movies from its
80s heyday and foreign-language takes on the genre. All hail the horror
anthology.

Let’s
kick off this list with an oldie but a goodie from British cinema: an early but
influential entry into the horror anthology genre that set the blueprint for
many an anthology to come.

Released in 1945, Dead of Night was something of a rarity
for its time when the norm was more morale-boosting, patriotic movies designed
to keep Britain’s collective stiff upper lip stiff during the war rather than
films meant to scare the heck out of audiences.

Nevertheless, it’s regarded by many (including Martin Scorsese)
as one of the best horror movies today and it’s easy to see why. Bringing
together the talents of directors including Alberto Cavalcanti and Charles
Crichton, its five main stories feature classic horror themes including haunted
antique mirrors, ghost children and a possessed ventriloquist’s dummy – themes
that have been endlessly recycled in the horror genre since.

Even its framing story doesn’t let the film down with a
delightfully dread-inducing tale that weaves Dead of Night’s various stories
together and caps them with a creepy twist ending.

Standout Segment:

Dead of Night’s most memorable story is definitely ‘The
Ventriloquist’s Dummy’. It stars Michael Redgrave as a possibly insane
ventriloquist driven to murder after his sinister dummy Hugo takes on a life of
its own and influenced a whole host of future demonic dummy horrors.