The exhibition includes a mask worn by the aliens in John Carpenter’s 1988 horror film “They Live.” (photo by Tabor Brewster)

A frightening new exhibition is haunting the halls of the Academy Museum just in time for Halloween. “The Horror Show,” on view through July 25, 2027, celebrates the impact of horror movies on cinema and culture by displaying original props, costumes, aliens, ghosts and ghouls from iconic films including “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Halloween” and “The Shining.” But the exhibition digs deeper than the shock and awe of bloody murder and demonic possession. It examines what our on-screen fears reveal about society and human nature.

“The Horror Show” spans six thematic “chambers” devoted to the sub-genres of gothic, psychological, science, slasher, religion and ghost stories, with nearly 400 objects from 62 lenders and 70 film clips representing 167 movies.

Senior Exhibitions Curator Jessica Niebel said the exhibition grew out of a simple question: Why do horror movies mean so much to so many people?

“What struck me again and again was just how personal horror is,” Niebel said. “People don’t just watch horror movies – they carry them. They remember the first film that truly scared them. They recognize something of themselves in a monster, a survivor, a villain or even in the sensation of fear itself.”

Niebel said horror often explores topics other genres avoid – topics the museum explores thoroughly in the new exhibition.

“Horror transgresses,” she said. “It goes where other films won’t go, and it looks where other films don’t look.”

The exhibition begins in darkness, with visitors surrounded by a soundscape of eerie music, disembodied voices and chilling effects before emerging into a hallway lined with iconic horror posters. From there, guests can wander into the six chambers, each designed to evoke the particular strain of horror it explores.

The gothic chamber resembles a crypt and examines the enduring allure of vampires. Among its centerpieces is Bela Lugosi’s recently restored cape from “Dracula” (1931), alongside material from films including “Blade,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and the 2025 Oscar-winning film “Sinners.”

Psychological horror unravels in a stark, clinical-looking space resembling an asylum. Storyboards from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” sit alongside props, costumes and artwork from “The Babadook,” “Get Out,” “Misery” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”

The science chamber mimics a laboratory, filled with creature designs, prosthetics and other artifacts tracing horror’s fascination with scientific ambition and the manipulation of life. The gallery includes material from “Frankenstein” adaptations, “Alien,” “The Fly,” “The Thing” and “The Substance,” as well as an original mask from “Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

Visitors brave enough to enter the slasher chamber find themselves inside a killer’s home, surrounded by familiar fiends like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface and Art the Clown. Masks, weapons and objects from films including “Halloween,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” fill the room.

Robert Englund, known for donning the iconic fedora and striped sweater as Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, welcomed members of the media to the exhibition preview and reflected on horror’s rise from a genre that was once treated as a lesser form of filmmaking.

Englund recalled discovering films such as “Frankenstein,” “Bride of Frankenstein” and “King Kong” as a child, experiences he said helped fuel a lifelong fascination with horror.

“I respect, and Wes Craven taught me how to respect, the fans and the essence of the horror film,” Englund said.

He said the Academy Museum’s exhibition reflects a new era for the genre.

“Practically every other week there’s a horror film or horror sci-fi or fantasy film in the top 10 films,” Englund said. “So I think we finally arrived.”

Elsewhere in the exhibition, a religion-themed chamber considers faith, morality, possession and witchcraft through films including “The Exorcist,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Midsommar.” The ghost chamber resembles a haunted living room and features objects from “The Conjuring,” “Poltergeist,” “The Ring” and “Talk to Me,” while also exploring Japanese ghost stories and their influence on cinema.

There is no clean escape from the exhibition. The only way out is through the “Blood Room” – I’ll let your imagination fill in the details.

Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma said the exhibition is intended to broaden visitors’ understanding of horror and demonstrate that the genre encompasses far more than any one type of movie.

“When people tell me they don’t like horror, I say, ‘Well, you just haven’t found your horror yet,’” Homma said. “And with this exhibition, I can now say, ‘You just haven’t found your chamber yet.’”

The museum is also presenting “Zombies!,” a smaller, family-friendly exhibition in the neighboring Warner Bros. Gallery that examines how filmmakers create the undead and how zombie mythology has evolved on screen.

Programming connected to “The Horror Show” continues throughout the fall, including a John Carpenter retrospective screening program, the museum’s family-friendly Monster Mash on Oct. 24, a Halloween edition of Museum After Dark featuring “The Craft” on Oct. 31 and a Nov. 19 screening of “Carrie” with star Sissy Spacek marking the film’s 50th anniversary.

The Academy Museum is located at 6067 Wilshire Blvd.

For information, visit academymuseum.org.

Items on display include a prosthetic mask worn by Demi Moore in “The Substance.” (photo by Tabor Brewster)