Supernatural psychological horror

A rookie with a long history at the Academy came up with the following request the other day:

I've seen the Australian Babadook 2014 and enjoyed it so much that I want to see more supernatural psychological horror films. I'm happy to receive film suggestions.

The rookies dove into the request, and the following little list of movie tips resulted.

Tittel	År
1408	2007
The VVitch	2015
The Wind	2018
The Innocents	1961
Grave Encounters	2011
Crimson Peak	2015
The Lighthouse	2019
Talk to me	2022
The Skeleton Key	2005
Below	2002
Sinister	2012
In the tall grass	2019

Others are checking out:

Automotive horror!

The term automotive horror , also referred to as "car horror" or "highway horror," refers to horror fiction where the primary source of dread, isolation, or violence is directly linked to vehicles and the culture of the open road. It essentially exploits the psychological terror of a machine turning malevolent or the vulnerability of being isolated on a desolate road. Automotive horror utilizes several distinct concepts to create terror: The Sentient/Evil Vehicle: The car itself is the monster. Christine (1983), anyone? It's often possessed, cursed, or supernaturally alive, acting with malevolent intent to kill, terrorize, or corrupt its owner. The topic of evil cars represents Technophobia , an underlying theme where technology, which is supposed to represent freedom and convenience, instead betrays you. Turns on you like a dirty street whore in the night. The Highway Hunter: The vehicle is simply a tool used by a human serial killer or psychopath who us...

Body horror!

A truly unsettling and fascinating subgenre indeed, body horror (also known as biological or organic horror) is a type of horror fiction where the primary source of terror comes from the grotesque or psychologically disturbing violation, transformation, degeneration, or destruction of the physical body. It often plays on deep-seated anxieties about physical vulnerability and loss of control over one's own body. A key element is that the body's violation is usually not the result of immediate or initial violence, but rather a loss of conscious control over the body due to mutation, invasion, decay or scientific interference. The horror often centers on an individual watching their own body betray them, change, or collapse, rather than being hunted by an external creature. Guillermo del Toro famously described body horror as the "betrayal of the flesh." The genre intentionally invokes intense feelings of physical and psychological disgust, pushing the limits of what the...

The origin of the Horror Rookie Academy

The Horror Rookie Academy has been operational for 15 straight years now! Good heavens, it's almost unbelievable. It's time for a little look back at the origin of the Academy. When I was little, my dad worked as a captain in foreign trade, and my brother and I used to join the boat during the summer holidays. (It was a simpler time, before the age of HSE...) Norwegian seafarers are so lucky to have the Norwegian Sailor's Church (Sjømannskirken) which works for their well-being. The Sailor's Church used to run a library service on Norwegian ships, providing books and films for the sailors. Either someone responsible for such things at the Sailor's Church was a horror and sci-fi lover, or their insight into the contents of the films of the time was so-so: the library cabinet onboard the boat was filled with the VHS tapes that basically made me the horror fanatic I am today. Jaws, Frankenstein, The Shining, Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, The Thing... All of which w...

Uplifting horror with merry violence!

Things rarely go well for people in the movies we like. Things mostly go straight to the black bowels of Hell. (If you know, you know...) So what do you do when you're really into horror movies on the more cheerful side of the spectrum? A little bit of merry violence? You head over to the Horror Rookie Academy and ask the rookies for movie tips! Below you'll find tips that came in response to the following questions: Hey! Does anyone have any tips for uplifting horror? I'd love to have a good dose of happy violence also. Tittel År IMDb Evil Dead 2 1987 7,7 Army of Darkness 1992 7,4 Bubba Ho Tep 2002 6,9 Brain Damage 1988 6,5 Evil Ed 1995 5,5 Return of the living Dead 1985 7,3 Tucker and Dale vs Evil 2010 7,5 The Cottage 2008 6,1 Sightseers 2012 6,5 Severance 2006 6,4 Bad Boy bubby 1993 7,3 Rubber 2010 5,7 Space Station 76 2014 4,9 Motivational Growth 2013 5,7 Teeth 2007 5,4 The Crazies 2010 6,5 Slither 2006 6,5 Deadstream 2022 6,4 Scouts guide to the Zombie apocalypse 20...

Hillbilly vs outback horror!

Hillbilly Horror is an American subgenre, often rooted in the concept of Southern Gothic , where a group of "civilized" outsiders (often young people from the city) venture into remote, rural areas—typically the Deep South, Appalachia, or the Southwest—and encounter a family or group of violent, often inbred, degenerate locals. Key Conventions of hillbilly horror are: Setting: Remote, isolated locations like deep woods, decaying farmhouses, abandoned roads, and dilapidated small towns, usually suggesting an area "forgotten" by modern society. The Villains: The antagonists are typically a family unit , often characterized by inbreeding, physical deformities, cannibalism, and extreme violence. They represent an unhinged, "monstrous" version of the rural poor. The Conflict: It's fundamentally a Clash of Cultures —city dwellers vs. country folk. The horror stems from the characters being stripped of their modern conveniences (like cell service or relia...

Queer roles in horror

At the Horror Rookie Academy , a very interesting exchange of opinions emerged in the spring of 2022 on the topic of queer roles in horror . In the following, I will explain why I think it is both okay and important to lift queer roles in horror films. The text represents the author's opinion. In the wake of a really interesting analysis done by Dread Central (a must-read!), it was suggested that queer roles may take the focus away from the horror in horror films. This got me thinking. Thinking real good. Could it be that queer roles, roles protraying people like me, among the majority may be perceived as unnecessary to the plot in horror films? As something forced? Queer people are very used to seeing a different type of love than our own being central to the films we watch. One of the things that makes me love films in general, and horror in particular, is that you get to enter situations where you are sort of exempt from constantly having to connect your own situat...

Dental Horror!

Teeth are hard, calcified structures in the mouth that are essential for breaking down food through chewing, forming words for speech, and maintaining overall oral health. They are also dreadful sources of pain, an object for torture and things that can get smashed out of your skull in a bloody instant. One starry friday night, a night of icy gusts of wind and of gerenal unrest in the populus, the Rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy decided to dive into the topic of dental horror: the portrayal of teeth in horror films. We decided to limit the topic to mainly human teeth, but since the sphere of horror is a transcendant and messy one, we of course welcomed other types of teeth in horror as well. Tusks, for example. Or simply messed up tooth-related stuff. The films listed below either centers around the topic of teeth or has predominant scenes portraying teeth in them. It is a creepy collection of films, this. Films that make your molars ice and throb just by th...

Lunar horror!

An unholy lunar trinity occured september 7th 2025: a full moon, a blood moon and a lunar eclipse. The rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy looked forward to experiencing a lycantropic transformation the likes of which this world has never seen: knuckles cracking, hair protruding, teeth and claws developing... Alas. We all remained in our frail human form. No lycantropic wave across the globe. No shiny teeth chomping on human flesh. No claws ripping faces to shreds. Maybe next time! Filled with moderate disappointment, the rookies decided to put their heads together to conjure movie tips on lunar horror films: films orbiting (pun intended) the topic of the moon in horror. For your viewing convenience. Enjoy! 😁 Title Year IMDb Moon 2009 7,8 Sinners 2025 7,6 Silver Bullet 1985 6,4 The Company of Wolves 1984 6,6 An American Werewolf in London 1981 7,5 A Trip to the Moon 1902 8,1 Iron Sky 2012 5,9 The Dark side of the Moon 1990 4,9 Moonfall 2022 5,2 When Animals Dream 201...

103 tips for 80's horror films!

The eighties were nothing short of awesome. This was before the world became dangerous and messed up, so there was a playful sense of ease strongly present. As was the case in eighties horror films too: they are often excellent testaments to an era that never gets old. If it was cool and modern, you could bet you'd find it in horror films. Dudes in cropped tank tops, jocks and prom queens, the noble art of jumping into roofless cars without opening the doors, walkmans, hackers with long coats and head bands... The horror films of the eighties had it all! The Rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy love eighties horror. Flat out loves it. One dark and icy cold week, just as an unholy mist came rolling in from the sea to cover the jagged shores of Scandinavia, the rookies put their weird and wonderful heads together to conjure no less than 103 movie tips for eighties horror films. For your vieweing convenience, of course. We aim to please...

32 Liminal horror movies

Let's begin with the beginning: what in the world is "liminal" - and "liminal horror"? The word liminal itself is defined quite differently by different sources, but the essence is as follows: - a state/position at or on both sides of a threshold/border - a transition between states or the initial phase of a process of change As far as I understand, Liminal horror points to both this and at the same time to what is called liminal spaces , which are: - areas and architecture that lead you from something to something else, and which are not intended as anything more/other. Corridors, underpasses, aqueducts, airports, queues, waiting rooms... 'Non - destinational places', as my husband called it when I tried to explain it. Apt term! 😍 - Emotionally, liminal spaces are, for example, grief and growing up - Psychologically and socially, it's is 'nothing' between different feelings or states: the state of post partum and detox are two examp...

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