Academy Museum Opens an Immersive Horror Film Exhibition

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is turning horror history into a walk-through experience with The Horror Show, a major new exhibition opening in Los Angeles on Saturday, September 26.

Running through July 25, 2027, the exhibition brings together costumes, props, production material and interactive environments from nearly a century of horror filmmaking. Its central question is deceptively simple: Why do horror movies matter so deeply to so many people?

Six galleries explore the language of fear

Visitors enter through an atmospheric installation and a corridor inspired by one of the genre’s most familiar visual devices. The route then divides horror into six themed galleries: Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion and Ghosts.

The objects span landmark films and different traditions within the genre. Titles represented include Dracula, Frankenstein, Alien, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, The Shining, Ringu, Ju-on, Get Out, Midsommar and The Babadook. The selection connects classic studio monsters, psychological terror, slashers and modern social horror rather than treating the genre as a single tradition.

Among the highlighted artifacts are Bela Lugosi’s cape from the 1931 Dracula and material tied to more recent productions. Photo opportunities and immersive spaces—including a coffin setup and a deliberately unsettling “blood room”—extend the show beyond a conventional display of memorabilia.

A companion exhibition welcomes younger visitors

The museum is also opening Zombies!, a more playful, family-friendly companion exhibition built around a pretend cemetery with sound and visual effects. That separate experience offers an alternative for younger guests or visitors who want a lighter version of the museum’s seasonal programming.

Film screenings will accompany the exhibitions. The opening program includes an appearance by Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter connected to Halloween, followed by a Carpenter retrospective.

Together, the installations frame horror as both popular entertainment and a record of cultural anxiety. By placing familiar monsters beside production craft and historical context, the museum is asking visitors to look beyond the jump scare and consider how filmmakers have repeatedly given shape to what audiences fear.