The 10 Longest Running Horror Series (And How Many Movies Are In Them)

An inevitable factor with any horror movie, given the right time and circumstances, is the subject of sequels. Whether to further the plot, introduce new concepts and ideas, or just essentially make the same movie over and over again, sequels are a big part of the horror movie culture.

Granted, many films will never be as great as the original, but certain series have earned their reputation from their longevity. Some are unique, some are repetitive, and some have quite the large fan base of gore-hungry followers, but the films still march onward and in some cases forward. Here are ten horror series that have definitely earned themselves a lifespan.

10 Night of the Living Dead (6 Films and Counting)

Though only six films in the series exist currently, two additional films have been confirmed to further continue George Romero’s immortal undead classic, Night of the Living Dead.  essentially the film that birthed the zombie genre, we have to give it some serious respect on our list.

Throughout the series, we’ve seen zombies take on a graveyard, a farmhouse, and even a shopping mall. We’ve seen them come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and variations, all thanks to one 1960s horror classic. Given the creatures’ reputation, we don’t think they’ll be ceasing anytime soon.

9 Paranormal Activity (7 Confirmed Films)

What a seventh film currently in development, the Paranormal Activity series seems to venture into parody territory more often than some of the other films on our list. We’re not going to lie, the found footage technique isn’t for everybody, but the series does have its audience.

Though not what we’d call our favorite franchise, you can’t deny the fact that the shaky-cam series of hauntings and demonic possessions has garnered quite the following and quite the reputation as an iconic horror film series. The horrors might remain unseen, but the response is as clear as day.

8 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (8 Films)

Now we’re getting into a series that has been here, there, and everywhere in terms of mood, atmosphere, and even genre. What began as a notoriously violent exploitation film in the ’70s soon spawned a franchise that goes farther than skin deep. We are of course talking about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The series has been rebooted, remade, re-sequeled and recycled over the course of eight different films. From a psychotic slasher film to a gross horror-comedy to a weird conspiracy theory shlock-fest, you can’t say they don’t serve variety down at the Hewitt house.

7 Saw (8 Films)

Saw is a franchise so infamously long and repetitive that the series itself recognized its own longevity. There was a time where these cornucopias of blood, scream, and steel came out not only once, but once a year for almost a decade. Eight films worth of traps, games, and gore galore saturated and splattered our movie screens.

The twisted and tragic tale of John Kramer satisfied the bloodlust of audiences everywhere for years. It didn’t matter where the plot went, just so long as everything was nice and meaty by the time credits rolled. With a Chris Rock-led spin-off coming out, the games are far from over.

6 The Conjuring (8 Films)

Now we come to a more modern entry on our list,  The Conjuring franchise. Inspired by the paranormal investigations by Ed and Lorraine Warren, both the regular entries and the spin-off films have created a universe of terror that continually keeps fans coming back for more. At least they’ve got a lot to work with.

Ghosts, demons, possessed dolls, evil nuns, anything and everything a haunting expert could want to investigate, The Conjuring franchise has it all. Unsettling, disturbing, and flat out creepy are just a few ways we would describe the series as a whole, and they just keep coming.

5 A Nightmare on Elm Street (9 Films)

Few icons of the slasher film genre survive on one film alone. You know what they say, always leave your audience wanting more. Well the Springwood Slasher himself, Freddy Krueger, has not only nine different films, but a mildly successful TV series that continued his nightmarish legacy.

This wise-cracking dream demon has always been a staple of ’80s horror and with a franchise as long as Freddy’s, reputation tends to follow. True, many of them rely on cheesy gimmicks and corny kills, but you can’t deny the fun of Robert Englund’s most iconic character.

4 Children of the Corn (10 Films)

Don’t get us wrong, some horror movies truly do deserve their sequels. But we can’t fathom how or why Children of the Corn has not one, not two, but ten films in its franchise! The short story by horror Legend, Stephen King, truly doesn’t have much sequel potential. But that’s never stopped Hollywood before.

We’ve seen the creepy corn-god-worshiping clan of kids go from the fields of Nebraska to the urban sprawl of LA to a made-for-television remake on SyFy. Wherever they choose to plant their crops of Terror, you can bet an army of evil underlings will follow.

3 Puppet Master (12 Films)

Full Moon Pictures is known for only making one kind of movie, B-movies. Led by one of the undisputed kings of the genre, Charles Band, The Puppet Master series is the studio’s claim to fame. With 12 entries so far, business is doing exceptionally well for a cheesy horror flick.

Granted, the puppet effects are actually pretty impressive, even back in the ’80s when they relied on stop motion. Blade, Jester, Pinhead, and all the rest are delightfully demented little monsters that would give Stripe and his Gremlins a little competition, and definitely a few lacerations as well.

2 Friday the 13th (12 Films)

It’s been said that the Friday the 13th series is essentially the same movie shot over and over and over again, and we can’t exactly deny that. A group of frisky teens trespasses on to Camp Crystal Lake where they shouldn’t be, Jason goes after them with a variety of sharp objects, one victim lives to tell the tale, throw in a ch-ch-ch ah-ah-ah-ah noise, and roll credits.

Watching a Jason movie is like watching a Frankenstein movie or a Kaiju fight. We don’t care a bit about the plot, we’re just here for the carnage. Though it hasn’t achieved an appropriate 13th entry yet, there’s still time for the big guy to make one last trip to camp.

1 Halloween (13 Films)

The only guy who could rival Jason Voorhees in our eyes is none other than the Shape himself, Michael Myers.  Halloween, go not the first slasher film in existence, definitely jump-started the slasher craze of the 1980s. Without him, there’d be no Jason, Freddy, or even Art the Clown.

Though the masked Maniac has gone away and back again from his original formula, even cameoing in a stand-alone film, Halloween will never be the same for the residents of Haddonfield Illinois (or Jamie Lee Curtis for that matter). What can we say but if it works it works.

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