Attention, horror fans: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has unveiled its newest upcoming exhibition, The Horror Show, a large-scale showcase dedicated to horror cinema.
Starting on September 26, 2026, the exhibition will take over the museum’s fourth-floor Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery, remaining on view through July 25, 2027
This is the museum’s most extensive display since Jaws: The Exhibition, which closes in just a few weeks on July 26, 2026.
The Horror Show is curated by Jessica Niebel with input from advisory team members, including Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe, filmmaker Osgood Perkins, and Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup artist and Academy member Howard Berger, among numerous other experts.
Six chambers, over a century of horror
Visitors will move through six thematic galleries, each designed to reflect the visual world of its subject, and displaying props and costumes from some of the most iconic horror films in history:
- Gothic: Styled as a shadowed crypt, the Gothic chamber features the Academy Collection’s recently restored cape worn by Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931), alongside objects from Sinners (2025) and Blade (1998).
- Psychological: Built to resemble a clinical white space, this chamber displays original storyboards for Psycho (1960) and props from Get Out (2017) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- Science: See production elements from Alien (1979), The Fly (1986), The Substance (2024), and an original mask from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), among others.
- Slasher: Check out fully costumed figures of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface, and Art the Clown within a reconstructed killer’s home setting.
- Religion: This gallery places visitors inside a witches’ circle surrounded by costumes from Midsommar (2019), Suspiria (2018), and Hellraiser (2022), as well as historical documents from the Salem witch trials.
- Ghosts: The last themed chamber showcases the original marketing website for The Blair Witch Project (1999) and explores the influence of Japanese ghost story traditions through historic woodblock prints and theatrical release posters from the 1960s and ’70s.
Finally, guests exit through The Blood Room, a final immersive space that layers cinematic gore across the gallery walls as a sensory conclusion to the journey.
The museum advises parental guidance throughout the exhibition and notes that some elements may trigger seizures for those with photosensitive epilepsy.
For a tamer experience, the museum has also put together Zombies!, a family-friendly companion exhibition over in the Warner Bros. Gallery. It’s an interactive educational space exploring how filmmakers create zombie imagery.
Film screenings, events, and more
The Academy Museum is launching a full calendar of public programming and more companion elements for the highly anticipated The Horror Show exhibition, including the following.
- John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness retrospective series (Sept. 26-Oct. 25): Screenings of Halloween, They Live, and Assault on Precinct 13.
- The Monster Mash (Oct. 24): An all-ages event with special-effects makeup demos, tours, screenings, and character appearances.
- Museum After Dark (Oct. 31): An adults-only Halloween event.
- 50th anniversary screening of Carrie (Nov. 19): Followed by post-screening conversation with star Sissy Spacek.
- Hammer Films retrospective (Jan. 2027)
- Exhibition companion publication with concept art, film stills, and behind-the-scenes photos.
🌐 Learn more: The Horror Show at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
