Teens are one of the most integral aspects of the horror genre's audience and there's certainly no shortage of the best scary movies for teens. The horror genre branches out into many different sub-genres, with one of the most popular being teen horror. Teen horror movies tend to feature young protagonists in the fight for their lives against a menacing serial killer, monster, ghost, or any other typical horror-movie fiend. Many are targeted specifically to a teen audience while still having universal appeal.

Adults are usually equipped to deal with pressures in life. Teens are not, and when their regular school and social lives are upended by a slasher killer or zombie outbreak, they are the last people anyone would expect to handle it. Horror movies based on teens are not always highly critically acclaimed. However, the best teen horror movies tend to hold a place in the hearts of mainstream audiences as they draw upon the insecurities faced by most people in those formative years of their lives. Some even redefined horror cinema, cementing their place in movie history.

30 Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)

Horror Stories Come To Life And Haunt A Group Of Teens

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a movie tailor-made for younger teen horror movies. For starters, the movie is based on a series of books that served many young people as their childhood foray into the horror genre with chilling and memorable illustrations that are brought to life in the movie. The PG-13 rating for the horror movie also makes it more accessible for the younger crowd. Finally, the young cast of characters provides a likable teen ensemble.

The movie follows a group of high schoolers who, while not the most popular kids in school, are a refreshing take on the typical outcast teen characters. They are smart and brave youngsters who are bold enough to turn the tables on their bullies. However, they are not smart enough to avoid unleashing the evil spirit of a ghostly author who brings her creepy literary creations to life.

29 Totally Killer (2023)

A Teen Time Travels To Stop A Killer

Teen horror movies have gone through a lot of changes over the years and Totally Killer is a great movie to highlight the difference between the 80s era of slasher movies and the modern take. Kiernan Shipka stars in the horror-comedy as Jamie, a teen living in a town famous for being home to a series of murders in the 1980s by a masked killer. After the killer reemerges and kills Jamie's mother, she is sent back in time where she has the opportunity to discover the truth of the original killer and save her mother's life.

The idea of Jamie being a modern kid in the 1980s makes for a funny fish-out-of-water scenario with Shipka providing some great comedic moments. The teen world decades earlier is a completely alien world and makes for a fun contrast. There is also a lot of fun in seeing a teen character interacting with her teen mother, especially with the reveal that Jamie's mother was a mean girl in high school.

28 Talk To Me (2022)

Teens Experiment With Speaking To The Dead

One of the most acclaimed "elevated horror movies" of the last few years proves that teen characters can still be at the center of intense and complex horror movies. Talk to Me is an inventive and dark story about a subculture of teens who have found an interesting party activity as they use a mysterious relic as a gateway device to interact with spirits in the afterlife. The movie focuses on Mia, a young girl who lost her mother and becomes fixated on using the relic to communicate with her.

While there have been a number of movies about people communicating with the dead, Talk to Me finds an interesting way to link it to its teen characters. The scenes of the young characters playing around with the relic and dabbling in some possession feel similar to scenes of teens experimenting with drugs. The addictive nature of the activity further cements this comparison.

27 Bones And All (2022)

Two Cannibals Fall In Love

A teen love story mixed with a gruesome horror movie is a bold approach that is pulled off wonderfully by acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino in Bones and All. Taylor Russell stars as Maren, a young girl who has bounced around from one school to another with her father, trying to hide her lifelong craving for human flesh. When her father finally abandons her and leaves her alone, Maren goes on a journey where she forms a bond with a young man named Lee (Timothée Chalamet), who has similar tastes.

Ultimately, it is a story many teens can relate to, despite the cannibalism, as it touches on the power felt by discovering someone else in the world that makes them not feel so alone.

The youth of these characters makes the romance intoxicating as they are swept up in the ion that can only come from a first true love. This is also reflected in their bloody road trip where their brutal feedings are done with a youthful recklessness that causes issues between the two lovers. Ultimately, it is a story many teens can relate to, despite the cannibalism, as it touches on the power felt by discovering someone else in the world that makes them not feel so alone.

26 Ma (2019)

A Middle-Aged Woman Becomes Obsessed With A Group Of Teens

Ma is a twisted and darkly funny teen comedy that touches on a relatable dilemma for many young people. The movie follows a group of teens who happen to meet a seemingly mild-mannered middle-aged woman, Sue Ann "Ma" Ellington, who they convince to buy them beer for their night of partying. When Ma suggests that the teens party in her basement to have a safe space to unwind, they feel like they have struck gold. However, they soon find that Ma has formed an unsettling attachment to them.

Taking a simple teen concept like asking an adult to buy alcohol and twisting it into a sinister and deadly game is a brilliant idea for a teen horror story. The fact that the teens end up being the responsible and level-headed characters in the story compared to the adults is a nice twist. The whole movie is elevated by the outstanding performance of Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer in the titular role.

25 Cherry Falls (2000)

A Serial Killer Targets Virgins

Cherry Falls isn’t the best-known scary movie for teens simply because it ended up as a straight-to-video release in the United States after appearing at a few film festivals. Starring Brittany Murphy, Cherry Falls takes some of the well-known horror tropes established by slasher movies of the 1970s and ‘80s and turns them around.

The big premise of the movie is that an unknown killer is cutting their way through the small town by killing teenage virgins. This flips the trope of killing those who are more promiscuous on its head as it is the exact opposite of most teen slashers. The movie is campy and brutal and definitely a creative take on teen horror.

It also features a recognizable cast. On top of Murphy, it also stars Michael Biehn (The Terminator) as her father, Jay Mohr (Jerry Maguire) as her English teacher, and Jesse Bradford (West Wing) as one of her friends. The movie won the Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film award at the Fangoiria Chainsaw Awards.

24 Freaky (2020)

A Body Swap Horror Movie

The horror-comedy Freaky was partially inspired by Cherry Falls and several other teen horror movies. Freaky sees Kathryn Newton as a shy high-schooler who swaps bodies with her small town’s resident urban legend (Vince Vaughn), a serial killer who finds a new lease on life when he has a whole new body to use to his advantage. The comedy comes from both having to adjust to their new circumstances.

The movie is a loose remake of Freaky Friday

It’s not as gory as a lot of modern horror movies, but Freaky certainly will appeal to long-time horror fans. It is also a fun switch-up of the body swap genre, as the movie is a loose remake of Freaky Friday, of which the most popular version is the 2003 comedy starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Logan as a mother and daughter who swap bodies.

Here, it is a high school student and a serial killer, but it is the same process and just adds in a slasher killer instead of an awkward situation. The end result is something unique, while Vaughn shines as he tries to nail the mannerisms of a teenage girl.

23 Sleepaway Camp (1983)

A Movie With A Controversial Twist Ending

Sleepaway Camp is a well-known slasher from the heyday of teen horror movies, but it has a complicated legacy among horror fans. The film follows a young woman at summer camp who is tormented by other campers and counselors, but then, her tormentors begin to be picked off one by one.

There’s a twist at the end of the movie, but some horror fans see it as transphobic, while others see the ending as ahead of its time in crafting a trans narrative. Those complications prevent the movie from being at the top of the discussion of the best teen horror films.

Despite that, the movie remains a cult classic and one that is played at several horror festivals and midnight screenings over 40 years after its initial release. There were also four sequels that followed, with Angela's story continuing, but none of the sequels matched up to the original in of quality, surprises, or great and scary horror moments.

22 I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Friends Cover Up An Accidental Murder

Inspired by a young adult thriller novel by Lous Duncan, I Know What You Did Last Summer spawned a handful of sequels and an Amazon series that was canceled after its first season. It sees four high school friends cover up a tragic accident and keep the secret after graduation. When they reunite in their hometown, they are confronted by the secret in the form of a killer killing them one-by-one and eliminating everyone else in their way.

The story is inspired by an urban legend ("The Hook") and is set to get a legacy sequel in 2025 with the same title, I Know What You Did Last Summer. The best news is that two of the original stars, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. are in talks to return to their roles as Julie and Ray, which means it will continue their story. The first entry in the franchise remains a beloved teen horror movie, although it did have the reputation as being a copycat movie of Scream when released.

21 Jennifer’s Body (2009)

A Sexy Revenge Horror Movie

Jennifer’s Body debuted to some harsh reviews and a lower box office than expected. Much of that disappointment was due to audiences expecting a very different movie than they got from Jennifer’s Body. The movie is the story of the friendship between Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried), which becomes strained when Jennifer is possessed by a demon that feeds on young men to survive.

Needy takes it upon herself to stop Jennifer from killing all the men in their lives. While the movie is a great horror flick, it’s also a great look at teenage friendship. The script is also very smart, which makes sense because Diablo Cody (Juno) wrote the screenplay.

While the film was originally marketed for its sex appeal with Megan Fox as the selling point, it delivered a lot more under the hood than most people expected and has since become a cult classic and misunderstood masterpiece.