Top 10 Scariest Movies That’ll Give You Nightmares This Halloween
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It’s nearly October 31, which means Halloween is approaching and there’s no better way to set the mood than watching some horror films.
With so many movies to choose from, it might seem overwhelming.
But homeware company Mattress Online trawled through 34,037 IMDB reviews to find the horror movies most likely to give you nightmares this Halloween.
The business then analysed the number of mentions of certain buzzwords, including “sleep(s)”, “nightmare(s)”, “dreams” and other sleep related terms in their reviews. Mentions of these words were then used to rank the movies into a “scare score”.
By their nature, horror movies are designed to heighten emotions, setting off our sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system.
Mattress Online CEO Steve Adams said: “Clearly, this level of stress will make it difficult to drift off into a restful night’s sleep. Afterall, the parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system is temporarily out of action. If you are planning on watching a horror movie this Halloween, give yourself enough time to calm down and relax before you head off to bed.”
“Even with the most comfortable mattress and spacious bed in the world, you still may struggle to sleep after watching some of these Halloween horror movies!”
Here are the top 10 scariest movements that are bound to give you nightmares this Halloween.
10. Sinister (2012)
Ethan Hawke, James Ransome and Juliet Rylance stars in this horror about a crime writer who moves his family to a house that once witnessed gruesome murders. As he carries out his research, the situation quickly takes an eerie turn.
Scare score: 112
9. Halloween (1978)
The classic has been disrupting sleep since the late 1970s. The story’s protagonist is Michael Myers, a disturbed child who goes on a killing spree. The slasher franchise has been so successful, it has been made into 13 films. Nearly 120 IMDB reviews included references of how the film was disturbing sleep.
Scare score: 117
8. The Exorcist (1973)
The supernatural epic directed by Wiliam Friedkin and written by William Peter Blatty, is one of the world’s most well-known horror films. Some 127 reviews mentioned words associated with sleep, showing all the demons left watchers on edge.
Scare score: 127
7. The Grudge (2004)
This Japanese film tells the story of a curse that kills victims in its wake. The Williams family move into a house where a brutal murder sparked by jealousy took place. The family quickly become haunted by the spirits that remain there.
Scare score: 136
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Another cult classic, this film saw 141 reviews mention how it impacted their sleep. It tells the story of three friends who are tormented and chased by a chain-saw wielding serial killer.
Scare score: 141
5. Mother! (2017)
This Darren Aronofsky-directed horror starring Jenifer Lawrence and Javier Barden tells the dark story of a couple whose house plays host to uninvited guests. This movie was so scary, some 154 people’s sleep were impacted by it.
Scare score: 154
4. The Ring (2002)
Another Japanese film well known in horror circles tells the story of a videotape filled with terrifying images leads to a phone call foretelling the viewers death in exactly seven days. Newspaper reporter Rachel Keller, played by Naomi Watts, tries to break the curse that kills four teenagers, but only has seven days to do it after watching the video herself.
Scare score: 155
3. The Blair Witch Project (1999) 
This low-budget classic managed to get inside people’s heads and send shivers up their spines.
The movie had 74 mentions of sleep and 54 mentions of nightmares in the reviews.
The film even put one person off horror movies for life. “The scenes and disturbing sounds stuck in my mind for weeks and [it took] weeks sleeping with the light on to recover. I grew up with the certainty that I’m not a fan of horror movies,” they wrote in their review.
Scare score: 166
2.Scream (1996)
This movie had 196 IMDB reviews that mentioned having impact on sleep – with 92 percent of them discussing having nightmares.
“The first time I saw it I had nightmares for weeks and I couldn’t sleep,” one unfortunate reviewer wrote.
Scare score: 196
1. Insidious (2010)
The movie had the highest scare score, generated 206 IMDB reviews related to a poor night’s sleep.
One reviewer even wrote: “You know when a horror movie has done its job? When it scares you both in the theatre, and hours later when you try to sleep at night. Tonight, I will have lots of trouble sleeping.”
Scare score: 206
If you become plagued with nightmares after watching these movies, Adams has some tips on what to do about it.
“Nightmares often occur when we’re feeling stressed and anxious, so a good way to reduce the risk of bad dreams disrupting sleep is to focus on winding down before bed,” he told Newsweek. “The aim is to encourage your body to spend more time in the deep sleep phase, rather than the dreaming stages of sleep.
“You can do this by practicing certain mindfulness techniques each night during your bedtime routine, and creating a sleep schedule. These will allow your mind and body to relax before you even get under the covers.”
He also encouraged those suffering nightmares to journal their thoughts to help clear any anxious thoughts and avoid stimulating media in the hours before bedtime, allowing for a calmer emotional state for sleep.
Adams said that there are habits to ensure good sleep, such as setting a consistent sleep schedule so you know when it’s time for your body to wind down before bed. Being strict about exposure to blue light, from devices like laptop and phones, will also help sleep.
For those struggling to sleep because of loud noise, he recommended noise cancelling headphones or listening to “brown noise” videos on Youtube. Brown noise is a low natural sound, such as thunder or rainfall, which can focus the mind and help people drift off to sleep.
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