Gothic horror is a genre that finds its roots in literature long before the invention of film.

Lily starts experiencing strange events, including hearing noises and hallucinations.

On the surface,I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the Houseis ahaunted house horror movie.

The poster for The Orphanage: a woman holds a baby while children’s hands reach for them

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Things start well, and the children befriend local teenager Allie (Taylor-Joy).

After Rose’s death, a malevolent spirit starts haunting the house.

Moreover, the characters are very complex and nuanced.

Polly is blindfolded and walking through a house in I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

Image via Netflix

Merricat is a very peculiar character who practices magic to protect her family.

Florence eventually agrees, thinking she can easily debunk the case but experiences events she cannot explain.

Taking place in a boys' boarding school post-World War I,The Awakeningnails the gothic horror atmosphere.

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6’The Orphanage' (2007)

Directed by J.

A. Bayonamade his debut in horror withThe Orphanage, which was produced byhorror maestroGuillermo del Toro.

Strange things start happening in the house, but Laura dismisses them until Simon disappears.

A group of siblings at the table together in Marrowbone.

Image via Universal Pictures

The Orphanageprioritizes the perspective of children.

On their first night, they are attacked by intruders, and Vera has a hard time moving on.

Incident in a Ghostlandheavilyexplores the theme of entrapment, a pillar of gothic horror.

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Prospero decides to lock himself in a castle alongside his aristocratic friends to wait the plague out.

The Tomb of Ligeiamixes gothic horror with romance.

The movie is characterized by its central themes of death and obsession while adding supernatural elements.

Merricat & Constance looking at each other in We Have Always Lived In The Castle

Image via Brainstorm Media

Ligeia’s presence is felt throughout the movie, whether through physical depictions or unexplainable events in the abbey.

It starsDaniel Radcliffeand follows Arthur Kipps, a lawyer struggling with the death of his wife during childbirth.

Although far from perfect,The Woman in Blackis guaranteed to terrifyIts audience.

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NEXT:13 Horror Movies That Are Almost Perfect

A surprised Florence looking on at something terrifying in ‘The Awakening.'

Image via Studiocanal UK

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Prince Prospero spreading his arms and looking intently ahead in The Masque of the Red Death

Image via American International Pictures

Verden Fell wearing a top hat and black shades looking ahead in The Tomb of Ligeia

Image via Anglo-Amalgamated/Warner-Pathé

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Arthur Kipps walking through a dilapidated garden in The Woman in Black.

Image via CBS Films

The woman in black movie poster

Dorian Grey next to a young woman in front of a grandfather clock in The Picture of Dorian Gray

Image via Loew’s Inc.

Horror

The Woman in Black

The Orphanage