It’s only a film, you say. You’ve undoubtedly spoken those things aloud to yourself while watching a scary horror movie. It’s a mantra that frequently enables us to calm ourselves down after panic episodes brought on by dread. But what happens when a film transcends its original purpose? What if an actual event inspired it? The facts of these spooky movies based on true stories may be changed for dramatic effect, but the stories are close enough to the happenings in real life to give you shivers up and down your spine. Remember that it’s just a movie when you’re watching if it helps. Just remember that it was real for somebody else. To put this list together, we have scoured the best in true crime on Netflix and spent hours streaming horrors on Prime. So, sit back and prepare to be genuinely horrified!
- Fire in the Sky – Travis Walton, who claims to have been abducted by aliens on November 5, 1975, while traveling home to Snowflake, Arizona, with a few friends, is the subject of the movie Fire in the Sky. Before coming back, Walton was away for five days. He wrote about his experiences in a book titled The Walton Experience, which was later revised and reissued under Fire in the Sky after the film’s release.
- The Exorcist – The book on which The Exorcist is based was inspired by the true story of a young child named Roland Doe, possessed by demons in 1949. Since the exorcism was so terrifying, novels about those who saw it have been written. This story will make you shiver for very valid reasons. The film starred Jason Miller, Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn, earning $112.3 million globally. The film has an IMDb rating of 8.1 and is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
- Above Suspicion – In the film Above Suspicion, FBI agent Mark Putnam tells the tale of starting an affair with Susan Smith, a local who was also his best informant. However, after moving to a mining town in Kentucky for his first assignment, everything turned spine-chillingly awful.
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Although the iconic 1974 horror film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and its entire series of sequels and remakes were entirely made up, some of their plot points were based on the infamous 1950s Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein. Gein admitted to a prior murder when he was apprehended for the murder of a local hardware store owner, and when he was later found, it was discovered that he had exhumed other bodies from nearby graves.
- The Haunting in Connecticut – A family in Connecticut relocates to a new home after learning that their son has cancer to be nearer to his medical team. They discover the hard way that sometimes horrible things happen to good people as the past of the house starts to come to light as they settle in. The 1980s alleged haunting of a family in Connecticut served as a loose inspiration for the film.
- Annabelle – Why are kids’ toys capable of being so terrifying? Based in the world of The Conjuring, Annabelle is a vintage porcelain doll cursed by a demon spirit that puts an end to those who would harm her violently. Real-life paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, own the Raggedy Anne doll known as Annabelle, which is purportedly haunted. Originally given as a gift to a nursing student in 1970, the doll was later claimed by a psychic medium to be possessed by the ghost of a deceased girl named Annabelle, who is thought to be responsible for two near-fatal encounters, one deadly accident and numerous demonic acts during the past 30 years.
- Things Heard & Seen – Things Heard & Seen on Netflix features Amanda Seyfried and James Norton as Catherine and George, a couple who relocate from the city to a historic house in the Hudson Valley. The film is based on Elizabeth Brundange’s novel All Things Cease to Appear. However, George keeps the house’s significance a secret from Catherine. Soon, Catherine starts to discover things that lead her on a quest to learn the terrifying truth about their new home. The time that Brundage spent in upstate New York with her husband and two daughters, who were 6 and 3 at the time, served as the basis for her novel. According to Brundage’s website, the family initially rented a dilapidated house but quickly learned that they weren’t the only ones there.
