Photo By Emily Shur Courtesy of the Academy Museum
Just in time for Halloween, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is getting seriously spooky with two new exhibitions exploring the movies, monsters, and movie magic behind one of cinema’s most enduring genres.
Opening September 26, 2026, The Horror Show takes visitors on an immersive journey through horror’s many forms, from Gothic castles and psychological terror to science fiction, slashers, religion, and ghosts. The exhibition begins with a sound installation before leading visitors down “The Hallway”— a setting familiar to anyone who has ever watched a horror movie and thought, I definitely should not go down there.
May Queen Dress from Midsommar (Photos By Gail)
Six themed galleries explore films including Alien, The Exorcist, Get Out, Halloween, The Shining, The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Midsommar, Poltergeist, Ringu, and The Blair Witch Project. Along with iconic creatures, costumes, props, and other film objects, the exhibition looks behind the scenes at how filmmakers have used storytelling, design, special effects, and production techniques to scare the living daylights out of us.
Running alongside it is Zombies!, a family-friendly exhibition that takes a decidedly less terrifying look at everyone’s favorite undead movie monsters. Visitors can wander through a pretend cemetery while learning where zombie stories originated and how Hollywood transformed them into the shambling creatures we recognize today. Movie posters, behind-the-scenes footage, and an interactive animatronic puppet created for the museum by Spectral Motion reveal some of the movie magic involved in bringing the undead to life.
Together, The Horror Show and Zombies! offer two very different ways to explore why horror movies continue to fascinate use — from the genuinely creepy to the wonderfully ridiculous.
Both exhibitions open September 26, 2026, and remain on view through July 25, 2027, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Tickets are available in advance through the museum’s website and mobile app.