Full Breakdown
Academy Museum Unveils “The Horror Show” Exhibition
7/10/2026, 1:08:36 PM
Exhibition Overview
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open “The Horror Show” on September 26, 2026 in the Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery on the museum’s fourth floor. The 10-month exhibition runs through July 25, 2027 and is organized into six themed chambers—Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion and Ghosts. Each chamber presents rare original props, costumes, production materials and interactive displays that examine “why people love to be scared at the movies and how filmmakers satisfy that desire.”
Curatorial Leadership and Advisory Team
Senior Exhibitions Curator Jessica Niebel leads the project, assisted by Nicholas Barlow (Assistant Curator) and Alexandra James Salichs (Curatorial Assistant). Museum Director and President Amy Homma oversees the initiative. An advisory board includes actor Willem Dafoe, filmmaker Osgood Perkins, documentary filmmaker Ariel Baska, Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup artist Howard Berger, author-filmmaker Tananarive Due, and film scholar Angela Marie Smith.
Programming and Complementary Exhibits
“The Horror Show” is paired with a slate of public programs and film screenings:
- John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness retrospective series (starting September 26)
- 2026 Monster Mash on October 24, featuring the U.S. premiere of a 4K restoration of the 1958 film *Horror of Dracula*
- Museum After Dark Halloween night screening of *The Craft* (1996)
- “Carrie” 50th-anniversary screening on November 19, with Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek in attendance
- A January series focused on Hammer horror films
An adjacent, family-friendly exhibition titled “Zombies!” will occupy the Warner Bros. Gallery, offering an interactive look at zombie creation and cultural origins.
Data & Statistics
- Opening date: September 26, 2026
- Closing date: July 25, 2027
- Location: Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery, fourth floor, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Themed chambers: Six (Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion, Ghosts)
- Featured films and artifacts: *Get Out*, *The Hunger*, *Sinners*, *The Shining*, original *Psycho* storyboards, a mask from *Creature from the Black Lagoon*, costumes from *Midsommar*, and costumed figures of Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface and Art the Clown.
Official Statements & Responses
Museum Director Amy Homma praised the project, noting that the museum’s teams “created an immersive and thrilling journey through the history of horror films, making an exhibition that is both emotional and experiential.” Curator Jessica Niebel described the show as an exploration of horror’s “emotional, cultural, and symbolic power,” emphasizing its relevance to diverse communities. Advisory board members highlighted horror’s artistic independence and cultural significance, underscoring the genre’s lasting impact on cinema and society.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Cinema in general engages your sense of wonder, but horror can explode it. It is a popular form, born of modest financial resources and with a strong, lasting independent streak. And it has all the same possibilities for originality, inventiveness, and freedom that it did in its infancy.” — Willem Dafoe, Actor
- “ Added Perkins, “Horror is crucial to culture and cinema, and to our evolving understanding of what it means to be alive on earth.” — Osgood Perkins, Filmmaker
- “Our teams have done a phenomenal job creating an immersive and thrilling journey through the history of horror films, making an exhibition that is both emotional and experiential,” — Amy Homma, Director and President, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and Academy Collection
- “The Horror Show is an exploration of horror’s emotional, cultural, and symbolic power and examines why horror matters so deeply to many different types of communities,” — Jessica Niebel, Senior Exhibitions Curator
- “I couldn’t think of a bigger or better celebration of the films and stories that have impacted audiences so profoundly and for so long.” — Osgood Perkins, Filmmaker
The exhibition offers both scholars and casual fans a comprehensive, tactile survey of horror cinema’s evolution, while the parallel “ An adjacent interactive exhibit called Zombies!” exhibit provides a gentler entry point for younger audiences.
