Halloween is a holiday of chills and thrills, so what better way to celebrate than counting down the bloodiest, meanest deaths in Halloween set horror. It is a holiday deeply rooted in the fall harvest and remembering our dead, after all. Michael Myers may have slaughtered his way through 9 films (and another on the way), but he doesn’t get to hog the bloody limelight; there’s plenty of gnarly deaths to go around this season. Some in the most unexpected places. Here’s the 10 goriest, most brutal deaths to splatter across the screen in Halloween set horror movies.
Slugs – Infested Dinner Meeting
From co-writer/director Juan Piquer Simon, the director behind ultra gory ‘80s slasher Pieces, this creature feature is delightfully gruesome. Toxic waste turns garden slugs into carnivorous killers, and they are very messy eaters. Halloween is only a background detail in the small rural town where the slugs lay siege, but a final act sees the hero trying to put a stop to the toxic waste slugs amidst costumed party goers in a wooded Halloween celebration. Of all the gory demises, the most over the top is the one where the poor guy finds out why you should wash your produce well before you eat it.
Ginger Snaps – Werewolf Dinner
Poor Sam Miller. He had no affiliation at all with the Fitzgerald sisters until Brigitte enlisted his help after Ginger got bitten by a werewolf. On Halloween night, Sam teams up with Brigitte to try to cure Ginger of her lycanthropy, but it’s not that easy. First Ginger breaks his arm when he rebuffs her advances, then she later brutally mauls him. With labored breathing, he’s forced to watch Brigitte attempt to slurp up his blood, and when Ginger isn’t convinced of her sister’s devotion, well, let’s just say she hates being rejected more than once. Werewolf induced death is always vicious, but Sam really didn’t deserve that.
Deadly Friend – Slam Dunk
This Wes Craven film has one of horror’s most insane deaths of all time, so it earned a spot here. After mean neighbor Elvira (Anne Ramsey) ruthlessly destroyed robotic friend BB, Paul puts the robot’s microchip in newly dead Samantha (Kristy Swanson). The microchip takes over, turning Sam into a revenge-seeking killer machine. Cruel Elvira is on her hit list, and it turns out robots don’t understand the rules of basketball. It’s gory, physically impossible, and ridiculously fun.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch – Mask Meltdown
One of the biggest taboos in horror is killing children, and this sequel’s entire setup is about doing just that. The Silver Shamrock mask company has nefariously implanted their top-selling Halloween masks with a Stonehenge infused microchip, and a signal in their catchy earworm commercial triggers it to cause the mask wearer a twitchy, brain damage induced death. If that’s not painful enough, those nearby have to contend with the swarm of insects and snakes that’s unleashed. Even without the bloodshed, it’s intense, painful, and melty enough to earn a spot for its brutality.
Night of the Demons – Razorblade Apple Pie
The old man at the center of this death totally deserved it, but what a merciless way to go. The bookend story to the main plot, the film opens with this jerk man carrying home razorblades and apples, the clear intent to destroy any trick or treaters that dare show up at his house on Halloween night. His saintly wife bakes him a pie with the leftover apples, though he doesn’t find out until too late. It’s a violent, bloody departure that couldn’t have happened to a worthier guy. A great endcap to a horror movie that revels in holiday fun.
Trick ‘r Treat – Always Check Your Candy
This Halloween favorite interweaves various stories that teach the rules of the holiday, otherwise, death can ensue. There’s a number of great deaths, but the most gruesome belongs to Charlie, a diabetic who doesn’t bother to check his trick or treat candy for tampering before chowing down. Too bad it was spiked with cyanide, and Charlie is painfully destroyed from the inside out. It’s violent but fairly quick, and oh so very messy. It’s a terrible enough death, but then his killer decides to carve up his head as a jack o’lantern.
Murder Party – Art Gala Melee
Jeremy Saulnier’s feature debut may be way more comedic than the taut thrillers he’s come to be known for, but that doesn’t make it any less violent. This pitch black horror comedy, in which an unwitting victim is invited to a Halloween party to be slaughtered leads to a variety of brutal deaths. The entire final act is a bloodbath, making this one a tough call. But the winner goes to Bill, in costume as a Baseball Fury, who unleashes his pent-up rage against his fellow art students. When it’s not satiated, he goes on an ax-murdering spree in an adjacent art party. The blood flows free at this party.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers – Jamie Lloyd Harvested
The recasting of Jamie Lloyd was brutal enough, but the theatrical cut of this maligned sequel sees the fan favorite character dispatched in the most ruthless way in just the first act. After giving birth and then fleeing with the baby, Michael Myers chases her down and impales her on a corn thresher at a farm. It’s violent enough, but when she refuses to give up the baby, he turns the thresher on. Ouch.
House of 1000 Corpses – Dr. Satan’s Vivisection
The four friends that come upon the Firefly clan on Hallow’s Eve spend the evening and through Halloween night getting tortured. None of it is pleasant. But for Jerry, he suffers more than any of them. First, he’s partially scalped by Baby, then he’s vivisected by Dr. Satan himself in the underground layer. His girlfriend Denise finds him still alive, twitching and coughing up blood as Dr. Satan leans over his open chest cavity, surgical tools in hand. Jerry wanted a night of Halloween fun, and found himself a failed experiment instead.
Halloween II (2009) – Annie Brackett’s Bathroom Breakdown
Sometimes the most brutal deaths aren’t about the gore, but absolute emotional devastation. Whether you love or hate what Rob Zombie did with his two Halloween films, the death of Annie Brackett is a complete sucker punch. Michael Myers catches Annie off guard in her bathroom, and most of the violence happens off-screen. We see the blood-drenched aftermath, which is downright visceral. But what really drives this home in terms of brutality is Laurie Strode’s emotional breakdown as Annie dies in her arms. If you’re not moved yet, then just wait until Annie’s father Leigh arrives on the scene. Brad Dourif gives a heart-wrenching performance as the father grieving over his daughter’s death, and this is one horror death you really feel.