Photograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutThink of all the images from scary movies that have haunted your nightmares over the years—then picture them all in one place. That’s what’s in store for you at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ new exhibition, “The Horror Show,” which opens on Saturday, just in time for Halloween season. Consisting of 396 objects, plus video scenes, and covering 167 film titles, the exhibition is a comprehensive look at horror movies and why they mean so much to so many people, according to senior curator Jessica Niebel. It’s fun, illuminating, immersive—and genuinely creepy. When Freddy Krueger himself, a.k.a. actor Robert Englund, kicked off the press preview on Thursday, he expressed approval that horror is finally getting some respect in the cinema world, taking the place of genres like Westerns or mafia films in terms of prominence and popularity. His original costume from A Nightmare on Elm Street is just one of the nearly 400 treasures that had horror-movie lovers shrieking in delight during our visit.   Photograph: Emily Shur, ©Academy Museum FoundationThe hallway in “The Horror Show.” The exhibition is a comprehensive look at horror movies. It breaks the genre into six categories—Gothic, Psychological, Science, Religion, Ghosts and Slashers—each of which is filled with its own treasure trove of film props, costumes and clips. Upon entering, it’s like you’ve been dropped into a scary screenplay—a dark gallery sports stage directions projected on the walls, set to a soundscape of music, voices and sound effects to put you in the mood. You’re deposited at the end of a long hallway, like one you would walk down with dread in a scary movie—which is even more effective, thanks to some forced perspective.   Photograoh: Emily Shur, ©Academy Museum FoundationBela Lugosi’s cape from ‘Dracula’ (1931). The first stop on your right, the Gothic gallery focuses largely on the vampire and all of its filmic interpretations over the years (minus Twilight). Highlights include Bela Lugosi’s recently restored and dramatically displayed cape from Dracula (1931), Gary Oldman’s armadillo-like armor from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt’s costumes from Interview With the Vampire, Hailee Steinfeld’s blood-stained dress from Sinners, a prop corpse from The Hunger lying in a coffin, and another (standing) coffin, where you can pose for your own undead photo.   Photograph: Michael Juliano for Time OutJack Torrance costume from ‘The Shining’ at “The Horror Show” at the Academy Museum The Psychological gallery—white and brightly lit, it calls to mind a sanatorium—does a great job of presenting crowd-pleasing costumes and props while also connecting each film to the underlying mental disorder or struggle it portrays. Take a selfie with a dummy of Mrs. Bates, then see storyboards from Psycho and screen-used items including Jack Torrance’s costume and ax (The Shining), the pop-up book from The Babadook, Kathy Bates’s costume and special effects bust from Misery, Hannibal Lecter’s costume from The Silence of the Lambs, and the chair from Get Out. The Ghosts gallery was the creepiest of the bunch. Expect a lot of Poltergeist, a corpse dummy from The Ring, the eponymous phone from The Black Phone and, front-and-center, the Annabelle doll in her glass case. It’s also the most interactive—there’s a couch straight out of an ’80s living room where you can sit and watch movie clips, and an old PC set up at a desk, where you can peruse the original Blair Witch Project website.   Photograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out‘The Blair Witch Project’ at “The Horror Show” at the Academy Museum The most popular room by far was the Slashers gallery. Horror fans could probably visit just that one room and come away more than satisfied. Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface and Art the Clown all stand at the ready, while Saw’s Billy the Puppet, Chucky and his bride, and Pennywise’s head are all contained in glass cases. A wall of masks and weapons, and a montage of final-girl clips, complete the scene.   Photograph: Emily Shur, ©Academy Museum FoundationCostumes in the Religion gallery at “The Horror Show.” And there’s even more to see: Midsommar, The Conjuring 2, Weapons, Suspiria and Hellraiser costumes in the sunny Religion gallery, plus items from The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby. The Science gallery draws you in with Xenomorph from Alien: Romulus in a huge glass case. Other highlights include the special effects mask from The Substance, the original mask from Creature From the Black Lagoon and an effective vignette dedicated to Frankenstein, periodically lit up by lightning.   Photograph: Emily Shur, ©Academy Museum FoundationA display dedicated to ‘Frankenstein’ at “The Horror Show.” After revisiting nearly every horror title you can think of, there’s only one way out of the exhibition—and it drops you into the middle of your own scary movie. At the end of the hallway, you’ll find the Blood Room, a disconcertingly realistic re-creation of a slasher’s crime scene, with fake blood covering the walls and pooling onto the floor (don’t worry, it’s dried, so you don’t be leaving a trail when you leave).   Something I particularly loved about the show is that it gives credit to the literature that inspired horror movies—first editions of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (plus hand-written notes where he works out now-iconic details of vampires) are on display, as well as a 1825 edition of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. And, of course, you’ll see lots of film prop books, mostly in the Religion gallery, including the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis from the Evil Dead series and a spell book from Hansel Gretel: Witch Hunters. The show is sure to be a huge hit with horror aficionados. And if you’re a horror hater? Well, according to Academy Museum President Amy Homma, you just haven’t found your horror yet. By splitting the genre into six wide-ranging categories, the exhibition shows that what qualifies as a horror movie isn’t one-size-fits-all. So if you, say, can’t handle anything with a ghost (guilty), you might be drawn to Stephen King adaptations, which fall into the “psychological” category—scary, yes, but less likely to make you leave the lights on. And if nothing else, the exhibition offers an educational way to get into the Halloween spirit—without the threat of scare actors jumping out at you. ...read more read less