Los Angeles museum opens terrifying new exhibit where horror fans can face their favorite killers — just in time for spooky season

Step inside your favorite horror movie.

A newly opened exhibition at LA’s Academy Museum of Motion Pictures showcases items from nearly a century of horror films, bringing you closer than ever to your worst nightmare.

Opened last Saturday, “The Horror Show” exhibit displays of 396 objects from 167 popular horror titles.

The exhibition takes visitors through six categories: gothic, psychological, science, religion, ghosts and slashers.

The gothic gallery hosts items from vampire classics, including a cape from Dracula (1931) and Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt’s costumes from Interview with the Vampire (1994).

Items from newer hits are there too, like a blood-soaked dress worn by Hailee Steinfeld in Sinners (2025).

“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,” Senior Exhibitions Curator Jessica Niebel said in a press release.

“We are excited to celebrate the daring creativity of horror cinema with devoted fans and curious newcomers alike, inviting audiences to confront what frightens us.”

In the psychological gallery, you can get a look at the original storyboards for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Jack Torrance’s costume and ax from The Shining (1980) and the chair from Get Out (2017).

Willem Dafoe served on the advisory team for the exhibition. The Academy Award winner, a star of many horror films including American Psycho (2000) and Nosferatu (2024), said the horror genre has “all the same possibilities for originality, inventiveness, and freedom that it did in its infancy.”

“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,” the actor said in a press release.

The exhibit’s slasher gallery holds some the masks from some of the genre’s most iconic killers, including Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Ghostface and Art the Clown.

The science gallery showcases special effects prosthetics, creature designs and makeup concept artwork including a mask from The Substance (2024).

The religion gallery explores the witch, with items Suspiria (2018) and Weapons (2025). The gallery also contains historical documents from the Salem witch trails.

In the ghost gallery, prepare to be spooked.

There, visitors enter into a haunted living room displaying items from The Conjuring (2013), The Monkey (2025), Poltergeist (1982) and more.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is located at 6067 Wilshire Blvd.

The spooky exhibits runs through July 2027. It’s free to visit with museum admission, which runs $25 for adults and $19 for seniors 62 and older. Students can get in with ID for $15.

The exhibit explores themes that may not be suitable for all ages, so parental guidance is advised.

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