These 11 Scream Queens and Kings in Horror Movies Are All the rage

Anyone who regularlyof course you know. For everyone else: Scream Queens are actresses who appear in...give out shrill and loud screams of terror when things get tough - and that happens in classic onesof course often. The term Scream King is less well known, but of course they exist too. Therefore we havethe greatest scream queens and kingscompiled.

The horror genre is often a very conservative one with rigid rules (which of course can always be broken). But as a result, the screaming victims are and were often women, as a kind of embodiment of “innocence” – which, according to the patriarchal image of men, was always a “value” that needed to be protected.

The very first scream queen to be dubbed as such was the American actress Fay Wray. She played in a number of in the first half of the 1930swith loud screams of terror in threatening situations and became a scream queen. Her most famous film to date isKing Kong and the White Woman– a classic of the horror genre with the first appearance of the world-famous giant ape. Wray also appeared as a scream queen in films such asThe secret of the wax museum,Black MoonandCount Zaroff – genius of evilin front of the camera.

The great Jamie Lee Curtis is perhaps the most famous scream queen in the world. This is not just because they appear in horror classics likeThe Fogand in many parts of the legendaryHalloweenseries, but that she also managed to appear in major productions in other genres such asTrue Lies,A fish named WandaandKnives Out – Murder is a family affairto stay in business for decades. It wasn't until 2023 that she won her first Oscar - as best supporting actress for her role in the multiverse filmEverything Everywhere All At Once. But especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she appeared in many horror filmsProm Night – The Night of the ButcherandMonsters on the Night Expressthe persecuted heroine repeatedly lets out shrill screams of terror.

The actor Bruce Campbell has earned the reputation of THE male scream queen par excellence, who are then appropriately referred to as scream kings. The main reason for this is his leading roles in the legendaryDance of the devils-Row. Especially in the first two parts,Dance of the devilsfrom 1981 and its sequelDance of the Devils II – Now there’s even more dancingfrom 1987, Campbell screams his heart out in several scenes - and thereby ensured that screaming in horror films was no longer just a discriminatory thing for women. Campbell was also in films likeseries and various television series such asThe X-Files - The FBI's Sinister CasesandBurn Noticeto be seen, but his most legendary performances are still the ones inDance of the devilsand other horror flicks likeManiac CopandBloodnight.

Barbara Steele began her career as a model before making her breakthrough as an actress in 1960 - withThe hour when Dracula comes. Her subsequent films were all horror films, including likeThe Pendulum of Death,The terrible secret of Dr. HichcockandThe Burning Witch's Killing Curse. And she always played the traditional scream queen who was pursued by monsters, vampires and/or witches. However, she was always critical of her being called the Scream Queen and would have preferred to make more serious films. After all, it was also in Fellini's in 1963Eight and a halfand in 1966 in Volker Schlöndorff's film adaptationThe young Törlessto see.

The 89-year-old horror film actor Tom Atkins is also considered a legendary Scream King. He had his breakthrough in the detective series Serpico, but he became a legend as Scream King through his role in John Carpenter'sHalloween III,The Fog – fog of horrorandThe rattlesnake. In 1988 there was also the male lead role inManiac Cop, which makes him unforgettable to this day.

One of the most famous scream queens in the world sadly passed away twenty years ago: Janet Leigh. Her scream is probably one of the most famous in the entire horror film genre, as it was heard in one of the most legendary scenes of all: Alfred Hitchcock'sPsycho. In it she played the secretary Marion Crane, who was the murder victim of Norman Bates in a brutal knife attack in the well-known shower scene. For this she received a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination - and of course the reputation of being one of the best scream queens of all time.

Sandra Peabody's real name is Sandra Cassel and she aspired to a career as an actress from the mid-1960s - only with moderate success. But director Wes Craven became aware of Peabody and cast her in a loose remake of Ingmar Bergman'sThe Virgin Springon behalf ofThe last house on the left– through which she became a scream queen. However, the filming conditions were anything but pleasant. Her fellow actors bullied her. Because fellow actor Marc Sheffler thought Peabody didn't seem desperate enough in one scene, he threatened to throw her off a cliff. The actor David A. Hess even chased her at night with a knife and threatened to rape her. Terrible. Nevertheless, Peabody continued to appear in front of the camera, for example in horror films likeVoices Of Desire,Massage Parlour Murders!andLegacy Of Satan, further solidifying her image as a scream queen.

The actress Linda Blair is best known for one film: the horror classicThe Exorcist, in which she played the devil-possessed 12-year-old Regan Teresa MacNeil and even received an Oscar nomination for it. This made Blair not only a scream queen, but also a global star. The downside of the whole thing was that she was often only cast in similar roles, even though she would have liked to do something different. And so Blair later starred in horror films likeStranger in Our House,Hell NightandExorcist II – The Hereticin which she once again played the scream queen.

Actress Heather Langenkamp is also considered a legendary scream queen. And it is primarily thanks to this fact that she appeared in one of the most famous and influential horror films of the 1980s: inNightmare – Murderous dreamsabout serial killer Freddy Kruger. She acted in a whole series of scenes that have become deeply anchored in the collective memory of the horror community.

Also through theNightmare-series, the actor Mark Patton became famous, but through the second partNightmare II – Die Rache, in which he became the Scream King. Many even consider him to be the first Scream King ever and is also the first known Scream King from the LGBTQ+ community, making him a must-have on this list.

And the last scream queen on our list is Canadian actress Neve Campbell. This was mainly due to her portrayal of Sidney Prescott in theScreamseries by Wes Craven known internationally as Scream Queen. However, Campbell is also at home in many other genres and has also appeared in front of the camera for many TV series, most recently in the Netflix seriesThe Lincoln Lawyer.