Halloween might be when terrifying sociopaths like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees shine. But this time of year is about scares and pyschopaths. It’s also about having fun! And nothing captures both aspects of the spooky season better than horror-comedies. If you’re more focused on laughs than screams, though, which ones should you watch? If you’re looking for horror-comedies with more humor than terror, these are 13 of the funniest ever made.
13. Death Becomes Her
The horror pitch: Two aging frenemies determined to maintain their beauty and triumph over their most hated foe turn to an evil sorceress for the gift of eternal life and youth. Unfortunately for them that’s exactly what they both get, as they learn there are worse fates than death.
And boy is it really freaking funny to see them learn that lesson. Starring Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, and Bruce Willis, Death Becomes Her is campy perfection. The film features (obviously) amazing performances buoyed by a smart, hilarious script and incredible visual gags.
12. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
The horror pitch: Evil, magical monsters with a wide-range of terrifying abilities take over a New York City skyscraper.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch might be the most absurd movie on this list. We mean that in the best way. Joe Dante followed up his 1984 classic horror-comedy— which is more horror than comedy—with a chaotic film that goes all out for laughs. There aren’t really any scares in this absolutely bonkers sequel. It’s so wonderfully ridiculous it inspired an all-time great Key & Peele sketch. Gremlins 2 is the fever-dream of a madman.
11. One Cut of the Dead
The horror pitch: A desperate director conjures up the walking dead to make his zombie movie more realistic and cost-effective. But the cast and crew soon find themselves in a real-life horror film as things quickly spiral out of control.
This low-budget Japanese zom-com about the making of a low-budget Japanese zom-com is one of the most ingenuous horror-comedy films ever made. It’s also absolutely hysterical, as the fictional cast and crew in the film-within-a-film get turned into real zombies who are then put into their own film. One Cut of the Dead is really smart and creative, and it has layers and layers of great jokes and bits inside its layers and layers of storytelling.
10. Night of the Comet
The horror pitch: After a comet wipes out most living things on Earth two young girls must fight zombies and evil scientists if they want to avoid going extinct as well.
This low-budget 1984 sci-fi horror-comedy might be a surprise entry for some, but not for anyone who has seen it. Night of the Comet combines both slapstick and witty writing to create a memorable, funny classic that is equal parts hilarious, entertaining, and insightful. It not only deserves to be on this list, it deserves to be watched by everyone who loves great B-movies.
9. Ready or Not
The horror pitch: Instead of celebrating her wedding night, a new bride must fight for her life when her husband’s cursed family forces her to play the most dangerous game inside their mansion.
Some horror-comedies are funny because they’re witty and smart. Others are funny because they feature more broad-based humor that leans into the violent and gory elements of the genre. Ready or Not is both. This sharp, incisive film starring Samara Weaving has plenty to say about society while it’s also running around a haunted mansion finding more hilarious ways to off its despicable rich family.
8. Ravenous
The horror pitch: Soldiers stationed at an isolated military outpost in the 9th century find themselves under attack by a terrifying cannibal who is eager to go to war for his next human meal.
Everything about Ravenous‘s premise sounds like an amazing horror Western, but thanks to some solid performances (led by star Guy Pearce) the film offers up clever black comedy without sacrificing gore or terror. But what might be best about Ravenous is that it gets funnier the more you watch it, the true sign of a great horror-comedy.
7. Seed of Chucky
The horror pitch: Two resurrected killer dolls head to Hollywood to put an end to the movie being made about them.
Many long-running horror franchises eventually become de facto comedies, but the meta Seed of Chucky is different because it’s very intentionally a horror-comedy in every way. More importantly it’s really, really funny. The film stars Jennifer Tilly as herself playing Jennifer Tilly starring in a movie about Chucky and Tiffany, who are themselves resurrected by their child Glen/Glenda. It’s absolutely fantastic until the end…when it somehow gets even better.
6. Trick ‘r Treat
The horror pitch: The terror of Halloween comes to life across five twisted stories of death and mayhem set during the spookiest night of the year.
In a just world, Michael Dougherty would currently be making his seventh or eighth Trick ‘r Treat, but until the universe gets its act together we at least get to enjoy his anthology classic every October. Each of the film’s five shorts offers up both terror and humor alike, as you could make a compelling case this film should also be on our list of scariest horror-comedies. But ultimately we opted to include it on the funniest because rarely has a black comedy made us laugh so hard.
5. This Is the End
The horror pitch: Famous Hollywood celebrities left behind during the Rapture have to stave off demons, madness, and each other to try and survive the literal end of the world.
This Is the End featuring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride might be scene-for-scene the funniest horror-comedy ever. Each star plays a version of themselves that is not exactly kind to any of them, as all their actor insecurities and failings somehow make a literal nightmare even worse. The more dire their situation the funny the film gets.
4. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
The horror pitch: Two kind men trying to enjoy their new vacation home in the woods find themselves under attack by a cult of college kids with a death wish that want Tucker and Dale to join them in the afterlife.
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil turns a well-worn horror cliche into comedy gold. The movie totally inverts the heroes and villains of a traditional “terror in the woods” story. A series of misunderstandings, coincidences, and accidents lead a group of judgmental college kids to assume two local “hillbillies” are really psycho killers. What follows is a whole lot of death and a whole lot of laughs, it what is a truly brilliant horror-comedy classic that manages to be heartfelt and smart even while its being really funny.
3. Army of Darkness
The horror pitch: A man sent back in time must help a village stop an army of undead soldiers who seek The Book of the Dead, an evil tome that could unleash monstrous spirits that will destroy the realm of the living forever.
Sam Raimi’s third and final Evil Dead film is a horror-comedy classic and the antithesis of the original film which is a straight horror film. Bruce Campbell (or rather, every Bruce Campbell) holds nothing back from his comedy bag of tricks as Ash’s fight against evil leads him back in time where he becomes a general in a war with reanimated corpses and skeletons. The visuals during the last half of this film are among the funniest in horror-comedy history, but the way the skeleton soldiers talk like real people is just as hilarious.
2. Beetlejuice
The horror pitch: A recently deceased couple must navigate the afterlife while also trying help save a young girl now living in their old house from a powerful demon who wants to destroy the living for good.
For a film that feels like a pure comedy, Beetlejuice actually has some genuinely creepy scenes and sequences. They’re not enough to keep Tim Burton’s iconic film away from the top of this list, though. Michael Keaton’s Ghost With the Most establishes himself as the funniest bio-exorcist ever. He’s not the only source of comedy in the film, either. (How could he be when Catherine O’Hara is around?) The Netherworld and its recently deceased make for an all-time great setting for visual gags, one-liners, and absolutely absurd interactions.
The hilarious Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also could have made this list, but we wanted to spread the love.
1. Shaun of the Dead
The horror pitch: A man must lead his loved ones to safety through a horde of flesh-eating zombies overrunning London.
Shaun of the Dead is a dynamic, creative, all-time great horror-comedy. It’s also both the best zombie movie homage ever made and a perfect zombie movie unto itself. It features an amazing cast, amazing writing, and amazing directing. There’s not a single word, shot, or sequence that can be improved upon in anyway. There’s no praise you can heap on it that is unwarranted or over-the-top!
It’s absolute horror-comedy perfection, one of the funniest ever put to screen. And for all those reasons it’s truly worthy of being number one on our list.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who thinks the Cornetto Trilogy represents mankind’s peak. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
