Movies are one of the biggest sources of entertainment for people. Even with the availability of online movies, they still prefer to watch movies at several movie theatres. This is because of what each cinema offers; the outstanding digital and volume quality, especially when watching 3D and 4D films. Do not forget the comfortable seats, cheesy popcorn, and tasty nachos! It can also be a form of escapism, in which you run away from all the problems and stress, even just for a while.

Movies are divided into categories, such as drama, thriller, romance, horror, comedy, history, science fiction, action, mystery, etc. Whatever the genre, movies are also more exciting and enjoyable to watch when with other movie-goers, because you share every emotion, every shock, and every tear with them. They simply know how and why you feel that way at that moment.

Knowing some of the reasons why people watch movies at the cinemas, explains how films are declared to be top-grossing like these horror movies.

Horror movies are defined as “unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.”

Horror movies possess a common theme, and usually repeat the same concepts from time to time. But even so, people are still attracted to them. Here are the 15 inspirations for the top-grossing horror movies.

15. The Sixth Sense (1999)

Director M. Night Shyamalan directed The Sixth Sense, that became a box-office hit that earned around 672.8 million dollars. With 40 million dollars, he created a horror-thriller film about a psychologist helping a kid who could see and talk to dead people, explaining its title. Shyamalan denied that the inspiration for his film was an episode from the Nickelodeon TV Series Are You Afraid of the Dark.

He did say that he was thinking of a young boy, who was on the stairs talking to no one. It stimulated the storyline of The Sixth Sense. “Then, in my mind, I was wondering if he was talking to the person that had died at that funeral,” he shared in an interview.

14. It (2017)

Before becoming a movie, It was a TV mini series. However, under the direction of Andy Muschietti, It beat The Sixth Sense. It took home 677.7 million dollars, excelling with more than 5 million dollars. It was based on the book of American author Stephen King with the same title. The movie is about seven friends who need to conquer their fears to win the deadly and threatening clown named Pennywise. The clown appears from the sewer every 27 years. The story was inspired by John Wayne Gacy, a real-life serial killer. He would act as a clown and go to children’s parties. He was called “The Clown Murderer”.

13. Jaws (1975)

Jaws was based on Peter Benchley’s novel. The story follows an enormous man-eating white shark that does violence to people on Amity Island, an imaginary resort town in England. The beachgoers track the white shark with the local police, marine biologist, and shark hunter. The author got the inspiration from his infatuation with sharks, and the book that he read about a fisherman who caught a great white shark. Benchley also had had an experience in catching sharks.

Thus, Jaws was created and recognized as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. The adapted story was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film earned 470.7 million dollars.

12. The Exorcist (1973)

As directed by William Friedkin, The Exorcist received 441.3 million dollars and became a box-office hit. It was adapted from William Peter Blatter’s book of the same title. The storyline was inspired by the exorcism case of a mysterious boy who was given the name “Roland Doe” or “Robbie Mannheim”, in 1949. The Roman Catholic Church even called several exorcists to drive the demons out the body of a young boy, and regain his sanity. Similarly, The Exorcist is about the effort of a mother to bring her daughter back from demonic possession. It was done through an exorcism led by two priests.

11. Signs (2002)

Another top-grossing horror movie by M. Night Shyamalan is Signs. This film brought home 408.2 million dollars. Signs is about a sequence of crop circles found in the cornfield of a former priest. These are the “signs” that the title is referring to. Later, the farm owner traces these “signs” to extraterrestrial life. This lead to the belief of the existence of aliens. The movie was based on an actual event in Wiltshire County, England, wherein strange crop circles came into view. To add to the peculiarity, Wiltshire Country is also the location of the mysterious Stonehenge, and West Kennet Long Barrow burial grounds.

Aside from those unusual crop circles, Shyamalan was also inspired by science fiction and horror movies entitled The Birds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Night of Living Dead.

10. Hannibal (2001)

Hannibal was directed by Ridley Scott as a sequel to The Silence of The Lambs (1991). Inspired by the book of Thomas Harris, the film adaptation of Hannibal earned 351.6 million dollars. The iconic serial killer Hannibal is the lead character in the film. The FBI Special Agent tries to arrest him before his former victim dies. However, Hannibal Lecter is not a mere illusion. He was inspired by an actual doctor and killer, whom the author accidentally met at a Mexican prison in the 1960s. He went there to have a short interview with Dykes Askew Simmons, a former mental patient who murdered three people, but fate led him to meet Dr. Salazar. Dr. Salazar saved the life of Simmons who tried to break away from jail.

9. Se7en (1995)

Se7en is a serial killer who gives hints about his murders with the seven deadly sins, namely envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath. Two detectives hunt down this serial killer for him to pay for his crimes.

David Fincher was the director of the film, whereas Andrew Kevin Walker was the screenwriter. Walker used to work at a New York City Tower Records store. Not fulfilling his dreams as a screenwriter leds to depression and misery. Thus, he came up with a script about the hunt for a killer who uses the seven deadly sins in his crimes. There is always a good side to everything, since the film gained 327.3 million dollars.

8. The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Directed by James Wan, both films follow the story of a couple named Ed and Lorrain Warren, who happen to be paranormal investigators. In The Conjuring (2013), they help a family drive out the evil spirits in their farmhouse. In The Conjuring 2 (2016), they fight the supernatural spirit in a house in North London. If truth be told, the story of the Warrens is not a work of fiction. It is based on a real-life story of the actual Ed and Lorrain Warren, who consider it a living to be paranormal investigators since the 1950s. They even have a collection of relics that they used in studying the metaphysical. It is found in their basement in Connecticut. The spine-chilling story raised 318 million dollars in the first film, and 320.2 million dollars in the sequel.

7. Van Helsing (2004)

Van Helsing has a lot of roots under the direction of Stephen Sommers. First, since Sommers admires Universal Horror Monster films from the 1930s to 1940s, the movie was a tribute to them. The story was also taken from the book Dracula by Bram Stoker. Then, a pastor named Helwing who studied vampires and werewolves three hundred years ago, inspired Stoker’s character called Abraham Van Helsing. Despite having several inspirations, the storyline remains the same – to stop Dracula from pursuing crueler wrongdoings. Van Helsing was assigned to hunt down Count Dracul in Transylvania, and put an end to his grave misconduct. It gained undesirable reviews, but it also earned 300.25 million dollars.

6. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Resident Evil: Afterlife was originally a survival horror video game by Capcom. It was known in Japan as Bio Hazard that was invented by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara. Then, it became the first 3D movie of the series directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It earned 300.22 million dollars.

Resident Evil: Afterlife is about a zombie virus, or t-virus, that shook the world. The lead character explores the world to find more survivors, but they fall into a trap wherein they are surrounded by zombies. The series was based on the Capcom game Sweet Home, but the latter was set within a mansion.

5. Ghostbusters (1984)

Evidently, Ghostbusters, directed by Ivan Reitman, is about three former parapsychology instructors who become ghost exterminators.

The writer Dan Aykroyd had a family history of spiritualists or psychics. His great-grandfather was a well-known psychic investigator in the 19^th century. Following his father’s footsteps, Aykroyd’s grandfather attempted to contact the spirit world with his Bell Telephone Company. Then, Aykroyd’s father was fond of books about the supernatural. This influenced Dan Aykroyd to write Ghostbusters, which took home 295.2 million dollars, but it was also because of an article that he read about parapsychology from one of the publications of American Society of Psychical Research.

4. Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island is based on the novel of Dennis Lehane with the same title. The movie is about a U.S. Marshal and his partner, who are trapped on an isolated and barren island. They are forced to face their fears to escape the island. Believe it or not, Lehane simply dreamt of the plot and wrote it when he woke up. “I fell asleep on a chair on a really stressful night and woke up and pretty much had the whole plot,” he shared in an interview. The movie adaptation was directed by Martin Scorsese. Lehane admitted that he was pretty much satisfied with Scorsese’s production. The viewers were, too, since it earned 294.8 million dollars.

3. Annabelle (2014) and Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Annabelle (2014) and Annabelle: Creation (2017) are prequels of The Conjuring, but these films focus more on the haunted doll named Annabelle. Annabelle (2014) was directed by John R. Leonetti whereas Annabelle: Creation (2017), was directed by David F. Sandberg. Both became box-office hits with more than 200 million dollars.

Some parts of the movie were based on a real doll. However, Annabelle is a rag doll, not a porcelain doll. It was also owned by a nursing student, Donna. It was given to her by her mother as a present. As reported to the Warrens, Donna and her roommate noticed that the doll moved gradually from one position to another. It was then found in different rooms. These events could be witnessed in the two movies.

2. World War Z (2013)

World War Z was based on the book of the same title by Max Brooks. The book was produced by Max Brooks’ fear of the spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). “I’m interested in how the population reacts, how we react as individuals, as a society, and as a planet. I find that much more terrifying and interesting than the (zombies) themselves,” he stated in an interview.

World War Z follows the story of a former United Nations (UN) investigator, who fights the lethal virus that is slowly eating the innocent and immunity of an individual. It turned the healthy people into brutal and unmanageable ones. The film was directed by Marc Foster. Its earnings reached 540 million dollars.

1. Paranormal Activity (2007)

Paranormal Activity is mainly about gathering evidence through video footages, to prove that supernatural beings reside in the house of the main characters, and the disturbances are not mere hallucinations. This storyline gained 107.92 million dollars. Though Paranormal Activity is not based on a real story, it is based on the real fears of Director Oren Peli.

Director Oren Peli assembled video cameras to record the strange disturbances in his house in San Diego, just like the couple in the first movie. He also admitted that he was afraid of ghosts, demons, and spiritual possessions. These fears of the director inspired Paranormal Activity.