 2023 was a year for the books when it comes to horror and today I'm looking back at the year and sharing my favorite horror films and TV shows of the year. But before I get into it, I of course could not see every single horror release this year and some notable things that I did not get the chance to see are Evil Dead Rise, Saw X, The Fall of the House of Usher, Chucky Season 3, among a few others so if your favorite does not make an appearance on my list, it probably means I did not watch it. Make sure you stay tuned to the end of the video to see the shows and movies that you guys voted the best of the year because some of those titles also make it some recognition there as well. But without further ado, let's start out with the best horror TV shows of the year. Frankly I only watched about 6 TV shows this year that qualify as horror so I've got a top 5 for y'all but let's consider number 5 and number 4 honorable mentions. Second at number 5 is The Other Black Girl, a show developed by Zacchia Delilah Harris and Rashida Jones based on the novel by Zacchia Delilah Harris. The show is about Nella, played by Sinclair Daniel who works as an editor's assistant at a prominent book publisher in New York, where she is also the only black person working there. That is until Hazel starts working alongside her, which seems great at first but the plot eventually turns into a supernatural thriller surrounding these two characters. There are some great things at play in this show, particularly the cast, Sinclair Daniel and Ashley Murray, who play Nella and Hazel, are able to roll with all of the punches that this show throws at them. Britney at Abumala, who plays Nella's protective best friend, is also a standout performance as well in the series. The story and the visuals though do leave some things to be desired in my opinion. As much as I was invested in the characters and the mystery of The Other Black Girl, I found myself pretty disappointed with the way the show ends. The show looks fine, but the cinematography often feels like it's out of a procedural show and not a psychological thriller. But if any of what I just said interests you, The Other Black Girl is a gripping, sometimes silly, but overall fun season of television. Next at number four we have American Horror Story Season 3 Part 1, the four episode Halloween event. These episodes feature stories about a maliciously manipulative online friend, a murderous artificial intelligence, a model whose life is transformed by a tapeworm, and a man who wakes up with a mysterious organ implanted inside of him. I just reviewed this season in its own video, so be sure to check that out, but while these four episodes aren't perfect, they are extremely promising when compared to some of the stories, this spinoff has subjected us to over its first two seasons. These stand out performances by Laura Kariuki and Leila Robbins, Havana Rose Lu, Emily Haleen, Reed Scott, and Jessica Bardin. American Horror Story 3 has definitely got a stacked cast. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on this season, again, you can check out my full review, but let's move on to my top three horror shows of the year. These are the ones we really should be writing home about. Coming in at number three I have Swarm, created by Janine Neighbors and Donald Glover. Let me just say this, I don't think the story of the show completely worked for me, but Swarm more than makes up for this in its deliciously disgusting visual style and its exceptional performances by Dominique Fishback, who plays the show's protagonist, Andrea, or Dre. At its core, Swarm is about the dangers of parasocial relationships and fandom. When her stand for Nyja, a pastiche of Beyonce, is all Dre has left, she stops at nothing to meet her idol, and she will also kill you if you speak badly about Nyja. I respond a lot to this as a concept, and when it works, it really works. Like in the episode featuring an incredible guest star spot from Billie Eilish, or in the format breaking Penultimate episode. The visuals are incredible, but Dominique Fishback's portrayal of Dre is unlike any performance I've seen, and alone is worth the watch of Swarm. With only 7 half hour episodes, Swarm is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already. My number 2 spot this year goes to Black Mirror Season 6, which series creator Charlie Brooker has described as a reset for the series, focusing less on the technology angle and more on horror and story set in the past. The season features 5 episodes, including a marital space drama set in an alternate 60s, a 70s dark comedy where a retail worker finds herself in an entanglement with a demon, a mid-2000s thriller about a desperate paparazzi with an unexpected supernatural twist, a modern day true crime story with some intense twists and turns, and a more typical Black Mirror episode where people basically sign away the rights to their likeness to a service like Netflix who then uses CGI to make a dramatized streaming program of your life. Like American Horror Stories, I reviewed this season's episodes in a video of its own, so if you want some more expanded thoughts on this season of Black Mirror, be sure to check that out. But my favorite episodes this season were definitely Demon 79 and Locke Henry. Honestly, the only one that I wasn't super into was Maisie Day, but the rest were all incredibly strong and impactful stories with great casts of characters. But Demon 79 and Locke Henry were on a completely different level and are ones I will probably find myself rewatching alongside my other Black Mirror favorites. My favorite performances in this season came from Anjana Vasan, Papa Asidu, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara, Myhalla Herald, Annie Murphy, and Salma Hayek. And finally, my favorite horror TV show of the year was Yellow Jackets Season 2. I finally got into Yellow Jackets over the summer and I was about to make a video on both seasons when I decided I would not be posting videos during the actor strike covering struck work, but I will definitely be doing that video in the first half of this next year because this show is just so damn good. That being said, I would consider Season 2 to be a slight step down from the television gold that Season 1 was, but nonetheless Yellow Jackets Season 2 gives our survivors a new threat to face in the wilderness, a bitter winter. And with this comes new, juicy character dynamics and some very chilling consequences. Not spoiling too much for that upcoming video, let me just point out the standout performances this season, which definitely for me are Melanie Linsky, Jasmine Savoy Brown, Tony Cyprus, Christina Ricci, Samantha Hanratty, and Juliette Lewis. Alright with my best TV shows out of the way, let's move into my favorite horror films of the year, but before we get into my top 10 list, let me just throw in a couple honorable mentions because honestly these two films came pretty close to being the number 10 spot. My honorable mentions are A Haunting in Venice which had some incredible visual moments and great performances and Totally Killer which was not super interesting visually but it was a light hearted and fun slasher which I think is always welcome to my eyes. With those out of the way, let's get into my top 10 and coming in at number 10 I have Five Nights at Freddy's. I've played a Five Nights at Freddy's game as much as anybody else who was a freshman in high school when the games first started coming out but I've never really been a big enough fan to really know any of the lore and I'm not sure if I paid any attention to the series past the third one. So for me Five Nights at Freddy's the movie was a fun and engaging movie that entertained the hell out of my inner 14 year old and in that same vein I'm sure that this film is doing exactly what it needs to be doing to those circles of its target audience which was the same target audience that I used to be in when the games were first coming out. Five Nights at Freddy's to put it simply is about a newly hired security guard at an abandoned pizza parlor inhabited by haunted animatronic animals and the film was directed by Emma Tammy and stars Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Lail and it's also the highest grossing horror film of the year. At my number 9 spot I have Missing. Missing was directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson in their feature directorial debuts and it serves as an anthological sequel to Anise Chaganti's 2018 film Searching but Missing is its own story about a teenager named June whose mother never returns from a trip with her boyfriend. Like in Searching the movie is told through June's computer screen so we piece the pieces together with her which definitely provides for an engaging and often times highly stressful experience. The film's subtle yet expansive world building allows the film to have many lives of its own as well because if you pay attention to the little Easter eggs sprinkled around the many websites that June explores you'll notice a superhero origin story playing out in real time as pointed out by Reddit user PLW37 and it also features references to Searching and Anise Chaganti's 2020 film entitled Run. Missing was an enthralling thriller with immense attention to detail that practically begs for a rewatch. Coming in at number 8 I have It's a Wonderful Knife which was directed by Tyler McIntyre and stars Jane Widop and Jess McLeoid. Much like Freaky was a slasher take on Freaky Friday, It's a Wonderful Knife is a slasher take on It's a Wonderful Life. The film is about Winnie and when her family refuses to process the traumatic events of the year prior where a couple of her friends died before Winnie herself killed their killer, Winnie wishes she was never born. When she finds herself in a reality where she never existed, she realizes that the killer is still on the loose. The movie is written by Michael Kennedy who co-wrote Freaky with Christopher Landon so that connection makes sense but honestly I liked It's a Wonderful Knife a lot more than I've liked the similar movies by Chris Landon like Happy Death Day or Freaky. Along those lines It's a Wonderful Knife is a good mix of comedy and traditional slasher sequences. It's not reinventing anything but it's got some really fun sequences and I love the killer's costume and the entire holiday horror element of the film really works for me. Of course. Don't go into this film with sky high expectations and It's a Wonderful Knife may pleasantly surprise you. Coming in at number 7 I have Infinity Pool which is directed by Brandon Cronenberg the son of David Cronenberg and Infinity Pool stars Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgar. It's no secret at this point that I am a massive Mia Goth fan as I'm sure you all are and I'll be honest and say that this film may not have made it on this list if Mia Goth wasn't starring in it. But that's just because Mia Goth brings so much to this film I mean the scene on the side of the road is one I could watch on loop for hours much like her work in Pearl. Infinity Pool is about a couple on vacation who slowly find themselves trapped in a foreign country and subjected to its unhinged criminal justice system where the wealthy can essentially pay to have clones made of them to die for their crimes. To make a long story short. In the film milks a lot of interesting scenarios out of this premise and it's got incredible character moments between Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgar as well as some visually rich sequences including these incredible masks. The costumes, production design and the entire art department on this film deserve all their flowers as does Mia Goth as usual. Coming in at number 6 I have Megan which again is another fun slasher film. 2023 was really the year for a fun comedic slasher wasn't it? Megan started the year off incredibly strong with her instantly iconic song and dance numbers and it was an all around strong sci-fi slasher story with a standout performance from Allison Williams. Megan was directed by Gerard Johnstone and was written by Akilah Cooper and it's already got a sequel in the works currently set for a January 2025 release. Megan is the perfect movie to put on for a more comedic horror experience without any over the top violence or horror. And taking my number 5 spot is a film that is the definition of over the top violence and horror talk to me which was directed by Danny and Michael Philippow. And it stars Sophie Wilde. I'm not typically the biggest fan of body horror like bones breaking or eyes coming out of the places where they're supposed to stay but I honestly thought I'd grown out of hiding behind my hands at a movie theater. But I was wrong as talk to me had me covering my eyes on the regular. Because this movie has some prolonged sequences of characters just destroying their own bodies and it is some really visceral and intense stuff. So if that stuff isn't for you maybe skip talk to me but despite myself wimping out of some of the more graphic scenes talk to me was one of the most original and memorable horror films I've seen this year. And it's also been one of the most successful at the box office. Talk to me is about a group of friends who become possessed by spirits when they hold hands with what turns out to be a severed and embalmed hand. The key is to keep these possessions short so that the spirits don't overstay their welcome. Like Megan talk to me has also already got a sequel in the works entitled talk to me with the filipaus returning to direct. Coming in at number four I have Bo is Afraid directed by Ari Aster and starring Joaquin Phoenix. Bo is Afraid has not made as many waves when compared to Ari Aster's two previous films and I think it makes sense when comparing the contents of these three films. Bo is Afraid is something entirely different than Hereditary and Midsummer. Bo is Afraid is an odyssey throughout Bo's life as he is pretty much dropped into a blender of chaos not super different from the reality of the present day. With a humongous runtime Bo is Afraid is filled to the brim with subliminal messaging, themes of mental health, masculinity and abuse and incredible visuals we have come to expect from Ari Aster. Frankly I would probably need to re-watch what was Afraid about two or three more times before I would even begin to unpack all that happens in this film. If I had to compare the film to his other work it would sit gracefully at that number three spot but I think the films are just again so different on many levels that really it's silly to even compare them. If you're a fan of the other two or you're at all interested in Bo is Afraid I definitely think you should check it out. Coming in at number three I have They Cloned Tyrone which is a sci-fi comedy horror thriller directed by Jewel Taylor and starring John Boyega, Taiona Paris and Jamie Foxx. Those three stars are what carry this genre bending thriller which similarly to Infinity Pool boils down to a government cloning conspiracy but that really is just the cherry on top of the cake when it comes to this film because the real treat of They Cloned Tyrone is the chemistry between these actors and more specifically John Boyega and Taiona Paris. Any other casting and I'm not sure this film works as well as it does. This movie too is a more light-hearted entry on the list so if you're truly only in it for the horror this definitely will not have enough for you but if you're looking for magnetic performances or stylish costumes and cinematography or even a gripping conspiracy mystery then They Cloned Tyrone will definitely satisfy that. Now for my number two spot I have Thanksgiving directed by Eli Roth and starring Nell Verlach, Patrick Dempsey and Addison Rae among others and it's a holiday themed slasher that lets you know from the opening shot that it's inspired by the holiday horror blueprints Black Christmas and Halloween. If you know me at all you know how much I love both Halloween and Black Christmas and you and I both know how taking these concepts into the 21st century doesn't always pan out so with my expectations pretty low I'm happy to say I was floored by Thanksgiving. It is its own thing despite paying homage to the classics and it's also incredibly funny. It's got a tone in line with Scream with some gruesome death scenes and really memorable characters and moments. I know memorable may be a low bar but if you've watched as much forgettable horror films as I have it means a lot if something can make a lasting impression on me and like I said in my review of Thanksgiving I think I will be rewatching this film a lot when it comes out on streaming and it might just become a Thanksgiving tradition. And finally my number one horror film of the year is Scream 6. Scream 6 was directed by Matt Bettolini-Oppen and Tyler Gillette and it stars Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courtney Cox, Jasmine Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Jack Champion, Dermot Moroney, and features the return of Hayden Panettiere as Kirby. I never got to see any of the first four Scream films in theaters and Scream 5 was not my favorite as you may know so I am honestly just so happy that I finally got to experience an incredible Scream film in theaters for the first time. Moving the franchise to New York City added a lot to this story. It gave us the new dynamic between Sam and Tara. It gave us the strengthening of the Core 4 group, the relationship between Tara and Chad, and it gave us some great utilization of a couple legacy characters and some really solid new characters. Shout out to Annika. This movie is firing on all cylinders. The performances are incredible. The Core 4 are like magic when they share a scene together. It's gorgeous visually and it has some of the best chase and combat sequence of any Scream film ever. Gale vs Ghostface was truly unlike any scene I've ever experienced just because I was genuinely so scared in that theater as was the rest of the audience that they might kill off Gale and then she kept fighting back. Was the Killer Twist entirely surprising? No but I give them credit for really going for it. At the end of the day this may have been my favorite theater going experience of all time and it's one of the best Scream films ever made in my opinion and I'll just leave it at that. But before I go I have two audience awards to give out to the show you voted as best horror TV show and the film you voted as best horror movie. First up let's find out what is the best horror TV show according to you guys. The nominees who got the most votes from you guys are Yellowjacket season 2, Swarm, Chucky season 3 part 1 and The Last of Us and the winner is Chucky season 3 part 1. Congratulations to Chucky and I promise I will finally get around to watching that entire show in 2024 and now for the nominees for the audience award for best horror movie. Talk to me, Thanksgiving, Saw X and Scream 6 and the winner is Talk to Me. Congratulations to Talk to Me. Clearly you all are much braver than me when it comes to smashing heads open and tearing eyeballs out of sockets and those are my horror highlights for 2023. Be sure to let me know your list in the comments below. I'd love to hear about any horror films I potentially missed this year as well. Leave this video a like and subscribe if you're not already and I will see you next time.