Try not to shout. Fear is going through its own full moon moment. Thankfully, Bollywood left behind its glorious Ramsay Brothers films and the Bhatts’ cheesy horror specials for atmospheric thrills. Hollywood has given vampires a high-school update, making us fear cheerleaders, dolls, and robots. And with all the streaming networks, we have to be wary of fast-growing mushrooms, slow-moving corpses, Korean nuns, anti-aging drugs, and Japanese people who want to join us in group games.
The style seems different. There’s more meat in the horror stories, the shocks go beyond the jumpy, the jokes are meta, there are very real concerns woven into the bloody mix. Big studios are supporting horror content, A-listers are signing up for cuts or cuts, the Oscars are finally paying attention. In Bollywood, horror-comedies are moving beyond boilerplate blockbusters and streaming shows are giving space to the genre to slow down, go longer and get under your skin.
But as it is making its way into the mainstream, horror is becoming its own code. Dim the lights and grab something. We’re torching the scary new rental rules.
first accident
Old Testament: The dark characters, the bad women, that one guy who tells bad jokes – they’ll all be the first to die. Also on the list: Anyone who said, “I’ll be right back”. In Bollywood, it was usually a side character: a corrupt priest, an adulterous man, a goofy cop.
New rule: All murders have a purpose. In Sinners (2025), a white KKK couple are the first victims. In Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) and Nope (2022), black characters reach the end. But films now tear your heart quickly. A Quiet Place (2018) kills the youngest child of the Abbott family in the first scene; Midsommar (2019) begins with a murder-suicide. In Weapons (2025), Aunt Gladys, a loving lesbian couple, has her first casualty. Meanwhile, in Bollywood’s female-dominated ghost scene, no man is safe (unless it’s a family-friendly horror-comedy like Stree).
calling card
Old Testament: Horror used to be the neglected stepchild of cinema. Creature features would be made on the cheap, with the same haunted mansions, creaky mansions, sticky effects, and unbelievable storylines. The gore, torture and semi-obscenity didn’t help its credibility. After all, how many mystery movies are too many mystery movies?
New rule: Being afraid is a different kind of privilege now. Beau Is Afraid (2023) was so stylish, so effortless, that half of us are still trying to decode it. Get Out won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; The Substance (2024) for Best Actress. “In Bollywood, Tumbbad (2018) is an exercise in what can be done with digital cinematography,” says Meheli Sen, professor of South Asian and global cinema at Rutgers University. Varsha deserves the Best Supporting Actor award. Plus, horror’s modest budget means huge profits. She adds, “Stree 2 (2024) is a hit also because it costs much less than a star-driven tentpole.”
message
Old Testament: Slashers punished teenagers for sex or drugs. The formula was conservative: break the rules, die first.
New rule: If you don’t follow the news, the news will follow you like a horror movie. Peele made racism a monster in Get Out. I Saw the TV Glow (2024) explored trans identity; Weapons (2025) takes place in a school shooting. The Wolf (2022) screamed about deforestation. “Real life is even darker than horror,” says director Vishal Furia. “It’s unbearable to see a real old man exploiting a girl.” So, his film Chhori 2 (2025) depicts an ancient creature eating the ritual offerings of young girls.
real monster
Old Testament: The villains had clear faces: demons, ghosts, cursed tapes, masked killers. They can be destroyed by holy water, or sunlight.
New rule: The demon is within us. Smile (2022) transforms untreated trauma into an infectious curse; No One Will Save You (2023) combines alien invasion with social isolation. In Bollywood, Kaala (2022) wraps maternal pressure and artistic insecurity in Gothic hallucination. There is no exorcism. You either face your demons or become theirs.
give women their rights
Old Testament: Witches had to be very promiscuous women who corrupted good girls. Makeup artists worked overtime to make him look monstrous: wild hair, dry skin, bulging red eyes. “In Veerana (1988), Jasmine, under the influence of a witch, becomes a light-eyed mermaid who seduces and kills men,” says Sen. Female agency was so scary, it had to be demonized. The same sensual formula was followed in Bipasha Basu’s Raaz era. In Bhoot (2003) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), at least the pain of women was acknowledged; His demons took notice.
New rule: Tantrics are out, possessed women prefer to embrace their inner demons, thank you. Janhvi Kapoor runs away with herself in Roohi (2021). The demon – rotting skin, hind legs and all – ultimately succeeds in protecting the bride from her kidnapping. In Pari (2018) and Bulbul (2020), the female monsters are less monsters, more survivors. Stree (2018), turns the monster into the main character. Sen says, “All these years, women could not go out after dark. Now, North Indian men tremble because of woman power.” Stree 2 (2024) moves on – she saves the village from a lewd, headless monster. There is room for strange souls too. Lakshmi (2020) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (2024) are full of trans revenge.
pace and mood
Old Testament: Jump scares were money makers. So the scripts suddenly got a heavy dusting of screams. “In the ’80s, the Ramsay brothers literally had to throw a live cat into the frame,” says Sen.
New rule: Slow burning causes more damage. “Mainstream films mostly have room for the main plot,” says Unaiza Merchant, author of Killer Soup. “The series, with more runtime, allows for nuances, subplots, sidetracks, and backstories.” Pari changed Kolkata from its usual bright yellow to blue-grey; Nightingale is dominated by the color red, which symbolizes violence, sexuality and power. Even horror-comedies come with nuances. Sumit Arora, author of Stree, says, “The anticipation of the unknown is what works.” The scene in which Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) walks through dark, deserted streets calling the woman, has no ghosts, no jump scares. Yet it’s a fear every woman in the theater knows, and for once, men feel it too.
the Haunted house
Old Testament: You knew that if the house was “too cheap,” or had a basement, or everyone had to spend the night in the mansion, or walk through a bleak cemetery, something was wrong.
New rule: Spirits follow you everywhere. Host (2020) Turns Zoom Calls into Sense. Muskaan would escort patients to medical rooms. Indian ghosts also have limits. Munjya (2024) is based on Konkan folklore; Wolf explores the forests and local myth of Arunachal Pradesh. “The stories rooted in our folklore are more relevant,” says Furia. Her film Chhori (2021) is based on a sugarcane maze in rural Madhya Pradesh. “The labyrinth symbolizes the cult-like practices and rituals that we have adopted for generations, such as female foeticide. We are trapped in them.”
comic relief
Old Testament: Horror took itself seriously. The only laughs come from bad dubbing or camp – this is why Purana Mandir (1984) never gets old.
New rule: The humor is by design. In Weapons, when the principal, with a bruised face and bulging eyes, interrupts a basketball game, it’s both disturbing and reminiscent. The substance makes you want to pounce, even as you laugh at the bizarre Monstro Elisasu trying to wear an earring. In Stree 2 a severed head tries to bite a character’s buttocks. Even when the zombies attack, as they did in Go Goa Gone (2013), there’s still time to fight back smartly.
connection
Old Testament: Every horror movie ends neatly: the demon is defeated, the ghost is avenged, the house is sold.
New rule: everything is connected. X (2022), Pearl (2022), and Maxxin (2024) form a twisted Mia Goth rebirth saga. The Insidious (2010–present) and The Conjuring (2013–present) franchises share cursed artifacts and monsters. Stephen King’s novels inhabit a meta-horror world. In India, Maddock’s horror-comedy-poem combines Stree, Bhediya, Munjya and now Thamma. Even Maa (2025) and Shaitan (2024) are tied together. “Studios prefer films that can build on existing IP or develop into franchises,” Merchant says. Why let the ghosts rest when they can make profits?
From HT Brunch, October 25, 2025
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