For years filmmakers have cottoned onto the fact that fears sell...whether it’s possessed children or shape-shifting clowns or family dogs being slaughtered by evil spirits. What's scares you the most? Here's a list of our top ten Halloween films.

The Babadook - 2014

News Shopper:

Following a widow as she tries to take care of her difficult son, things take a turn when the child believes a monster has come out of a story book. What could be scarier than a child that can see things that you can't? Can you handle it?

The Omen - 1976

News Shopper:

What could be scarier than a freaky kid? What about an even creepier nanny and some monstrous dogs? This chiller is creepy whether you are religious or not. It’s a perfect film for Halloween.

News Shopper: Tim Curry as Pennywise the clown in an adaptation of Stephen King's novel It

It - 2017 & 1990

Whichever version of Stephen King’s ‘It’ you choose to watch this Halloween you are sure to be sitting on the edge of your seat. Watch it through your fingers and don’t go home alone. The story revolves around a predatory shapeshifter which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims.

Killer Klowns from Outer space - 1988

News Shopper:

Clowns are obviously scary beasts. Are they as happy as their make-up suggests or are they plotting to kill you? In this film there are clowns that kill and they’re from outer space. It’s not as scary as ‘It’ but if you have a phobia of clowns, stay away.

News Shopper: CONTENDING WITH EVIL: As reflected in the 1973 film The Exorcist

The Exorcist - 1973

One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is said to be based loosely on actual events. After playing with a Ouija board and contacting a supposedly imaginary friend whom she calls Captain Howdy, 12-year-old daughter Regan begins acting strangely, including levitating, speaking in tongues, constantly using obscene language, and exhibiting abnormal strength. It falls to a veteran Catholic priest and exorcist to try to rid the child of the demon within her.

The Conjuring - 2013

News Shopper:

In 1971, a family move into a dilapidated farmhouse in Rhode Island. The dog refuses to enter the house and whilst playing a game of “hide and clap” the children find a boarded up entrance to a cellar. Paranormal events occur within the first few nights: all of the clocks stop at exactly 3:07 AM and the dog is found dead in the backyard. One night in bed, Christine encounters a malevolent spirit only she can see, prompting her to claim that the spirit wants her family dead.

Saw - 2004

News Shopper:

This is a particularly gory one. Adam, a photographer, awakens in a bathtub in a large dilapidated bathroom, and finds himself chained at the ankle to a pipe. Lawrence Gordon, an oncologist, is similarly shackled across the room, and between them is a corpse holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Lawrence realizes that the hacksaws in the room weren't meant for the chains, but for their feet and identifies their captor as the Jigsaw Killer, whom Lawrence knows of. Are you strong enough for this one?

News Shopper: Blair Witch in the woods failed to capture imaginations

Blair Witch Project - 1999

A group of students go to the woods to research the fabled Blair Witch. Locals tell them of Rustin Parr, a hermit who lived in the woods, who kidnapped eight children in the 1940s. After spending the night at a motel, the students explore the woods in north Burkittsville to research the legend. Along the way, they meet two fishermen, one of whom warns them that the woods are haunted. He also tells them of a young girl named Robin Weaver who went missing in 1888.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 1974

News Shopper:

On a mission to find a grave, group of friends go on a road trip on which they pick up a hitchhiker who talks about his family who worked at the old slaughterhouse. He cuts himself and when they don’t do as he says he slashes one of the friends' arms. When they run out of gas they stumble upon a nearby house. This is definitely a house they will remember. Leatherface is waiting for them.

The Silence of the Lambs - 1991

News Shopper:

FBI trainee and UVA graduate Clarice Starling is pulled from her training at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia, by Jack Crawford of the bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. He assigns her to interview Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist and incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer, whose insight might prove useful in the pursuit of a serial killer nicknamed "Buffalo Bill", who skins his female victims' corpse.

The Shining - 1980

News Shopper:

Directed by Stanley Kubrick after he reportedly turned down the chance to direct The Exorcist. It's the story of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic, who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker at an isolated hotel in the Colorado Rockies. He spends the winter with his wife and young son who possesses a psychic ability known as "the shining" that allows him to see the hotel's horrific past.

Any we've missed? Let us know your favourite horror films.