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To be among the best horror films, the entry should not only deliver frights and chills, it should be a work of art. Here are ten masterpieces that are worthy of hanging in the halls of the haunted mansion.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

You know the story. The dead rise from the grave to eat the living. Trapped in a farmhouse, survivors fight the invaders and each other. Filmed in a grainy documentary style, nobody escapes. George Romero shows us that, despite our best efforts, we can't cheat death.

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

After the success of FRANKENSTEIN, James Whale got a free hand to film anything he wanted. The result was a mix of religious allegory, Germanic expressionism, and dark humor. Boris Karloff plays the creature. Elsa Lanchester plays Mary Shelley as well as a bride that would make your hair stand on end.

DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)

A man drives up to a farmhouse. He gets the feeling he's been there before. He tells this to the guests who, in turn, each tell a ghost story. They include a murderous mirror, and a ventriloquist dummy with a mind of his own. The last story told is the man's. He murders one of the guests and everything goes black. When he comes to, he is in his car, driving up to a farmhouse. For bone chilling creepiness, this entry from 1945 still delivers.

THE EXORCIST (1974)

A little girl is possessed by the devil and a priest with shakable faith must help her. Ground breaking makeup and effects make this one that sent audiences screaming up the aisles and out into the streets.

JAWS (1975)

Steven Spielberg's masterpiece of primeval horror. The good people of Amity Island are no longer at the top of the food chain. Something out there is snacking on the bathers. Chief Brody, Quint, and Hooper are going to need a bigger boat.

PSYCHO (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock presents us with Norman Bates, a shy and unassuming young man with the biggest mother complex since Oedipus. The shower scene is a must see for film students. Hitchcock give us quick cuts and a few stabs to go with it.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)

Before Freddy and Jason, there was Leatherface. To him, people are just meat to be hung on a hook. At least, that's what we thought we saw. Director Tobe Hooper manipulates the camera so artfully, we can't tell for sure. In any case, Leatherface's mad waltz at the end of the film is unforgettable.

CARRIE (1976)

Here's one for the ladies. Carrie has been given the gift of psychic powers. Unfortunately, she's also been given a psychotic religious fanatic for a mother. When Carrie gets drenched in pig's blood, Brian DePalma gives us the best split screen sequence since Woodstock. That is, if Woodstock was bacchanalia of mass murder.

FREAKS (1932)

Director Tod Browning called upon his circus experiences to conjure up a film about circus freaks starring, you guessed it, actual circus freaks. When one of their owned is being poisoned by a beautiful trapeze artist, the freaks exact their revenge. Images of them slithering through the mud with knives caused the film to be banned for fifty years.

TARGETS (1968)

Boris Karloff plays an aging horror film star making his last public appearance. Meanwhile, Bobby, a psychotic young man with sniper training, goes on a murderous rampage. Their paths will cross. The old horror of monsters and vampires will meet up with the new horror of societal violence.

There you have it, ten masterpieces of horror, suitable for, umm, hanging. Pleasant dreams.

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