The Longest-Running Horror Franchise Is Not The One You Think
The relentless thirst for horror movies is about as insatiable as the bloodlust of the slashers and monsters that inhabit them, which is great, as it means we get more and more of them every year – and some franchises really lean into that idea.
Those pesky killers sure do have a funny way of coming back time and time again. Even death isn’t enough to stop many of them, as the likes of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees have proven over the decades.
Scream 7 is the latest addition to that particular series, with another Ghostface (or two) causing mayhem in Woodsboro 30 years after the first instalment. You might think that, with seven entries already (and an eighth in development), the series would easily be up there, but it’s not even close.
Forget Scream, The Witchcraft Franchise Is The Biggest Of Them All
In terms of the longest-running horror franchises (meaning: with the most number of entries, not oldest), Scream is actually way down the leaderboard – tied for 18th place with Paranormal Activity. The (mostly) Wes Craven creation is just behind Leprechaun, Child’s Play, and The Conjuring at the moment, all of which have eight movies apiece.
Ahead of that terrifying trio is the Alien franchise, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, and, rather surprisingly, The Amityville Horror, with nine movies in each of those franchises. To be fair, they’ve all been running since the ‘70s and early ‘80s, so it figures they’ve racked up decent numbers.
Still, they’re all nowhere near the top spot, which is currently held by the Witchcraft series with a whopping 16 movies. Witchcraft started in 1988 as a direct-to-video release, and to be honest, none of the subsequent films has been any more high-profile. The storylines haven’t changed much, either, each featuring a clan of evil witches looking to end the world, as well as weird sex scenes and overly complex lore.
If you’re really keen to dive into this bizarre series, you can watch the first movie on Tubi for free. The other 15 movies have been released sporadically up until 2016, with the most recent instalments getting meta and throwing shade at the previous films, so at least the filmmakers aren’t taking themselves too seriously.
Other Longest-Running Horror Franchises
Alongside Witchcraft, there are a few other B-movie sagas that have staked their claim on the horror franchise leaderboard, and there’s certainly a particular appeal to these kinds of trashy, balls-to-the-wall scares. Puppetmaster, for instance, is joint-second with Witchcraft, with 15 movies.
But it’s good to see some real quality among the top ten, as well. George A. Romero’s legendary zombie franchise, which began with Night of the Living Dead in 1968, also has 15 instalments now. Given the respectability of those first three movies, we can’t begrudge so many being made after.
Classic slashers like Halloween (13 movies), Friday the 13th (12 movies), and Hellraiser (11 movies) are all up there, too. We’ll see the latter climb up the table soon enough, too, with a sequel to the 2022 reboot on the way.
One of the more interesting franchises, though, is The Ring. There have been 14 movies to date about the cursed videotape, from the original Japanese version to American and Korean remakes. There have also been TV shows, short films, and even manga related to the horrifying Sadako (or Samara, in the US iteration), and we wouldn’t bet against more coming up in the future.
Currently on a ten-year hiatus, it doesn’t look like Witchcraft will be adding to its own tally any time soon. In the meantime, the number of Mummy movies is about to hit 16, as Lee Cronin’s The Mummy prepares for release in April 2026. If that’s successful, we will surely see a new solo champion emerge to break Witchcraft’s spell once and for all.
