The horror genre is a fairly difficult genre to perfect. A successful blend of suspense, terror, interesting stories, characters we care about, and a subject or character that terrifies us to our core are all challenging feats to pull off. Add to that the fact that the horror genre is quite possibly the most subjective film genre out there. Audiences will have a different perception of what is and isn't scary. Whether this be ghosts, monsters, masked stalkers, or a more personal fear, filmmakers have a very difficult challenge to find what will terrify the majority of their audiences.

Update September 2, 2023: Spooky season has begun early and this list has been updated with even more great masters of horror.

However, a great director can pull this off seamlessly and can even create a brand-new fear that audiences didn't know they had. The greatest horror directors have blessed us with hit after hit of iconic horror movies, giving audiences standalone horror masterpieces and even kick-starting some of the biggest horror franchises of all time. But which horror directors are the best? Let's find out!

13 Mike Flanagan

karen gillan in oculus 2013
Relativity Media / Sierra/Affinity

Hailed by both critics and the horror community, Mike Flanagan shines in his character-driven horror projects. Fans praise the director for his writing and direction, and claim that any movie with Flanagan's name attached is guaranteed to be a quality movie. While being a hit director with fans and critics, many casual audiences are unaware of the director, or have never seen many of his projects. He is mostly well known for his Netflix original horror series, The Haunting of Hill House, its follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and the upcoming The Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan was also behind the terrifying character-driven Netflix series Midnight Mass, which was praised by fans and critics as per usual, with horror legend Stephen King giving a glowing review of the series.

Related: The Scariest Horror Movies of the Decade, So Far

Casual audiences may be unaware that Flanagan is behind hit horror movies like Oculus, Hush, Doctor Sleep, and Gerald's Game, all of which horror fans claim to be some of the most underappreciated horror movies of the past two decades, due to their precise pacing, perfect use of tension and suspense, and the personal character-driven stories.

12 David Cronenberg

Videodrome kiss TV
Universal Pictures

A pioneer (and possible creator) of the body horror subgenre, David Cronenberg's disregard for decency and rules is seen throughout his entire career. Only a few times, he's ever made a film outside the genre spectrum, and even so, he does a great job at being able to show a dark side of humankind when subjected to the unspeakable. It's been more than 20 years since he tackled anything resembling pure horror, and it's time for the Canadian director to make a comeback.

11 Sam Raimi

The Evil Dead cellar ghost
New Line Cinema

Modern audiences may recognize Sam Raimi as the man behind the iconic and popular Spider-Man trilogy and, more recently, Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness. However, the director is loved within the horror community, with fans praising Raimi for his memorable characters and the wacky and fun nature to his films.

Raimi's movies have become cult classics, with the hit Evil Dead franchise spawning a remake, a hit TV series, video games, and plentiful Ash Williams cameos throughout pop culture. Sam Raimi has directed other horror movies outside The Evil Dead franchise to critical success with Darkman and Drag Me To Hell. While Sam Raimi's style may not be for everyone, the acclaimed director is certainly loved by critics and horror fans.

10 Dario Argento

A scene from Suspiria
Produzioni Atlas Consorziate

The pioneer of Italian horror and giallo films, Dario Argento, has a very interesting career dedicated solely to horror. Only a couple of times, he experimented doing something different, but he didn't seem to have that much fun. His classics Suspiria, Inferno and Phenomena, are among the most interesting films of its specific kind, and definitely speak for Argento's ability to create otherworldly scenarios of horror. In 2022, he released his first movie in 10 years and of course, it was a horror film.

9 Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974
Bryanston Distributing Company

Tobe Hooper's legacy of iconic and terrifying horror flicks paved the way for how we see horror movies today. Creating twisted killers and ghosts in a suburban home, Tobe Hooper set a standard for horror movies that many directors still attempt to emulate. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1974 and Poltergeist in 1982, are considered by fans and critics to be Hooper's best works, with their horrifying imagery, terrifying realism, and Hooper's spine-chilling direction.

8 Brian De Palma

Piper Laurie in Carrie
United Artists

Widely regarded as an Alfred Hitchcock wannabe, Brian De Palma's body of work speaks for itself. Sure, he uses some of Hitchcock's elements and downright imitates the use of music, editing, and sometimes frame composition, but it's all good for homage purposes. After all, if you had the chance, wouldn't you want to pay tribute to your idols? More of a suspense filmmaker, de Palma's abilities in creating tension are palpable in classics like Blow Out and Dressed to Kill, but Carrie is a horror masterpiece, and no one can deny it.

7 James Wan

Madison Wolfe in The Conjuring 2
Warner Bros. Pictures

Reinventing horror for a modern audience with The Conjuring and Insidious and kick-starting the Saw franchise with frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell, James Wan is among the best modern horror filmmakers today. Giving audiences not only some of the best modern horror movies but some of the best and scariest horror movies of all time. Wan shines with his use of suspense, tension, and camera work. Fans praise the director's authentic horror style, making every film feel effortlessly scary. What's best about him is that he's not afraid of exploring other territories, as he showed with 2021's Malignant.

6 Guillermo del Toro

The Devil's Backbone Guillermo del Toro
Warner Sogefilms

A Mexican import with a very effective passion for monsters, Guillermo del Toro's cinema is unique and haunting and provides depth to other worlds that only he's been able to create. His stories are all character-driven, but the director makes sure he can explore the darkness in humans with duality-based scripts that feel like beautiful yet horrific renditions of our worst nature. The Devil's Backbone, The Shape of Water, Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth, and Hellboy stand out among his best works to date. He's the only winner of an Academy Award for Best Director in this list.

5 Jordan Peele

Get Out crying daniel kaluuya
Universal Pictures

Jordan Peele stunned critics and horror fans alike with the ingenious and important Get Out. After having an incredibly successful comedy career, no one could have prepared for how much Jordan Peele would shock the world with his first venture into horror. Little did we think that he could make three critically successful genre films. The horror community praises Peele's compelling and intelligent stories, along with the director's precise and important visual style, making every shot feel integral and important.

4 Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho dead marion
Paramount Pictures

Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense, not the master of horror. But we're going ahead and calling him a horror filmmaker because of what he did in classics like Psycho, Rope, Frenzy, and The Birds. He was able to bring out the horror because of the darkness his characters represented and the imaginary worlds he created to let us feel threatened by something uncontrollable. His use of music as a cinematic element is invasive and essential, but there's also his composition and camera work that constantly unsettled everyone.

3 George A. Romero

Night of the Living Dead by George Romero
Continental Distributing

Zombie movies are an important and integral sub-genre in horror, with many zombie movies being considered the best in the genre. However, zombies would not have been as big as they are today without the incredibly influential George A. Romero. Hailed as the inventor of the zombie movie, George A. Romero terrified audiences with the release of The Night of The Living Dead in 1968, introducing filmgoers to a brand-new kind of horror movie.

Related: 10 Horror Movies That Should Get a Prequel

Romero's zombie movies kicked off a hugely successful culture, which is well-loved and appreciated by horror fans today. Whatever your favorite zombie movie is, there is a likely chance you have George A. Romero to thank for that.

2 John Carpenter

Halloween 1978 (2)
Compass International Pictures

John Carpenter is perhaps the most revolutionary filmmaker in the horror and sci-fi genres, with iconic movies like Halloween, The Thing and The Fog. Halloween is one of the most important horror films to date, with many film schools still studying the iconic piece of cinema. Critics and audiences praise Carpenter's vision and ability to build suspense. Many fans claim that the score for Halloween (also composed by Carpenter) is one of the most iconic film scores of all time, and the director's perfect use of it in the film adds to how influential and iconic he is.

1 Wes Craven

Freddy Krueger A Nightmare on Elm Street
New Line Cinema

Wes Craven encapsulates everything that makes a great horror director: interesting stories, terrifying and iconic characters, spine-chilling music, precise tension and suspense, and an impeccable vision, which shines through in every movie. Behind some of the best horror franchises of all time with A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream, Wes Craven truly made his mark on the horror genre and cemented himself as one of the best and most influential horror directors of all time.

Scream is hailed by critics and fans as one of the best slashers of all time, as both an homage and spoof to all the films in the subgenre before it. Many fans praise the director for giving audiences a fresh and unique take on a genre full of lackluster killers with no memorable villains.