My Favorite Horror Movies

Hey, this is LaurenBeukes, best-selling novelist, and DaleHalvorsen aka award-winning cover designer Joey Hi-Fi. Along with artist Ryan Kelly, we're the co-creators of a brand new horror comic, Survivors' Club, our twisted love letter to scary movies. It's due out with vertigocomics in October 2015 - you can pre-order it right now. We thought it would be fun to talk up our favorite horror movies of all time (and damn, was that hard to narrow down) and how they influenced some of our creative choices in writing the comic. We'd love to hear about your favorite horror movies. You can also follow us on Twitter @laurenbeukes, @joeyhifi and @funrama.

The Thing (1982)

It was love at first Chest Defibrillation. One of my first exposures to horror films. After that I rented the film so many times from our local video store the tape had to be "retired." In this age of endless horror remakes and reboots, The Thing shows us that they can be amazing - if done right.

The Shining (1980)

The Kubrick master class in Horror. As one of my earliest exposures to horror films it holds a special place in my heart.

Fascinating on so many levels and it rewards repeated watching. The eerie and vast Overlook Hotel inspired Lauren and I to try push the haunted house trope with the Muskagee House in Survivors' Club.

Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack Torrance is similarly iconic. Introducing audiences to one of the most memorable lines in horror film history - "Here's Johnny!" It's how I knew that when he was cast as the Joker in Batman (1989) he would be perfect for the role.

The producer of Batman, Michael Uslan, knew it too. He drew a "Here's Johnny!" Jack Torrance/The Joker mash-up in 1980 - nine years before Tim Burton's Batman!

Honorable mentions: The Exorcist, A Tale Of Two Sisters, The Orphanage, Let The Right One In, Evil Dead (1981), Ringu

What horror films have stuck in your head? Share in the comments below!