Brits in the West Midlands have voted for their scariest movies and TV shows of all time – and say creepy dolls, serial killers and cannibals are most likely to keep them up all night.

The Exorcist, Poltergeist and Psycho were voted the top three scariest movies, and the eighties were dubbed the most terrifying movie decade.

Three of the West Midlands’ top 10 scariest movies and TV shows were made in the decade of shoulder pads and pastel leg warmers, including Friday the 13th (1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

A new survey of 2,004 people by Atomik Research for Universal Parks and Resorts Halloween Horror Nights showed spiders, ghosts and zombies were also in the West Midland’s top 10 screen horrors.

A quarter (26%) of Brits from the West Midlands believe their irrational fears come from movies, another quarter (25%) put it down to scary TV programmes and 23% put it down to childhood events.

Thirty-eight per cent of British horror fans from the West Midlands say they are brave enough to sit through a scary movie or TV show by themselves – with the rest needing somebody else to share the fear.

Research for Universal Parks and Resorts Halloween Horror Nights, which feature haunted houses and scare zones themed around Stranger Things, Revenge of Chucky, Trick ‘r Treat, Scream, shows that scariest films and TV shows of all time for Brits from the West Midlands are:

  1. The Exorcist (1974)
  2. Poltergeist (1982)
  3. Psycho (1960)
  4. Saw (2004)
  5. Friday the 13th (1980)
  6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
  7. Saw (2004)
  8. The Walking Dead (2010)
  9. The Purge (2014)
  10. The Mummy (1999)
While watching horror films and TV shows, Brits in the West Midlands are most scared by:
  1. Creepy dolls (28%)
  2. Serial killers (28%)
  3. Cannibals (26%)
  4. Spiders (23%)
  5. Ghosts (21%)
  6. Zombies (19%)
  7. Aliens (17%)
  8. Snakes (17%)
  9. The Devil (16%)
  10. Clowns (15%)