Movies
Hotels in Horror RATED: Which Horror Hotel is Best
We rate the best (and worst) hotels in horror. While most of the action takes place on the asphalt as psychotic hillbillies chase their prey down in trucks and slashers hide in the backseat of their target’s cars, both killers and victims alike need somewhere to stay on long nights. You need a place to lay your head down. You need a hotel. And because Horror Press always has the concerned traveler in mind, we’ve reviewed some classic horror movie hotels and motels and rated how nice they’d actually be to stay in.
As August’s theme is Road Trip Month here at Horror Press, there is one aspect of horror out on the open road you might have forgotten about. While most of the action takes place on the asphalt as psychotic hillbillies chase their prey down in trucks and slashers hide in the backseat of their target’s cars, both killers and victims alike need somewhere to stay on long nights. You need a place to lay your head down. You need a hotel. And because Horror Press always has the concerned traveler in mind, we’ve reviewed some classic hotels in horror and rated how nice they’d actually be to stay in.
We’re factoring in four key qualities and rating them on a scale of 1 to 10:
- The quality of the staff and management
- The cleanliness and comfort of the rooms
- The amenities available to guests
Oh, and most importantly, how cool I am with dying here (abbreviated as H.C.A.I.W.D.H?).
Because…it’s a horror movie hotel, you’re probably going to die there.
We’ll be beginning with the most unpleasant and working our way up to the best. Unsurprisingly, we start with…
RATING HOTELS IN HORROR
THE KAHIKI PALMS MOTEL (THE DEVILS REJECTS)
Even before the brutal torture and murders that took place here, the Kahiki Palms Motel wasn’t a sight for sore eyes when pulling off the highway. It’s got many of the same problems the Bates Motel has (more on that later), and the place is completely filthy even before the Firefly’s step foot in it.
Beyond that, you’re in the middle of Texas cooking in the heat, with no AC and an ice machine that has definitely got sand in it. No bueno. The exterior looks cool at least, just stop and take some photos out there without actually checking in.
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 1/10
ROOMS: 1/10
AMENITIES: 1/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 1/10
SEVEN DOORS HOTEL (THE BEYOND)
The Seven Doors Hotel is smack dab in the southern United States, in a woody and almost swampy part of Louisiana, near New Orleans but sitting directly over one of the seven gates to hell. It’s in disrepair, like many of the others on the list, but that’s nothing a little tender care and love from the new management can’t fix!
Just kidding, this place is unfixable.
You should never stay at a hotel being run out of desperation. The owner, Liza, is hard up on cash and willing to put up with some supernatural nonsense to try and turn a profit, but she’s in way over her head. Some people just don’t have the heart or brains for hospitality, let alone hospitality when there’s some Lovecraftian black magic going on. An abundance of zombies and a possessed dog put this pretty low on the list of voluntary stays, especially when there aren’t any good views of nature to make up for it.
Steer clear of this weird antebellum health hazard if you can, although a one-night excursion might be your only choice if the state of Airbnb in New Orleans is as terrible as it is everywhere else.
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 3/10
ROOMS: 5/10
AMENITIES: 3/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 3/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 3/10
BATES MOTEL (PSYCHO FRANCHISE)
Let’s get all the iterations of this place out of the way, since they’re pretty much the same: they’re kind of sleepy, fairly dusty, and completely underserviced given they don’t get much business. The biggest highlight of staying here is that beautiful house out back, and you don’t even really get to enjoy that outside of seeing Norman pace in the window. Sorry, seeing Mother pace in the window. There’s a difference.
Assuming you are not a woman Bates falls in love with or someone investigating him, you’re pretty safe; after all, it’s just him. But it’s also just him running the motel. He is fairly nice when he isn’t consumed by a homicidal persona but remember: all it takes is one of his mental breakdowns happening during the night for him to be in a mumu walking around with a kitchen knife while the front desk phone is left ringing. Next thing you know, you’re waiting for room service while he’s cleaning up the remains of some private detective off the floor. You’re alive, but you’re also waiting for a cold, probably poorly cooked burger.
Staff and management get two points since it’s technically one guy with two personalities, but that’s being generous.
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 2/10
ROOMS: 4/10
AMENITIES: 3/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H.?: 6/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 4/10
THE HOTEL CORTEZ (AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL)
I’m not staying here, there’s like eight different ways you could die and none of them are good! Why would I ever—wait was that Lady Gaga?
STAFF AND MANAGEMENT: 10/10
ROOMS: 6/10
AMENITIES: 6/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 1/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 6/10
THE YANKEE PEDDLER INN (The Innkeepers)
I like Ti West’s directing, but I’m not going to Connecticut to sleep in a tough queen bed with a scratchy quilt. It could be worse, as we’ve seen with previous entries on this list, but it could also be better. Claire and Luke seem like pretty reliable employees, and as long as you don’t go around swinging crystal pendulums and disturbing the traumatized ghosts, you should be fine. 6’s across the board, I guess?
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 6/10
ROOMS: 6/10
AMENITIES: 6/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 6/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 6/10
THE DOLPHIN HOTEL (1408)
There is only one room in the hotel that is technically haunted, but we have to assume you’re getting that one because it’s kind of the whole premise of the movie. In which case, you have a 99% chance of dying in a horrible way, and you don’t get any rest or relaxation as the spirits haunting Room 1408 pump your brain full of harrowing illusions.
It’s not a very safe space for people wrestling with trauma or suffering from pre-existing mental health issues, but I guess what a haunted house is? Our protagonist, Mike, does manage to escape in the end (at least, one of the four endings this film has, I haven’t seen the others), but unless you have a bottle of 151-proof in your luggage to torch the place, you’re ironically kind of cooked.
Staff seemed nice when they aren’t letting you walk to your death, it’s got a good view, and you’ll at least have something interesting to write about if you make it out of there.
Editor, don’t even think about it.
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 7/10
ROOMS: 7/10
AMENITIES: 7/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 1/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 6/10
THE OVERLOOK HOTEL (THE SHINING, DOCTOR SLEEP)
A scary giant hedge maze, snow-blanketed exteriors, and a high-quality turn-of-the-century architectural experience. Good lord, it even has high vaulted ceilings and clean-cut interior design. There are even opportunities to go skiing nearby. The Overlook gets a bad rap for being the site of a bunch of gruesome killings, but in their defense, your honor, the hotel was just evil. All that other stuff happened because the vibes were off.
Is it possible to rehabilitate the place like the Torrance family tried? Not at all. Will you die if you stay there? Absolutely. Is it kind of worth it, cause the place is just so gorgeous? I’m not here to make that judgement for you, but you know you only get to travel so many times in your life, you might as well make the last one a bang.
You can always count on the management and other guests to be particularly friendly, helping you out of pickles like getting locked in a pantry. They enable your bad habits too, of course, but at least you’ll have company once you’ve frozen to death out there. Who knows, they might even put you in one of their cool time paradox photos!
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 8/10
ROOMS: 8/10
AMENITIES: 6/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 6/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 7/10
THE GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL (TWIN PEAKS)
This is objectively the right answer, no? The entire Great Northern Hotel is gorgeous with its rich, dark, wood interiors, lit warmly and designed with comfort in mind. It’s serene, has a beautiful look to it, and if you’re not Dale Cooper, your chances of getting shot in the stomach are zero to none!
And sure, the Horne Family that runs it is, on occasion, embroiled in scandal. And MAYBE Benjamin Horne is an irredeemable piece of garbage who wants to tear down the Ghostwood forest. And MAYBE he also owns a combination casino and brothel that he frequents. And MAYBE he’s partially responsible for the murder of a young woman who may or may not have been tortured to death by a demon/spirit/tulpa/doppleganger/Lynchian nightmare but…I mean, look at it! Tell me you wouldn’t want to stay there! Stop trying to take this away from me!
At least the Great Northern doesn’t have fish in its percolator.
STAFF & MANAGEMENT: 2/10
ROOMS: 10/10
AMENITIES: 10/10
H.C.A.I.W.D.H?: 10/10
HOTELS IN HORROR OVERALL RATING: 8/10
Shudder knows summer is the perfect time to watch scary things in air-conditioned places. Which is why the beloved streamer is giving us newer movies like Heresy, Whistle, This is Not a Test, and Smothered. While it’s always fun to see recent titles arrive alongside classics and deep cuts, my eye isn’t on the films this month. Most of my picks this May are television series and documentaries. Maybe that means I want longer comments with my media and an open library. Or perhaps I’m just reminding myself that I’m a cool nerd and making it your problem too. Whatever the case may be, I have curated another list of titles that I believe deserve our attention. Check out my top five priorities while surfing our favorite streamer below.
Tales From the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Our beloved 90s anthology is finally making its way to our most cherished streamer. As someone who hasn’t seen Tales From the Crypt since I was a tyke, I’m so giddy that I get to watch it as an adult. More importantly, I get to binge it as John Kassir (the voice of our favorite ghoul) intended. I have been floating since this news was announced at the Overlook Film Festival in April. My insomnia and my Crypt Keeper are about to be reunited, and all is going to be alright in my little world. Come for the celebrities and stay for the puns and wicked deaths. I sincerely hope you call out of work each Friday as a new season gets added to Shudder.
You can watch Tales From the Crypt: Season 1 on May 1st. Subsequent seasons will premiere on Fridays, concluding with Season 7 on June 12
Horror Noire: History of Black Horror (2019)
Based on Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book of the same name, Horror Noire: History of Black Horror is simply that girl. It unpacks the complicated history of Black people in the genre with humor, honesty, and heart. It even gets into the conversations no one seems to want to have and makes room for Black horror icons to actually be heard for once. You could hear the record scratch on Bluesky when this Shudder Original disappeared a few months ago. So, we can all rest easy knowing that it’s coming back home and we can continue to have it in our regular rotation. Horror Noire made many of us feel seen and made us better cinephiles and critics. It’s worth the Shudder subscription on its own if we’re being completely honest.
You can watch Horror Noire: History of Black Horror on May 4th.
The Terror: Devil in Silver (2026)
Your favorite unsettlingly stoic anthology has returned for a new season, and this time, Dan Stevens is in the mix. Stevens plays Pepper, a man with bad luck and a bad temper who gets himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. Any horror fan knows that’s the recipe for many horror bangers, and that’s why I will be sat. The cast also includes CCH Pounder, Judith Light, and Marin Ireland. However, my heart belongs to Karyn Kusama, who is in the director’s chair and the queen of tension. As a Momma Kusma stan account, I am so ready for her to raise my blood pressure and send me to the ER. The demonic duo of AMC+ and Shudder is cooking with this one.
You can watch episode one of The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will premiere weekly, concluding with the season finale on June 11th.
In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 (2024)
We all love to see our faves get together and discuss the horror eras we have romanticized. Which is why watching genre royalty unpack the “lost” decade of horror is something we all probably want to see. As a 90s kid, I feel like we ate pretty well in my day. So, I want to collect all of these stories like infinity stones. Some of the faces we can expect to see are Heather Langenkamp, John Carpenter, Frank Henenlotter, Tim Balme, and Michael Gross. My little nerd heart could bust, and I am happy Shudder is opening the library this May.
You can watch episode one of In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 on May 11th.
Something Is About to Happen (2023)
Things take a turn for a woman who loses her job as a computer programmer. The only movie in my roundup this month goes to the one I perhaps know the least about. Truthfully, I am just here for horror movies about women going through it. Excuse me as I gesture to the world and my bank account. More importantly, Spanish-language horror rarely fails me. So, I am willing to look past the two-hour and two-minute runtime. I am ignoring that it is listed as a romantic horror. I’m doing this because I expect my kind of chaos, and I hope I am right. From one down girl to another, I am rooting for this character on sight.
You can watch episode one of Something Is About to Happen on May 15th.
That is what I plan to use my Shudder Saturdays for this month. Let us know what you’re plotting to hit play on in the comments because we’re nosy.
Is anyone else remembering we have movies at home and logging in a lot of Netflix hours this spring? I know I am, and I keep finding more hidden treasures on this app. They collect so much international media and never tell us they have it. I find this frustrating as I pull up late to things I’m probably going to love. Quite a few foreign films make it into my lineup this month. Two of them I have never heard of before and are newer titles that should be getting some attention, in case they’re some of the best of their respective years. One is French, and we all need to revisit it for reasons that I’ll explain later.
Another thing worth noting about Netflix’s recent additions is an American show called Man on Fire. This serialized adaptation of A. J. Quinnell’s novel of the same name stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He’ll be playing the character my generation associates with Denzel Washington because of the 2004 film adaptation. As a nerd who has been wondering why Yahya hasn’t been on my screen for a minute, I will probably have finished binging this before you even make it to the end of this article. I digress! Here are the five movies I plan to watch this month on Netflix!
180 (2026)
An act of road rage leaves a young boy in critical condition and his father seeking revenge. As usual, Netflix has not really advertised this South African thriller. However, I love revenge and am always game for a new release. So, I’m happy the powers that be put this in the recent lineup. It looks good, which gives me hope that this is going to be a gritty and bloody adventure. Fingers crossed, a few of you also hit play on this one because I’d like more quality South African thrillers that are easily accessible in America. I’m tired of hunting them down years after the fact.
Benedetta (2021)
A nun has religious visions that threaten the core of the Church while she is also having a secret affair in the 17th century. You are probably confused as to why Paul Verhoeven’s French psychological romantic drama is in my Netflix round-up. Especially if you clocked the long run time, and now I love a 90-minute or less movie. Listen! If you give me a nun having visions and having a lesbian affair in a period piece, it is my sworn duty to tell everybody. It is also my job to rewatch it for reasons. Don’t say I never did anything for you!
Him (2025)
A young athlete discovers why you should never meet your heroes when he is invited to train with a football legend. People were way too mean to this movie. It’s giving Neon Demon and Black Swan for Black male athletes. It’s not perfect, but the aesthetics and vibes are on 10. More importantly, Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers deliver some pretty fantastic performances that keep you locked in. I’m excited to revisit it and see if I like it more (or less) than when I caught it in theaters. Hopefully, more people will do the same now that the more biased discourse has died down.
Mudborn (2025)
A spirit terrorizes a video-game designer and his pregnant wife. I have no idea what to expect from Meng-Ju Shieh’s Mandarin supernatural horror film. However, I’m excited to see what this spirit is about. Again, Netflix continues to drop the ball on advertising international films. So, it’s up to us to find it in the streets and raise the alarm. In a perfect world, this movie will be the nightmare fuel I’m always seeking out. However, at the end of the day, I’m just happy to show up and support international films helmed by people of color. It’s a win-win situation, however I look at it.
Scream (2022)
A new Ghostface is terrorizing Woodsboro 25 years after the original killing spree rocked the town. As a Wes Craven stan account and fan of Radio Silence, I was so happy this movie turned out awesome. I can still say this is one of my favorite horror wins of this decade because it showed this franchise still had some life in it. It also introduced us to our Core Four, led by my new favorite final girl, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera). As someone who enjoyed these first six movies, I will always clear my schedule for a marathon and am happy to see Scream (2022) on Netflix this month. I plan to rewatch it and continue being salty that I will never know how this new trilogy was supposed to end.
That’s what I have this month. Happy Netflixing to each and every one of you!
