4 Of The Most Exciting Horror Movies Of 2026 Will Release In May

May will start with a bang for horror fans as the first day of the month itself will mark the release of a highly anticipated film, Hokum. Starring Adam Scott of Severance's fame, Hokum centers on a horror novelist who finds himself in a haunted location when he visits Ireland to spread his parents' ashes. The movie has been directed by Damian McCarthy, who is best known for his work on films like Caveat and Oddity.

After Hokum, the month of May will not have any new horror releases up till the 15th. Exactly midway through the month, Curry Baker's Obsession will hit the big screens. After its TIFF premiere in 2025, the movie already boasts a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%, with critics calling it incredibly terrifying and also surprisingly funny.

Movie      Release Date

Hokum           May 1, 2026

Obsession     May 15, 2026

Passenger     May 29, 2026

Backrooms   May 29, 2026

Finally, May 2026 will end with two more horror movies, one of which has a lot of hype around it. On May 29, viewers can not only watch the highly anticipated adaptation of the Backrooms creepypasta but also check out André Øvredal's Passenger. Since Backrooms is based on the famous creepypasta of the same name, it is already one of the most popular flicks of 2026. It also seems quite promising in its first teaser.

Passenger, too, should not be slept on, though, because its director, André Øvredal, has previously given us some incredible horror movies like The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Trollhunter. With so many potentially great horror movies scheduled to be released in May, it is hard not to wait for the upcoming month.

Obsession's early reviews suggest that it is already up there among 2026's best horror movies. With Adam Scott as its lead and Damien Mc Carthy at its helm, Hokum, too, seems like a promising addition to the genre. André Øvredal's track record alone in the horror genre is enough to convince one to watch Passenger. 

Meanwhile, Backrooms is one movie no horror fan would miss out on, regardless of how it performs critically.

Its young director, Kane Parsons, is making his feature film debut with the movie. However, he has already put his creative vision and fascination for the original creepypasta on full display through found footage Backrooms YouTube videos. Like the Philippou brothers, who directed Talk to Me and Bring Her Back, he, too, could perfectly transition from YouTube to the big screen and deliver a breakout horror hit that feels both internet-born and cinematically assured.