The Others (2001) Nicole Kidman, a fog-wrapped manor on Jersey in 1945, and two kids who can't be exposed to daylight. Alejandro Amenábar builds the whole thing out of closed doors and whispers. The ending rewires everything you just watched.

The Sixth Sense (1999) M. Night Shyamalan's ghost story is really about a scared kid (Haley Joel Osment) and the child psychologist (Bruce Willis) trying to reach him. Creepy in places, but the heart does the heavy lifting. If you somehow don't know the twist, guard it with your life.

The Innocents (1961) Deborah Kerr is a governess who comes to believe the two children in her care are haunted, or worse. It's adapted from Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, with Truman Capote co-writing the script. The scares are faces at windows and a figure across a lake, and they land hard.

The Haunting (1963) Robert Wise adapts Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and shows almost nothing. You get pounding on the walls, a door that bulges inward, and Julie Harris slowly coming apart. Proof that sound alone can wreck you.

The Orphanage (2007) J.A. Bayona's Spanish ghost story follows Belén Rueda as a mother whose son vanishes in the old orphanage where she grew up. Eerie first, tearjerker second. Heads up: one sudden accident scene is a jolt.

The Ring (2002) Naomi Watts watches a cursed videotape, the phone rings, and the clock starts: seven days. Gore Verbinski's remake runs on gray light, wet hair and one image you won't shake. The frightening faces are brief, and they aren't bloody.

The Conjuring (2013) Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, called to a Rhode Island farmhouse in 1971. James Wan gets more out of two hands clapping in the dark than most movies get from a chainsaw. Expect jump scares, not wounds.

A Quiet Place (2018) A family survives by never making a sound, because the creatures outside hunt by ear. John Krasinski directs and co-stars with Emily Blunt. It's the tensest pick here. Heads up: blood is limited to a couple of quick moments.

Get Out (2017) Daniel Kaluuya meets his girlfriend's parents, and the smiles start to feel wrong. Jordan Peele's debut scares you with awkward dinner talk and a teacup. Heads up: the final stretch turns violent, but most of the film is pure unease.

Rosemary's Baby (1968) Mia Farrow is a newlywed in a Manhattan apartment whose very friendly neighbors take a very close interest in her pregnancy. No blood required. Paranoia does the job, and Ruth Gordon steals every scene as the neighbor.

The Birds (1963) Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor and a seaside town where the birds stop acting like birds. The crows gathering on the schoolyard jungle gym is slow-build dread at its finest. Heads up: one brief shock image midway, then it's back to the tension.

Coraline (2009) For the true beginner. Henry Selick's stop-motion take on Neil Gaiman's story sends a girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) through a little door to a nicer family with buttons for eyes. Family-friendly and still properly creepy.