The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has announced two new exhibitions dedicated to the horror genre, set to open just ahead of Halloween. According to Deadline, the museum will launch The Horror Show, an immersive presentation celebrating the cultural impact of horror cinema, alongside a family-friendly companion exhibit titled Zombies!. Both installations are scheduled to open to the public on September 26, 2026, and will remain on view through July 25, 2027.
The Horror Show is organized by Senior Exhibitions Curator Jessica Niebel, with support from Assistant Curator Nicholas Barlow, Curatorial Assistant Alexandra James Salichs, and THI Moving Image Lab Curatorial Fellow Bradford Nordeen. The exhibition begins with an atmospheric sound installation before leading visitors through a space called “The Hallway. ” This area connects six themed galleries: Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion, and Ghosts. Each gallery features settings populated by creatures, monsters, and artifacts from celebrated films in the genre.
The companion exhibition, Zombies! , is curated by Alexandra James Salichs and designed for visitors of all ages. It features a playful, pretend cemetery filled with visuals and sound. The space explores the origins of zombie lore through a retrospective of movie posters, ranging from White Zombie (1932) to Night of the Living Dead (1968). Additionally, the exhibit includes behind-the-scenes footage from films such as 28 Days Later (2002) to demonstrate how filmmakers create undead characters.
A key interactive element of the Zombies! exhibit is a custom animatronic puppet created specifically for the museum by Spectral Motion. The dual exhibitions provide a structured look at the history and production techniques of horror filmmaking within a museum context. The announcement confirms the specific dates, curatorial teams, and thematic breakdowns for both displays, offering horror audiences a detailed preview of the upcoming installations at the Academy Museum.