Halloween 2025: Three Indians reveals horror movies that ruined their sleep

The eerie atmosphere of Halloween is creeping up on us and the only thing missing is that perfect horror flick to end your nightmdashor ruin your next few weeks While classic monsters gory slashers and mysterious murders rank high in popularity the films that end up terrorising us are often the ones that weaponize psychological dread and the fear of the unknownFrom the atmospheric terror of a Bollywood ghost story to the chilling realism of an unsolved serial killer case our readers confessed the movies that haunted their most vulnerable moments These confessions prove that the movies that stay with us arent about what we see but what we become convinced is waiting just out of sightI kept thinking that the killer is still out thereWhen people ask me which horror movie terrorised me they expect me to say something like The Exorcist or maybe a good old slasher but the movie that traumatized me was David Finchers Zodiacrdquo reveals Shikhar VishnoiThe issue wasnt the blood or the violence it was the crushing suffocating fear of a truly maddeningly unresolved case the marketing professional tells us ldquoThe film isnt about the sudden scares its about the deep psychological horror of three grown menmdasha cartoonist a reporter and a detectivemdashobsessing over a puzzle that has no final piece I spent the entire twoandahalf hours watching them destroy their lives trying to catch a ghostrdquo The idea that chaos can win and justice can fail is what bothered Vishnoi the most ldquoThat night my mind was racing with all the little details the sound of the pencil sketching suspects the cryptic cipher that was never fully broken and the final chilling implication that he was right there I kept thinking that the killer is still out there possibly just an old man now who got away with itrdquoAfter the adrenaline rush the movie provided the 34yearold ended up watching more thrilling content but the ones where murders are caught ldquoI had to force my brain to stop obsessing over the details I ended up pulling an allnighter watching documentaries about forensic science and cold case resolutions I watched the specials where they solve a 50yearold murder with a single strand of hair and a new database I needed to convince myself that in real life the police always eventually get their man I finally passed out from sheer exhaustion around 600 AM but only after watching three different segments on the history of fingerprinting he shareslsquoI had to make sure every single door in my house was lockedrsquoThe movie that destroyed her sleep schedule for a solid week was Raaz admits Jayantika Khanna Although the lawyer was quite young when she first saw the iconic movie starring Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu the sensory memory is etched in Khannarsquos mind ldquoIt wasnt just the jump scares it was the whole atmosphere of that desolate hotel in Ooty and the idea of a ghost being completely integrated into your life without you knowing The sound design was very eerie and amplified the sense of impending dread I remember checking all the windows convinced a pale figure was staring in But the worst part was that famous scene where the bedroom door keeps slamming shut on its ownmdashthat sound was stuck in my head for days Every creak in my apartment felt like a dramatic supernatural entrance she recallsWhen asked what helped her sleep at night Khanna shares My coping mechanism was a little obsessive I had to make sure every single door in my house including the cupboard doors was locked and jammed shut with a chair Then I would ask my younger sibling to talk to me until I fell asleep I needed a constant human voice to remind me I wasnt alone in that creepy hotellsquoI was convinced something was hiding behind the main doorrsquoldquoWhat I can never really forget is the lsquoHide and Claprsquo scene from The Conjuringrdquo says Shinjini Sharma Hailed by many as the scariest movie to have hit theatres The Conjuring tormented fans across the globe ldquoI watched it with friends and the moment that light goes out and you hear the clap clap coming closer followed by the demon Bathsheba appearing on top of the wardrobe I nearly jumped out of my skinrdquo Sharma remembers When asked if that scene haunted her for days to come the financial consultant shares ldquoBut the lingering effect was the belief that any sudden noise in the dark was a sign of demonic infestation For days I was convinced something was hiding behind the main door of my flat just waiting to be clapped outSince the Mumbai resident is not a big fan of the genre she relied to the tried and tested strategy of keeping as many lights on as possible Sharma recollects ldquoThis is embarrassing but my solution was a fullon prayer and light protocol I bought a set of those cheap brightly coloured LED fairy lights and placed them on every surface in my room Irsquod sleep with the lights on not because the light itself was protective but because the constant shimmering tacky colour made the room feel too cheerful and utterly undemonic You just cant summon an ancient evil in a room that looks like a cheap wedding receptionrdquo