That a Friday falls on the 13th day of a month is considered an omen of bad luck and a bad omen. Today, in honor of this date, take the opportunity to… characters from horror films that stuck in the memories of millions of people for decades and kept entire generations awake at night.

Films of this genre are a huge part of popular culture, and their fictional villains have become fearsome fuel for children, young people, and even adults. Below we present some of the terrifying and feared monsters, but unforgettable for many.

Count Dracula (Dracula)

Starring the actor Bela Lugosi in the leading role of Count Dracula, tells the story of a vampire who emigrates to England from Transylvania and feeds on the blood of living victims.

It is one of the most emblematic and terrifying universal horror films; has since surpassed the success of the 1931 film directed by Tod Browning The British Film Institute credited this film with establishing the popular image of the vampire on screen, stating that “the film horror genre was born with the release of Dracula.”

Pennywise (Item)

He is the antagonist of the horror novel Item by the American writer Stephen King from 1986. This terrifying clown represents an ancient evil entity that haunts children and sometimes adults. who live in Derry, Maine. It reappears approximately every 27 years, mainly in the form of Pennywise the dancing clown, who uses the variety of powers he possesses, such as the ability to change shape, manipulate reality and go unnoticed by others.

King stated this in a 2013 interview The idea for this character came about after he wondered what children were more afraid of than anything in the world and finally came up with clowns.

This villain was played by Tim Curry in the 1990 television adaptation and by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film adaptation and its 2019 sequel.

Michael Myers (Halloween)

One Halloween night, in 1963, Michael Myers, a little 6-year-old boy, stabs his sister to death. This is how the story begins bloodthirsty serial killer who has no psychological or supernatural explanation for his erratic behavior, and who has terrorized thousands of people since 1978.

He is the main antagonist in all 13 films of the franchise. The last delivery was Halloween endsa film that reunited actress Jamie Lee Curtis in the role of Laurie Strode, a character who fights Michael Myers.

Jigsaw (Saw)

John Kramer aka The puzzle killer or simply Jigsaw is the fictional protagonist of the Saw franchise, and one of the most intelligent and ruthless horror villains in history: he tortures his victims in different and painful ways. This character, played by actor Tobin Bell, managed to create a series of very complicated, confusing and strange plots and traps to put an end to the injustice he sees every day.