A new age of horror: 6 rising stars in the horror genre

One of the most exciting parts about being a horror fan is seeing actors you recognize from previous horror movies continue returning to the genre. While we are all well aware that Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth are the scream queens of today, others are just now beginning to make a name for themselves as horror actors.

Giancarlo Esposito

Esposito has been successful in the industry for a while now, but only recently has he begun to break into the horror scene. I'm sure you remember, in which Esposito played the mastermind of a group of criminals and then (spoiler) was revealed to be a vampire.

Esposito is commonly cast in serious roles, but he seems to have been able to have some more fun and loosen up in the horror genre, as he does in MaXXXine. He played sort of a caricature of 80's Hollywood talent agents, and he was frankly one of my favorite characters (aside from Maxine of course). It doesn't look like he's in any horror movies set to release soon, so we can only hope to see him back in the genre.

Kathryn Newton

Newton has been building up quite the horror movie portfolio, coming out on a high note with the horror comedy Freaky where she played both a regular high school girl and a psychotic killer trapped in the body of a regular high school girl.

Not too long afterward, she starred in Lisa Frankenstein, another horror comedy and twist on a classic movie. She must have known we couldn't get enough because Abigail was released shortly after, with her playing the hacker role of the criminal group. We'll soon see her in another horror movie titled DreamQuil. While not much information is available, the horror film is currently in post-production and centers around a nightmarish wellness retreat.

Dan Stevens

I promise this is the last actor from the movie Abigail on this list, but what can I say? It had a remarkable cast. Stevens played one of the more plot-crucial criminals in Abigail and perhaps my favorite character of the movie.

After Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) reveals his plans, Stevens' character becomes a vampire and tries to completely take over, having a crazy face-off with Abigail and the final girl. In August, we'll see Stevens in Cuckoo alongside Hunter Schafer, a movie about a teen who moves with her father to the German Alps, where weird, unexplainable events occur.

Two exciting horror films back to back are already enough for me to recognize Stevens as a rising horror figure, but it seems that the next horror movie isn't far on the horizon. He and Al Pacino star in The Ritual, set to release next year, about two priests with different feelings on faith trying to save a possessed woman.

Sophie Thatcher

Thatcher is probably best known for her role in Yellowjackets, a horror TV series centered around a high school girls' soccer team that underwent many traumatic experiences. Recently, Thatcher starred in The Boogeyman, a movie that I did not recall until I looked at the pictures (it was a good horror movie, but the title doesn't help it stand out).

Thatcher played a traumatized teenager plagued by a malicious presence lurking in the dark. She had a small role in MaXXXine as an FX artist applying a cast of prosthetic mold to Maxine's head before leaving her to inevitably freak out. In November we will get to see Thatcher in Heretic, a horror thriller about two young religious women who are brought into the house of an exceedingly strange man (Hugh Grant).

David Dastmalchian

I've been familiar with Dastmalchian since Gotham on FX, and it's been a pleasure to see him on the big screen in my favorite genre. Dastmalchian had a small but important role in The Boogeyman, playing a deeply disturbed man who goes to the home of the main character (Sophie Thatcher) and ends up committing suicide.

Dastmalchian starred in Late Night with the Devil, a movie that I thought really stood out and was massively elevated by his performance. He plays a troubled Late Night host who attempts to top the TV charts during his live broadcast on Halloween night. We have a lot to look forward to from Dastmalchian.

Currently in post-production is Dust Bunny, a film from Bryan Fuller, the creator of the hit series Hannibal. Next month, we'll see him in AfrAId and then in September, we'll see him in Rosario, a supernatural horror film. While I am thrilled for Dust Bunny and curious to see Rosario, I don't quite have high hopes for AfrAId (I feel as though the AI premise is becoming oversaturated).

Georgina Campbell

You'll remember Campbell as the star of Barbarian - a movie that gave us all whiplash halfway through and made us just a little more afraid of Airbnb. Since then, Campbell's horror affiliation has continued to grow.

She starred in Netflix's Bird Box: Barcelona, an expansion of the Bird Box universe with added twists to the lore. She also starred in the film Lovely, Dark, and Deep as a ranger alone in the wilderness attempting to figure out the origins of a tragedy. Shortly after, she starred in T.I.M. (an AI horror movie), and most recently, she was in The Watchers, the fantasy horror that follows a group of strangers being stalked by unknown creatures.

She is currently in the production of a new slasher called Psycho Killer, where she plays a cop who hunts down a serial killer.