Holidays are a great time for horror fans to try to convince their non-horror fan partners into the genre. Here is a list of 5 horror movies that are genuinely romantic AF you can put on for Valentine’s Day.

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After Midnight

          One of the roughest relationship evolutions to witness and of course experience is two people still very much in love, but growing apart when they realize their long term goals differ from one another.

          If you add in nightly visits by a predatory creature at their rural home, things get even more stressful and complicated.

          After Midnight is a love story first and foremost, about two people trying to find themselves and one another in the face of evolving circumstances. I don’t want to say too much more than that because I genuinely want you to watch this one.

          Suffice it to say it balances its creature feature and relationship story facets perfectly, and the chemistry and shared history between the two leads and supporting characters is palpable.

          It is a great movie any time of the year, but especially for valentine’s day.

 

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Vamps (2012)

          If there is one slam-dunk, brownie point earning entry on this list, it’s Vamps.

          My favorite thing about it is Krysten Ritter. The first thing I had ever seen her in was Breaking Bad and the second thing was Jessica Jones, so a grim heroin addict and a hard-boiled private investigator.

          Her character in Vamps is a bubblegum pop 90’s era girly girl and I can’t get enough of it.

          The premise is that she falls for a guy who just happens to be a descendant of the Van Helsing clan of vampire hunters.

          If you’re a hardcore horror fan and you’re watching this list just to find new movies to check out, let me warn you that Vamps barely, BARELY made it onto this list. Essentially if only made the cut because at one point a whole restaurant gets murdered and there is some immensely weird blood play.

          This is first and foremost a romantic comedy, with just a little horror flavor sprinkled on top.

          Like I said, slam dunk genre-crosser for Valentine’s Day.

 

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Warm Bodies (2013)

          Warm Bodies is what I would call a “compromise” film. It’s got cursing, it’s got blood, it’s got guns and action and zombies, oh my.

          But also, love can conquer death… or undeath, to be more specific.

          When a zombie eats the brains of a human survivor’s boyfriend, the memories he gains catches him some feelings.

          Turns out, the more focused a zombie gets on love, the more human they become, indicating a possible cure. Love itself!

          It’s a twee concept, but a fun romp. Like I said, a good compromise between horror and lovey dovey foo-foo stuff.

 

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Spontaneous (2020)

          High school is a time of immense stress. You’re trying to find out who you really are, your body is doing weird things down there—other places too, but mostly down there.

          Now imagine that on top of all of that, you could energetically explode into a cloud of gore at any time and no one knows why.

          That is the plot of Spontaneous. High schoolers are suddenly exploding into messes which would make the creators of Viscera Cleanup Duty say “I think that’s a bit much.”

          Amidst all this madness an irreverent love blossoms between Mara and Dylan as they live every moment like they may die the next, because they genuinely might.

          It’s very funny, very sweet and heartfelt, and as I said, has BUCKETS of gore to keep the horror hound sated.

 

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Spring (2014)

          Not only is Spring the most romantic film on this list, not only is it the most romantic horror film in existence, it is also by far the most romantic film I’ve seen of any genre and possibly the most romantic in the world.

          Can you tell I adore this movie?

          From the makers of Resolution and The Endless, films renowned for their incredibly relatable and realistic acting and character writing, Spring carries that excellence into putting the “Love” in “Lovecraftian.”

          A young man gets into some trouble at home and flees to Italy, where he meets a mysterious, intelligent and secretive woman, falling for her nearly immediately.

          What follows is possibly the most epic and simultaneously intimate love story put to film. Don’t @ me.