Whether they’re called scream queens, final girls, or some other variation on the term, the actresses who face off against horror’s most frightening creatures are most of all survivors—of the legacy of the films in which they have appeared, if not always in the films themselves. For every Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, or Freddy Krueger, there’s at least one performer—typically female—who lives long enough to win moviegoers’ hearts, even after theirs has been excavated, quite rudely, from their chest. They’re our proxies, our objects of affection, and sometimes our best selves, not simply enduring but prevailing over forces that frequently seem too evil or powerful to defeat.
With all deference and respect to the amazing Barbara Crampton (and any other performers who prefer not to be called by this would-be term of esteem—they are considered royalty, after all), The A.V. Club has decided to rank the greatest scream queens of all time. Some of these are the people for whom the name was invented, and some have been instrumental in redefining it for new generations; but if they made this list, it’s because their work on screen has become synonymous with—and in some cases, has surpassed—the monsters they’ve faced.
This article originally published on October 18, 2022