We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the most obvious. A Nightmare on Elm Street should be a staple of any horror diet. When this first came out, it terrified and terrorized teenagers everywhere. Who didn’t lose sleep over this one?

More dark sci-fi than horror, but scary nonetheless. Dreamscape was the movie that set the standard for many future tech movies. Who doesn’t like a serial killer who travels through dreams?

Honestly, one of the weirdest and coolest movies wrapped up in one. Here we get deep into the mind of a killer…so deep…like literally. And it’s possibly one of the greatest depictions of that mind—scary and dark and almost Brazil-like. The visuals in The Cell will melt your brain.

The books are amazing, but this movie really makes one question “What is reality?” Do any of really know for sure? And despite only covering the first book, the other two delve deeper into that miasma of the living sleepers.

The Serpent and the Rainbow is an odd fit—a bit like a square peg and a round hole. But here we have some of the most interesting drug-induced living nightmares. And at points, it becomes difficult to draw the line between reality and the dream world. That’s something…

A classic book, we venture once more into the fever dream world between the overuse of drugs and complete and utter lack of sleep. The worlds blend into one, and the end result is wonderful.

We’ve never watched a movie that feels like a dream for the entire runtime, and Panos Cosmatos films do exactly that. Beyond the Black Rainbow won’t be for everybody, but if you can handle the weird, trippy filter this film puts in your eyes, then take the ticket, take the ride.

Japanese horror films rule, and this 1977 comedic horror movie takes you to a whimsical setting ripped straight from your goofiest dreams. We love Hausu and can’t watch it enough. It’s a dream worth recurring.

Don’t be fooled by the twenty-minute one-take dance sequence that opens this film—once the punch is served, Climax takes a quick but long descent into madness and a reality-altering state of mind. If you know, then you know.

Bliss will have you running for the shower when the credits roll because it’s dirty and sticky. It’s also a cool little mind-bender, a ninety-minute sidestep from the reality you know.