Relationship Tips From 13 Iconic Horror Movie Couples
As you decide what you’re going to dress up as this Halloween, consider the origins of Halloween. People wore costumes made of the heads and skins of animals. The same animals they sacrificed to their deities. This should tell you how gruesome and spooky the origins of this holiday are. 1
If you’re thinking about coordinating costumes with your hunny this year, then let the ghastly history of Halloween and our roundup of some of the most iconic spooky couples guide you.
You’ll find out that your favorite horror movie couples offer more than costume inspo. They offer insight into your own relationship as well. Relax, this is going to be fun.
Morticia and Gomez Addams (The Addams Family)
Our list of iconic spooky couples wouldn’t be complete if we didn't include the bottomless pool of love between Morticia and Gomez Addams. Throughout the entire movie, you can see that Gomez is willing to do anything for Morticia, and visa versa. The only difference is their love language. Gomez is openly affectionate through his words and his actions. Whereas, Morticia shows her love through her actions and support for their family.
Do you know what your love language is?
Janet and Brad (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
At first, you may feel like Janet and Brad have that whole innocent, chivalry isn’t dead kind of romance. But once they set foot inside a transylvanian convention, their love for each other takes a back seat. Each of them gives into temptation for the sake of self-exploration instead of keeping each other safe in a strange castle in the middle of nowhere.
How do you and your partner look out for each other?
The Phantom and Christine (Phantom of the Opera)
The connection between the Phantom and Christine is one of codependency and manipulation. The man underneath the opera house (the Phantom) manipuates Christine from a young age. He makes her dreams of being a star come true. But when she falls for another man, the Phantom’s insecurities seep out into a path of destruction.
Have you ever considered if you or your partner have codependent tendencies?
Victor and Emily (The Corpse Bride)
A quite unusual pair, Victor marries Emily under false pretenses. Nervous about his human fiance and their impending marriage, he takes a walk and ends up in a cemetery. Clumsy as he is, Victor fumbles and the ring in his hands lands onto the finger of a corpse. Their unconventional marriage helps both Victor and Emily. Victor becomes sure of what he wants. And Emily finds peace in her death and shows affection by letting Victor marry his human fiance.
What’s that saying about if you love someone, set them free? Is that something you could do?
Jack and Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Jack and Sally make our hearts melt with their guarded love for each other. Sally doesn’t have the courage to tell Jack how she feels. But she shows it by helping him in his mischievous plan to steal Christmas even though she knows it isn’t who he is. Jack and Sally show us how great it is to have one person who truly understands you and has your back in life. That’s the kind of love that grounds you.
How does your partner show you support?
Evelyn and Lee Abbott (A Quiet Place)
They don’t have many scenes together in this post-apocalyptic horror, but Evelyn and Lee Abbott share a palpable love. The lengths they go to protect their family from creatures that feed off of sound is admirable. When they do share the screen, the trust and mutual respect they have for each other is clear. Somehow their bleak situation brings them closer together as a couple and as a family.
What do you feel silence can do for a relationship?
Ed and Lorraine Warren (The Conjuring)
Based off of a real couple, the actors who play Ed and Lorraine Warren portray their connection well. They're able to share the deepest and darkest parts of themselves without judgement. It’s clear that they hold a warm place in their hearts for each other, full of mutual understanding and trust. How else could they spend their lives tracking the supernatural?
Would you believe your partner if they told you they could see spirits?
Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride of Frankenstein (The Bride of Frankenstein)
These two were never actually a couple but for the sake of spookiness, they fit the bill nicely. Frankenstein creates The Bride of Frankenstein as a gift (peace offering) for the Monster. Unfortunately, when they animate her, she wants nothing to do with Frankenstein's Monster. Rejected, this leaves the Monster in a rage that results in the deaths of dozens.
How do you handle rejection?
Beetlejuice and Lydia (Beetlejuice)
Their relationship, or whatever it is, is a product of manipulation and blackmail. Beetlejuice plans to marry Lydia to remain in the living world and continue to wreak havoc. Wanting to help her friends and feeling like this is the only way to do it, Lydia caves. That isn’t how a relationship should begin, which makes its demise slightly sweeter.
How would you handle being blackmailed?
Jack and Wendy (The Shining)
A decent enough marriage unravels when Jack takes his family to an isolated hotel. Whether it's cabin-fever or the dark history of the hotel, Jack begins to devolve into a homicidal maniac. He has nothing but ill intentions as he berates Wendy and later tries to murder both Wendy and their son, Danny.
Do you feel like you could overcome the supernatural urge to murder a loved one?
Kim and Edward (Edward Scissorhands)
Two strangers, who were probably never meant to meet, fall for each other. Edward is an experiment gone terribly wrong, leaving him with blades for fingers. Kim is the daughter of the suburbia family who find and house Edward. Their relationship starts out rocky but turns into something warm and pure. They weren’t meant to care for each other, but they do. Still, they can never be together, and society is the reason why.
What would you do for love?
Columbus and Wichita (Zombieland)
They don't know each other’s real names but Columbus and Wichita connect in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. That’s pretty huge considering 98% of the population is the living dead. They appreciate each other’s backgrounds, goals, and strengths (after some very minor trust issues). Columbus and Wichita show us that love happens on its own terms, with very little help from us.
What do you believe in — fate or choice?
Sam and Molly (Ghost)
This may be more romance than horror but there’s a paranormal element to this movie, and I’m going with it. Sam and Molly are two opposite sides of a coin — Molly, an artist, and Sam, a banker. They fit together like two book covers hugging the middle made of sweet, sweet pages. Even after death, they’re love is undying and pure. Oh, the emotional rollercoaster this movie will take you on.
What would you do if the love of your life died?
None of these horror movie couples have a perfect relationship. That isn’t the point. Each couple represents something that makes a relationship healthy or not so healthy. They shower us with horror movie cliches in exchange for insight into our real romantic relationships.
This is why we love horror movies.
Putting yourself in the shoes of these iconic spooky couples can be strange. But it can also be oddly enlightening if you plan on using one of them as inspo for a night in — or out.
We did a little digging into some of the best horror movies for couples in case you choose to queue up the horror movie marathon — with or without costumes.
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