Once upon a time, Nollywood haunted! Well, they still do horror just not like the past anymore.

Long before today’s influencer comedies and glossy love stories, Nigerian cinema had a thriving horror scene. It was loud, spiritual, unapologetically superstitious, and absolutely terrifying. These weren’t just movies with creepy music and fake blood. They were sermons. Cautionary tales. Cultural warnings wrapped in spiritual warfare and questionable CGI.

But for all their low-budget chaos, they stuck. They traumatised kids, gave parents new reasons to panic, and warped our sense of what was real. Some of us still flinch at cats. Some can’t see a yam in peace. Some can detect a “Joy” by a whiff (catch the Juju Stories reference here?) And to this day, there’s a generation that won’t walk past a roadside shrine without side-eyeing it. Here are 10 of the most unforgettable, nightmarish Nollywood horror films that scarred us for life, sometimes hilariously, often disturbingly.

Koto Aye (1989)

This Yoruba-language classic was a fever dream of witches, rituals, eerie chants and those iconic, jarring Nollywood sound effects. The film was so intense and realistic for its time that rumours began to spread when some cast members died in real life due to their connections with the film. People genuinely believed they were hunted by the spirits they portrayed. Its infamous witch dance scene, set to loud, unrelenting drums, left many scarred and deeply fearful of old women in white.

Agbara Nla (1992)

Mount Zion’s Christian horror epic still sits heavy in our collective memory. With its over-the-top spiritual battles and utterly strange visuals, like demons in glittering face paint or literal human sacrifices, it made sure you never looked at sin the same way again. Its heaven-and-hell sequences were so unhinged that many children feared they’d already missed the rapture. And if you’ve ever heard “Power belongs to God” screamed with reverb in your sleep, blame this one.

Nneka the Pretty Serpent (1994), Karishika (1996), and Sakobi: The Snake Girl (1998)

These three are grouped because they followed the same terrifying blueprint: beautiful women from the marine kingdom sent to destroy powerful men. Nneka transformed into a cat. In Karishika someone birthed a yam. Sakobi ate a man’s soul. They cemented the belief that women who were too beautiful, too bold, or too mysterious were probably spiritual threats. It’s also why a generation grew up referring to some women as “snakes” or “mami wata.”

Blood Money (1997)

If you’ve read Akinola the Squirrel as a kid, you might have heard this similar narrative told to you by your grandma in the evening. In Blood Money, a child picks money off the ground and turns into a chicken who was soon wheeled off to a ceremony. That was enough to scar us. Blood Money didn’t just warn against greed amongst other things, it practically threatened anyone who ever picked a Naira note off the road. It fed into urban legends about ritual killings and spiritual pacts. The film is part of why even now, some people cross the road suspiciously if they see money on the floor.

Oracle (1998)

This one turned ordinary household figurines into objects of suspicion. Oracle made you question every shadow at night. With its flying demonic creatures and dark, village-encoded spiritual messages, it convinced us that if you were out after dark without serious prayers and maybe a bodyguard, you were playing with fire. The paranoia was instant. Everyone knew someone who swore they saw “something” fly past their window.

Igodo (1999)

Epic and heavy. This was less horror and more mythic drama, but it traumatised in a different way. A group of brave men go on a journey to retrieve a sacred sword to save their village. They get hunted and killed one by one. The hero sacrifices himself. It felt unfair. Some watched this and got their first taste of sorrow and hopelessness. The painful message stinging: even the chosen one might die. And he did.

End of the Wicked (1999)

No other film did child witch hysteria like this films. Kids licking human flesh, summoning demons, and eating off people in their sleep. This was the blueprint for many churches to start witch-hunting children. The worst part was how seriously people took it. It wasn’t just a movie. It became “evidence” for spiritual attacks. Schools, churches, and homes turned paranoid. Some children were actually beaten, abandoned, or exorcised in real life.

Last Burial (2000)

Based on a real story, this film was the stuff of funeral nightmares. A man makes a spiritual covenant that his burial rites should not be handled by the church. But his family disobeys. Midway into the funeral, he wakes up inside the coffin. He refuses to die again and starts killing anyone who tries to bury him properly. Yes, pastors eventually win, but it left us all confused. Did the man’s last wish not matter? This film planted deep spiritual anxiety in many. What if your burial goes wrong?

Egg of Life (2003) and Odum na Akwa Eke (Year unknown)

Both are spiritual quests into the evil forest. In Egg of Life, a prince’s life depends on retrieving a sacred egg, so seven virgins are sent. They start dying, one by one. Only one survives, marries the prince, and lives. Odum na Akwa Eke flipped the script. This time, it’s a princess, and seven male warriors are sent for a spiritual machete to destroy evil. The trauma? Watching characters you’ve grown to love die off painfully, realising that spiritual duty might mean no reward, no survival, just sacrifice.

These films weren’t just stories, they were spiritual events. They blurred the line between fiction and belief, between horror and religious doctrine. And while many of us can now laugh at the poor CGI, dramatic acting, and ridiculously loud soundtracks, we can’t deny their impact. Nollywood horror once held a mirror to our fears, our beliefs, and our culture.

But we’ve lost something. Somewhere along the way, we swapped raw spiritual horror for polished but soulless thrillers. The loud sounds, the unnerving chants, the terrible effects that somehow still felt real — they’re gone. And while the industry is growing and evolving, the horror genre hasn’t recovered its true roots.

Which Nollywood horror film traumatised you the most? What scenes still live rent-free in your head? Let us know, and let’s hope someday, someone brings back that unfiltered, spine-tingling terror that once defined Nollywood horror. Not with fancy effects, but with stories that make you pray before bed. Just like the old days.