Spooky children are a timeless horror trope. In fact, the only thing spookier than a ghostly, potentially evil child in a scary story is two ghostly, potentially evil children. Not all of the twins on this list are children, and only some are evil, but they’re all memorable.
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Smoke and Stack
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Sinners is overflowing with unforgettable characters, including Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore. Michael B. Jordan has spoken about how both characters are rooted in shared childhood trauma, which manifests differently for each.
Smoke internalizes his pain and acts as a paternal figure, and Stack turns outward, focusing on his ambition. Their protective brotherly bond adds to the emotional stakes when blood is spilled about halfway through the movie. The Smokestack brothers would kill to protect one another, and despite their very real differences, their love endures.
Luke and Nell
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill House is both a novel and a Netflix adaptation, though the characters are only twins in the series. Luke and Nell each battle their own demons stemming from a haunting past, and they share an almost supernatural bond.
Though they drift apart over the years, it’s doubtful even death can drive a wedge between them. Loyalty, love, and realistic flaws make them relatable and lovable, whatever fate holds for the Crane twins.
The Grady Sisters
Stephen King, The Shining
Once again, in Stephen King’s novel The Shining, former caretaker Delbert Grady’s daughters are not twins. But the movie’s image of the ghostly twin girls holding hands and staring vacantly at Danny is seared into the cultural consciousness.
They may not be main characters, but in one single line of dialogue and a couple of brief appearances, they forever made long, empty hotel hallways terrifying.
Elliot and Beverly
Dead Ringers
There are two adaptations of Dead Ringers based on the novel Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland, loosely inspired by a real pair of male twin criminal gynecologists. My favorite is the 2023 gender-swapped series. Elliot and Beverly are played to perfection by Rachel Weisz. Beverly is fighting for a birthing center that could help women, but her obsessive sister Elliot is more interested in experimentation.
They “swap” places, violating the trust of patients and partners alike, and it doesn’t end well. But I do love a complex villain.
Lucy and Sarah,
Johanna Van Veen, Blood on Her Tongue
Lucy starts receiving disturbing messages from her sister who may or may not be turning into a vampire (or going “mad”). It’s set in 1887, so this wasn’t a great time for mental health awareness, and women were often institutionalized rather than supported.
Like Dead Ringers, Blood on Her Tongue explores a not necessarily healthy bond between twin sisters, abuse of power, and questioning reality. Lucy and Sarah are memorable for their unapologetic love that no one can get between. It’s good bloody sapphic horror.
Holland and Niles
Thomas Tryon, The Other
The Other is both a novel and a film adaptation. The story features evil twin and sinister child tropes that recall cult classics like The Bad Seed, with a big plot twist characteristic of modern horror. Kind, empathetic Niles has to contend with his “evil twin” Holland causing deadly chaos and giving him a bad name.
Throw in some psychic powers and a claustrophobic farm setting, and you have an instant classic.
Lukas and Elias
Goodnight Mommy
The premise of Goodnight Mommy is simple: twin boys begin to doubt their mother is who she says she is after she returns from a surgical procedure with bandages covering her face. But their doubt snowballs and leads them to a very dark place.
The twins’ closeness feels realistic, which somehow makes the movie even more frightening, and the twist is effective. The scariest movie I have seen in years.
Cally and Kody
R.L. Stine, 99 Fear Street: The First Horror
Cally and Kody have opposite personalities but share a special twin bond (Cally is the popular one, Kody is the shy one). It’s a good thing, because when the creepy haunted house slime hits the fan, it splatters everywhere, and there is plenty of gore. This is a Fear Street gem that’s genuinely scary and the sisters with a little bit of a love/hate relationship add to the chilling fun.
Hannah and Beth Washington
Until Dawn
Like the Grady twins in The Shining, Hannah and Beth aren’t major characters, but they play a role in a diabolical narrative that elevates Until Dawn to my favorite horror game of all time. Hannah and Beth have contrasting personalities: Beth takes on the role of the older sibling and is protective of Hannah, who is targeted by the other friends in a mean-spirited “prank.”
Don’t worry. What goes around comes around.
Tin and Tina
Tin and Tina
Tin and Tina follows a grieving couple who adopt the titular twins after a miscarriage. Tin and Tina turn out to be religious fanatics, leading to disturbing and violent behavior.
These two make the list not because the characters are necessarily sympathetic or complex but because they are outright terrifying. They embody the evil child trope and the religious zealot trope all in one—or rather, two—very effectively.
Bonus: Hazel and Beth
Dana Mele, The Beast You Let In
I wrote this one and it just came out April 7th! Hazel and Beth are queer siblings in a rural conservative community. They need to put aside their differences to solve a local murder—which is complicated when one of them is possessed by the dead girl hell-bent on revenge.
I love Hazel and Beth because they are constantly both trying to save one another and inadvertently getting in each other’s way. It’s love to hate to oh my god, I hope she doesn’t eat her twin alive. Isn’t that the beating heart of every family?
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