2023 was a good year for villains. With social media discourse at an all-time low, public figures taking constant swipes at each other, and A.I. poised to render all news meaningless, it seems like the year was filled with nefarious people coming out of the woodwork to make our lives a little more stressful.

But no matter what nightmares we saw playing out in real life, we could rest in the knowledge that something equally evil or maybe even worse would be showing at our local cineplex or streaming platform. The horror genre is filled with larger-than-life foes from centuries-old monsters to futuristic killers and this year gave us villains in spades.

Some are humorous, some tragic, some pulled from reality, and some difficult to pin down. But regardless of their stories, the following ten villains made our lives just a little more terrifying – and if we don’t honor them here,...