Spooky season is upon us, meaning guiltless marathons of some of the most iconic horror/slasher films have returned to send chills down your spine. There are all types of gore and mystery to consume as we prepare for All Hallows Eve, but the most iconic trope of Final Girls and its iterations come out on top.

The Final Girl trope, coined in 1992 by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, And Chain Saws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film, refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer and often the one left to tell the story.

In horror franchises, however, the Final Girl, on occasion, dies in the sequel, paving the way for a new Final Girl to carry the torch. They are typically sexually unavailable or virginal, avoiding the vices of the victims (sex, drug usage, etc.); at times, the Final Girl will even have a shared history with the killer. However, these characteristics are not set in stone, and the Final Girl trope has evolved over time, challenging puritanical rules of who got to be the hero in horror.

Here are four film recommendations that depict varied Final Girl (people) experiences on the big screen that’ll keep you on the edge of your seats.

Laurie Strode, Halloween

There’s no modern Final Girl without Halloween. Fifteen years after murdering his sister, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to Haddonfield to kill again. The franchise introduced the world to Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), a 17-year-old high school student stalked and tormented by the masked killer Michael Myers. Laurie epitomizes a Final Girl; she’s smart, prudish, and resourceful when needed. She is adequately deemed the OG “Scream Queen” as she persists throughout the franchise, narrowly escaping the face of pure evil each time.

Where to Watch: Prime

Dewayne, The Blackening

The 90s seemingly endless slasher horror films became canon fodder for satirical nods to its pop cultural acclaim, with the Scary Movie franchise centered on the tropes that made these films iconic yet ridiculous. The Blackening, a 2023 contemporary horror satire, follows suit, subverting the trope of Black characters dying in the first act of horror films.

The movie follows a group of reunited college friends celebrating Juneteenth in a cabin in the woods. It’s all fun and lighthearted games until things turn for the worst when presented with the board game The Blackening (which features a racist Sambo in its center), which everyone must play to survive. The mysterious killer informs the group that they must answer each question to determine how Black they are; if they answer wrong, they die. After numerous laughs, cultural references and bloody deaths, the crew survives thanks to Dewayne, who saves the day, defying the double tropes of being offed first in horror films as the queer Black Final [Boy].

Where to Watch: STARZ

Sidney Prescott, Scream

The 90s had no shortage of slasher genre horror films, offering new takes on screenplay scares and subverting the established rules of survival. Scream was the most notorious film to do so by providing an updated portrayal of the Final Girl with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

Sidney wasn’t bound by the puritanical misogynistic bars that deemed heroines needed to be virgins and holy to survive the killer’s wrath. Faced with the trauma of her mother’s murder a year prior, she persists when the murderous Ghostface begins wreaking havoc on the small town of Woodsboro, CA. Wrapped in the glitz of teen movie fun, Sidney and her friends try to survive while trying to unmask the killer. She’s one of the most graceful Final Girls, respected for owning her trauma and fear while facing the danger head-on.

Where to Watch: Max

Karla Wilson, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

A year after the 1997 I Know What You Did Last Summer events, the franchise returned with the aptly titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The sequel follows its OG Final Girl, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), to college while she takes summer classes. When her roommate, Karla Wilson (Brandy), wins a vacation for four to the Bahamas, she plans to bring along her boyfriend, Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer), their classmate Will (Matthew Settle), and Julie.

Things take a murderous turn as the first film’s killer crashes this getaway. While Julie is the main character, it’s Karla who shines throughout the screenplay, embodying the vivacious party girl, brainy best friend, and resourceful survival instincts that get her to the end credits. Because of her tenacity, Karla is often cited as the first Black Final Girl people saw in modern horror films.

Where to Watch: Peacock

Want to know which Final Girl (person) you embody most? Take this quiz to find out.