Some horror villains are quite simply larger than life. Oftentimes, the very best of these sinister antagonists not only carry their own franchises, but they also tally hefty box office revenues for their respective movie studios. However, a perfect storm is often necessary for a single character to become immortalized in the annals of horror history. Some noteworthy examples of characters who've accomplished this feat and become undeniably memorable are Chucky, Leprechaun and the Creeper.

But for every icon of the macabre, there are a much larger number of deranged dentists, serial-killing Santa Clauses, and sorority house murderers who don't quite rank as highly in the frightening food chain. In fact, it's been a while since a character came along and asserted his or herself as the next count of the Carpathians or chainsaw-wielding maniac. Whoever steps up next has some big shoes to fill, because these are the crème de la crème when it comes to history-making evildoers.