In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to be discussing the absolute worst significant others in horror films! This list isn’t about the overall morals of these characters, just how they treat their loved ones specifically. It could be Boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, everyone’s included! SPOILER WARNING!!!

Billy – Scream

Billy Loomis was the very reason I wanted to make this list. After his mother abandoned him, Billy learned it was because his father was having an affair with his girlfriend, Sydney’s mother. Instead of getting some much needed therapy to deal with his family issues, Billy killed Sydney’s mother, and framed another man! Then a year later, he went on a killing spree and terrorized and manipulated Sydney. It was a sick game of revenge on his girlfriend who didn’t even know about her mother’s affairs! Many lives were destroyed all because Billy couldn’t handle his mother leaving him.

Chucky – Bride/Seed of Chucky

Chucky is undoubtedly one of the most notorious killers in horror history – but, boy is he a terrible husband. Aside from being a serial killer, which his wife Tiffany had in common with him, he really treated Tiffany poorly. To start, he laughed in her face about the very thought of marriage. Granted, she did lock him up as revenge, BUT, he still didn’t have to kill her and trap her soul inside a doll. Then, when she had the opportunity to transfer her soul back into a human, Chucky changed his mind SECONDS before completing the ritual! Not to mention he killed her in doll form twice! Now, I don’t condone possession, but, Tiffany didn’t ask to be a doll. She just wanted a serial killer to love, and she deserved better than Chucky.

Ryan – Texas Chainsaw

Ryan’s girlfriend Heather learned that she was adopted and had to travel to Texas to learn about her true family. So, she and Ryan, along with a few others, drove to view the house she inherited. That house just happened to have her cousin, Leatherface in it. Even before Leatherface started killing all of her friends, Heather had problems she didn’t even know about. Ryan figured while his girlfriend was learning about her true identity, this was the perfect time to sleep with her best friend! I know this one doesn’t seem that bad compared to the rest, but come on! Who does that? Sure, her friend kept persisting but he still didn’t need to take the bait! Not to mention, they were doing it while Heather was getting chased by Leatherface and his chainsaw.

Rose – Get Out

Rose was a very cunning creature. She dated black men in order to bring them to meet her parents. What those men didn’t know was that her parents were going to kidnap them and use their bodies as vessels for white, wealthy, elder folks. She manipulated all of her parters for this business. She was so dedicated, she dated and completely fooled our main protagonist, Chris, for months. She’s the reason that when I’m meeting my future boyfriend’s parents for the first time, I’m telling my family where I’m going to be! I’m just kidding, but in all seriousness, the fact that she started looking for a new boyfriend when Chris wasn’t even dead yet just showed how truly disassociated she was from Chris and all of her previous victims. All the people in the theater, including myself, cheered when she finally got her comeuppance.

Bill – The Howling

After his wife, Karen, was attacked by a maniac, Bill took her to a mountain resort for her therapy, which happened to be occupied by a community of werewolves. There, he met the community’s queen b***h, Marsha. Then after getting attacked by one of the werewolves, he decides to cheat on Karen and have weird wolf-sex with Marsha. Then he slapped Karen for calling Marsha a “B***h in heat” which, let’s be real, wasn’t that far off. The worst thing he did was join the community in trying to kill Karen. He didn’t succeed in killing her, but he did pass the curse onto her, which was much worse, and the bullet he took to the face was much deserved.

Guy – Rosemary’s Baby

Guy Woodhouse was a typical husband and actor who ached for fame. When he and his wife, Rosemary, moved into a new apartment, his witch neighbors convinced him that they’re able to make all of his dreams come true. He let his neighbors blind a fellow actor who had a leading role he wanted, and he let them kill an old friend of his and Rosemary’s. Now, what did Guy do in return for his sudden good fortune? Oh, he just had to let Satan himself rape and impregnate his wife! It doesn’t matter how much you think you deserve fame and fortune. The second you decide to sell your wife to Satan himself, you’ve earned the title for worst husband, and possibly worst human being, of all time!

Asami – Audition

Poor Shigeharu – all he wanted was somebody to love. Years after losing his wife, he realized he was ready to get back into the dating game. His friend ended up holding a special audition of potential wives for him. That’s where he met the beautiful and mysterious Asami. However, Asami wasn’t who she seemed to be. They ended up dating for a while and he ended up proposing to her. After disappearing for days and leaving Shigeharu with a broken heart, she drugged him in his home. She then proceeded to torture him with needles in his stomach and under his eyes, and she cut off one of his feet. She also killed his dog, which was VERY uncalled for! Now, holding a fake audition is definitely not the way to meet women, but Shigeharu wasn’t using that platform to just sleep with random girls. He was looking for love and he didn’t deserve anything Asami did to him.

Jerry – The Stepfather

We know very little about Jerry Blake. All we know is that he had a very strict upbringing, he absolutely HAD to have a family, and he was completely and utterly deranged. His goal in life was to find the perfect family life. When a family turned out not to be right for him, he didn’t  just leave them. No, he spent weeks setting up a new life in a new town, then he brutally murdered his family. His most recent wife, Susan, started to get suspicious after finding out he quit his job. After he got his fake name mixed up, he realized it was time to cut the charade. He hit Susan with a phone and pushed here down the basement stairs. It’s not enough for him to just kill someone, he was very violent about his kills. He got angry whenever things didn’t work out for him. I don’t know what happened in his youth that made him into this kind of person, but he definitely needed to be taught what being a part of a family is really all about.

Crispian – You’re Next

Crispian was nothing short of a greedy bastard. He and his brother came up with the plan to hire killers to slaughter their entire family so they could inherit their parents’ fortune. They thought they had the perfect plan, but they didn’t count on one thing. Crispian had no idea that his girlfriend, who he invited to meet his parents, spent a good chunk of her life in a survivalist compound and knew exactly how to handle a situation like this. After she found out he was a part of the massacre, he tried to weasel his way out by trying to convince her she was never an intended target. When that wasn’t working, he tried to entice her with the fortune he was now the sole inheritor of. Unluckily for him, his girlfriend didn’t fall for any of it. He earned a knife to the eye, and a place on this list. 

Jennifer – Capture Kill Release

Jennifer and her husband, Farhang, thought it would be a great idea to not only kill someone, but document their psychopathic journey. As they got closer and more prepared for the slaughter, Farhang started to have second thoughts, and Jennifer was having none of that! No matter how much he protested, she kept pushing and pushing. It got to the point where she wanted him to kill an innocent cat just to prove he was as committed as she was. When Jennifer finally got what she wanted and they killed a homeless man together, all Farhang wanted to do was move on from the experience and stop documenting everything. However, that wasn’t enough for Jennifer. She decided she wanted to kill again, against Farhang’s wishes. She was stubborn and manipulative and just plain psychotic.

Douglas – Gothika

Miranda Grey thought she had a good life. She was a psychiatrist who worked for her husband, Douglas, in an asylum. One day she woke up, Douglas was dead, and she was now a patient in the asylum. With the help of the spirit of a young girl, Miranda started to figure out the mystery behind Douglas’ murder. She eventually found out that the young girl helping her, was raped and murdered by Douglas, and she wasn’t the only victim. Douglas was a sick rapist and pedophile, and Miranda probably never would’ve found out if he didn’t die.

John – Hounds of Love

John and Evie White were the couple from Hell, though it’s very obvious who controlled who in this relationship. John knew how much Evie loved him, and he used her love to manipulate her and get away with everything. To start, he used her to lure young girls to their house they could rape and torture them. He gave Evie empty promises, hit her, and even killed her dog. He’d act like he needed her one minute, then put her down the next. He was insane, abusive, and controlling. He didn’t love her, and it showed.

Dishonorable Mentions:

John – Orphan

Jack – The Shining

Axel – My Bloody Valentine

Julia – Hellraiser

Who was, in your opinion, the worst significant other in horror films? Are there any I missed who you felt should’ve been on this list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and have a happy Valentine’s Day!