Notable female examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Felissa Rose, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Isabelle Adjani, Sarah Paulson, Vera Farmiga, Jamie Lee Curtis, Taissa Farmiga, Maika Monroe, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Sophie Thatcher, Samara Weaving, Heather Langenkamp, Shawnee Smith, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Melissa Barrera, Debbie Rochon, Tiffany Shepis, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Katharine Isabelle, and Linnea Quigley.
Four actresses in the 1970s became seminal examples of a "scream queen" for the decade: Sandra Peabody, who portrayed Mari Collingwood in The Last House on the Left (1972) then went to appear in Voices of Desire (1972) and Legacy of Satan (1974).
[15] Daria Nicolodi played the role of the scream queen in most of her films directed by Dario Argento (Deep Red, Inferno, Phenomena, Terror at the Opera).
[16] Examples include Terror Train and Prom Night, in which Jamie Lee Curtis would again play the scream queen; Friday the 13th, the first entry to have both a female antagonist (Betsy Palmer) and protagonist (Adrienne King);[17] and A Nightmare on Elm Street, now considered a slasher classic,[18] which introduced supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger, and whose leading actress, Heather Langenkamp, was dubbed a scream queen, and went on to become one of the most influential.
British actress Catriona MacColl became a scream queen after appearing in three Italian horror films directed by Lucio Fulci, City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981) and House by the Cemetery (1981).
[29][30] Erica Leerhsen has been called a scream queen because of her roles in films like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007).
[31][32] In 2007, USA Today published an article listing on modern scream queens interviewing actresses Sheri Moon Zombie, Jaimie Alexander, Andrea Bogart, Mercedes McNab, Tiffany Shepis and Cerina Vincent.
[35][36][37][38] In 2016, Screen Rant listed the "15 Greatest Scream Queens in Horror History", which includes Linda Blair, Danielle Harris, Lisa Wilcox, Vera Farmiga, Janet Leigh, Marilyn Burns, Veronica Cartwright, Neve Campbell, Naomi Watts, Heather Langenkamp, Eva Green, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Barbara Steele and Jamie Lee Curtis.
It featured pictorials, interviews, reviews, and other content concerning such Hollywood scream queens as Barbara Bauer, Becky Sunshine, Tina Krause, Julia Hayes, Julie Strain, Monique Gabrielle, Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley, Rhonda Shear, Xenia Gratsos ("Brioni Farrell"), Lorissa McComas, June Wilkinson, Debbie Rochon, Sherri Frazer, Melissa Wolf, and Cassandra Peterson ("Elvira").
[53][54] The actor Mark Patton, star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, has been touted at various conventions as mainstream horror's first "male scream queen" and as somebody with a satirical public image having homoerotic elements.
[55] Other notable scream kings include: Devon Sawa known for Final Destination, and the television series Chucky; Patrick Wilson who appeared in the Insidious and The Conjuring Universe; Evan Peters for his recurring roles in American Horror Story; Bill Skarsgård for his appearances in It, Barbarian and Nosferatu;[56] Daniel Kaluuya for his performances in Get Out and Nope; Brad Dourif for his role as Chucky in the Child's Play franchise;[57] Josh Hartnett for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.
;[58][59] Elijah Wood for The Faculty;[58][59] Lochlyn Munro for Scary Movie and more;[60] Reggie Bannister for appearing in the Phantasm franchise among others;[60] Bill Moseley for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, House of 1000 Corpses.
;[60][61] Jeffrey Combs for the Re-Animator film series;[60] Kane Hodder for the Friday the 13th franchise, the Hatchet film series among others;[60] Kurt Russell for The Thing;[58][60] Jaeden Martell for It (2017), It Chapter Two and more;[58][62] Ethan Hawke known for The Purge among others;[58][59] Thomas Jane known for Deep Blue Sea;[58][59] Anton Yelchin known for Fright Night and more;[58][59] David Arquette for the Scream franchise among others;[58][63] Donald Sutherland known for Invasion of the Body Snatchers etc;[63] Tom Atkins known for The Fog and more;[63][60] Sam Neill known for The Final Conflict among others;[63] Justin Long known for Jeepers Creepers along with Barbarian.