Horror Movie
Night
The curtain rose on ten film-inspired routines. By the final vote, eight couples remained — and one dancer had reached perfection.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · Season 35 / Episode 8
When horror entered the ballroom, the choreography had to do more than frighten.
On October 27, Dancing with the Stars turned its ballroom into a sequence of horror-film-inspired stages. Guest judge Shirley Ballas joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. The result: a perfect score for Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson, and a double elimination for Jackson Olson and Emma Slater and Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess.
Because every couple was safe on Dedication Night, the decision combined judges’ scores and viewer votes across October 20 and October 27. The numbers tell one part of the story; the choreography tells another.
Updated November 6, 2026: The October 27 results are final. Disney Night aired November 2, when Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa were eliminated. Seven couples are scheduled for Grammy Night November 10. Read the Disney Night results.
Saved pages
- Saved DMM pages appear here.
Two couples leave the ballroom
Documenting the moment that closed Horror Movie Night.
Jackson Olson & Emma Slater.
Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess.
Both couples were eliminated at the end of the broadcast. Their departure reduced the field from ten to eight ahead of Disney Night.
The full final results
One 40/40, two departures, and scores from both nights kept in context.
| Celebrity & professional | Routine | Oct. 27 | Oct. 20 + 27 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson | Contemporary | 40/40 | 76/80 | Advanced |
| Jenna Dewan & Val Chmerkovskiy | Argentine tango | 37/40 | 74/80 | Advanced |
| Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov | Argentine tango | 36/40 | 74/80 | Advanced |
| Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach | Jazz | 35/40 | 72/80 | Advanced |
| Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold | Contemporary | 37/40 | 69/80 | Advanced |
| Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas | Contemporary | 32/40 | 67/80 | Advanced |
| Jackson Olson & Emma Slater | Contemporary | 35/40 | 67/80 | Eliminated |
| Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa | Argentine tango | 26/40 | 62/80 | Advanced |
| Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik | Paso doble | 28/40 | 60/80 | Advanced |
| Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess | Viennese waltz | 26/40 | 58/80 | Eliminated |
The 80-point column combines judges’ scores from Dedication Night and Horror Movie Night. Eliminations also depended on viewer votes. A combined judges’ total is not an official voting ranking. Results adapted from DMM’s published October 29 scorecard.
All ten dances, songs & film inspirations
Each routine gets its own editorial scene: music, technique, inspiration, result and a performance-video link.
All ten songs and dances — quick reference
| Celebrity & Pro | Style | Song | Horror Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tatyana Ali Jan Ravnik | Paso doble | “I Lied to You” Miles Caton | Sinners |
| Tyler Cameron Sharna Burgess | Viennese waltz | “Love Song for a Vampire” Annie Lennox | Bram Stoker’s Dracula |
| Jenna Dewan Val Chmerkovskiy | Argentine tango | “Uninvited” Damned Anthem & Kendra Dantes | Zombie movies |
| Ezra Frech Daniella Karagach | Jazz | “Madness” Ruelle | The Invisible Man |
| Amber Glenn Pasha Pashkov | Argentine tango | “Perfection” Clint Mansell | Black Swan |
| Maura Higgins Mark Ballas | Contemporary | “Cry Little Sister” Gerard McMann | The Lost Boys |
| Jackson Olson Emma Slater | Contemporary | “That’s Life” Frank Sinatra | Joker |
| Harry Shum Jr. Jenna Johnson | Contemporary | “Toxic” 2WEI | Saw |
| Julia Stiles Ezra Sosa | Argentine tango | “The Dogs Attack” Jerry Goldsmith, Lionel Newman & National Philharmonic Orchestra | The Omen |
| Connor Wood Rylee Arnold | Contemporary | “You Are My Sunshine” Charles McDonald | Annabelle: Creation |
Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson
- Style
- Contemporary
- Music
- “Toxic” — 2WEI
- Inspired by
- Saw
The season’s first perfect score: four 10s, including one from guest judge Shirley Ballas, who said she could not recall seeing anything like it.
Jenna Dewan & Val Chmerkovskiy
- Style
- Argentine tango
- Music
- “Uninvited” — Damned Anthem & Kendra Dantes
- Inspired by
- Zombie films
Returned partnership for Horror Movie Night.
Chmerkovskiy’s first routine back from his one-week suspension. Carrie Ann Inaba praised the precision of Dewan’s dancing.
Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov
- Style
- Argentine tango
- Music
- “Perfection” — Clint Mansell
- Inspired by
- Black Swan
Character and precision in the Argentine tango.
Derek Hough rose to his feet and called it one of the best Argentine tangos he had seen on the show; Ballas singled out the twists and the footwork.
Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach
- Style
- Jazz
- Music
- “Madness” — Ruelle
- Inspired by
- The Invisible Man
Behind-the-scenes image; not a performance still.
Bruno Tonioli praised the performance, calling Frech a shape-shifting fiend.
Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold
- Style
- Contemporary
- Music
- “You Are My Sunshine” — Charles McDonald
- Inspired by
- Annabelle: Creation
Behind-the-scenes image.
Inaba crowned Wood the “contemporary king,” and Hough gave him his first 10s of the season.
Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas
- Style
- Contemporary
- Music
- “Cry Little Sister” — Gerard McMann
- Inspired by
- The Lost Boys
Danced in front of Ballas’s mother on the panel. Tonioli said only Ballas could make the horrible look beautiful; Inaba called Higgins’s dancing poetic.
Jackson Olson & Emma Slater
- Style
- Contemporary
- Music
- “That’s Life” — Frank Sinatra
- Inspired by
- Joker
Eliminated • backstage photograph.
A 35 put the Joker routine in the top half of the night, but it was not enough once Dedication Night’s 32 and the viewer vote were added in.
Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa
- Style
- Argentine tango
- Music
- “The Dogs Attack” — Jerry Goldsmith, Lionel Newman & National Philharmonic Orchestra
- Inspired by
- The Omen
Stiles appeared in the 2006 remake of The Omen. Guest judge Shirley Ballas gave the tango a 4.
Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik
- Style
- Paso doble
- Music
- “I Lied to You” — Miles Caton
- Inspired by
- Sinners
Behind-the-scenes photograph.
Inaba called it Ali’s most powerful dance yet. Ballas, who gave a 4, said it had “no recognizable paso doble.” Ali and Ravnik were the last couple called safe.
Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess
- Style
- Viennese waltz
- Music
- “Love Song for a Vampire” — Annie Lennox
- Inspired by
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Eliminated October 27.
Hough was impressed by how Cameron moved for a tall man, but told him to keep working on his frame.
The Dance Lens
What the Halloween theme demands from a technically disciplined dancer.
Original DMM Dance Lens · Written October 22, 2026 (pre-show analysis)
A horror theme pulls in the opposite direction from Dedication Night. Last week rewarded sincerity: the judges responded to dancers who let personal stories show through clean partnering. A horror night rewards transformation. The celebrity has to become a character, often one built on tension, menace or unnatural movement, while keeping the technique the judges score.
That creates a specific trap. Costume, makeup and staging can carry a routine in the room, but the scoresheet still asks about frame, footwork, timing and musicality. A dancer who commits fully to a character can win the audience and lose points if the character becomes an excuse for broken lines. The strongest horror routines use the character to sharpen the technique: a sharper stop, a slower and more controlled reach, a sudden change in level that lands exactly on the music. That standard will have an experienced eye on it: Shirley Ballas built her name in competitive Latin, where frame, foot placement and timing come before character.
The lineup also sets up a direct comparison. Three couples dance the Argentine tango: Amber Glenn, who led Dedication Night at 38; Jenna Dewan, back with Val Chmerkovskiy; and Julia Stiles. Four of the ten routines are contemporary, including those of Jackson Olson and Connor Wood, two of the four couples tied at 32. When several couples share a style on the same night, the judges compare them directly, so precise leg actions, sharp kicks and a steady hold will separate tangos built on the same dramatic vocabulary.
Character work also favors performers whose careers already involve playing a role. Several of the remaining celebrities are actors, and the night will show whether screen acting transfers to a three-minute live dance. DMM will analyze each routine on what is visible on the floor after the October 27 episode airs.
Original DMM analysis · Written November 6, after the broadcast
After the curtain: what the floor showed
The question DMM asked before the show was whether character would sharpen technique or excuse it. The scoresheet answered on both sides. The night’s highest marks went to routines where the character was carried by clean mechanics: Harry Shum Jr.’s Saw contemporary drew four 10s, and Connor Wood’s Annabelle contemporary drew Derek Hough’s first 10s for him this season.
The three Argentine tangos made the comparison DMM expected. Jenna Dewan scored 37 and Amber Glenn 36, and Hough called Glenn’s one of the best Argentine tangos he had seen on the show. Julia Stiles, dancing the same style, scored 26; the panel described a tango held back by tension. Same dance, same night, an 11-point spread: the style rewarded the couples whose leg action and hold stayed precise inside the drama.
Shirley Ballas brought the competitive-Latin eye the guide anticipated. She gave 4s to the Stiles tango and to Tatyana Ali’s paso doble, which Inaba called Ali’s most powerful dance yet and Ballas said lacked recognizable paso doble technique. That is the trap the pre-show lens described: a performance that wins the room on character while the scoresheet asks for the form.
Finally, the result was not the leaderboard. Jackson Olson’s Joker contemporary scored 35, higher than Stiles and Ali, yet Olson and Emma Slater went home, while Stiles (62/80) and Ali (60/80) advanced with lower two-night judges’ totals. Ali and Jan Ravnik were the last couple called safe: a reminder that the viewer vote, counted across both weeks, can outweigh a strong score.
Scores and judges’ remarks: ABC7/On The Red Carpet · TheWrap · TV Insider · Entertainment Now. Movement analysis is original DMM editorial; no rehearsal access is claimed.
Behind the curtain
A photographic record of the performers, guests and atmosphere of Horror Movie Night.
The Dedication Night carry-over
The two-night scoring format matters to the result.
Why no one left on October 20
All ten couples were safe on Dedication Night. ABC confirmed that live viewer votes from both episodes would be combined with the judges’ scores from each night to determine the October 27 eliminations.
At the time, four couples had finished October 20 tied at 32/40, making the next episode a test of both the dance floor and audience connection.
Read DMM's Dedication Night guide ↗One partnership changed
Jenna Dewan danced with Alan Bersten on Dedication Night while Val Chmerkovskiy served a one-episode suspension. The October 27 lineup named Dewan with Chmerkovskiy for an Argentine tango inspired by zombie films.
DMM's partner-change report ↗Historical archive: Dedication Night leaderboard and pre-show analysis (October 21–22)
No couple was eliminated on October 20, and the hosts said Dedication Night’s judges’ scores and viewer votes carry over to October 27. ABC has not published how the two weeks will be combined, so the table below shows where each couple stands, not who goes home. Results combine the judges’ scores with viewer votes, and a couple with a strong fan base can survive a low score while a high-scoring couple can still land in jeopardy.
Update, November 6: ABC’s October 22 release confirmed that the votes and judges’ scores from both nights were combined. The final result is in the table at the top of this guide.
| Rank | Couple | Week 6 Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov | 38/40 |
| T-2 | Jenna Dewan & Alan Bersten | 37/40 |
| T-2 | Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach | 37/40 |
| T-4 | Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson | 36/40 |
| T-4 | Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa | 36/40 |
| 6 | Maura Higgins & Mark Ballas | 35/40 |
| T-7 | Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik | 32/40 |
| T-7 | Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess | 32/40 |
| T-7 | Jackson Olson & Emma Slater | 32/40 |
| T-7 | Connor Wood & Rylee Arnold | 32/40 |
Scores out of 40, with guest judge Kym Johnson-Herjavec joining Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.
Four couples finished tied at the bottom with 32 points: Tatyana Ali, Tyler Cameron, Jackson Olson and Connor Wood. For Ali, 32 was still her best score of the season, so a low ranking and a rising trajectory can exist in the same week. That is the tension heading into October 27: the leaderboard measures one night, while the vote rewards the connection fans have built over six weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Episode facts, scores and what happened next.
When is DWTS Horror Movie Night 2026?
Horror Movie Night aired Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming live on Disney+ and the next day on Hulu. It was Week 7 of Season 35 and the show’s Halloween-week episode.
Who is the guest judge on DWTS Horror Movie Night?
Shirley Ballas, the mother of pro Mark Ballas. Co-host Alfonso Ribeiro announced her at the end of Dedication Night. She joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli on October 27.
Is Horror Movie Night a double elimination?
Yes. At the end of Dedication Night, co-host Julianne Hough announced that two couples would be eliminated on Horror Movie Night. On October 27, Jackson Olson and Emma Slater, and Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess were eliminated.
Do Dedication Night scores count on Horror Movie Night?
Yes. ABC’s October 22 press release said viewer votes from Dedication Night and Horror Movie Night would be combined with the judges’ scores from both nights to decide the eliminations. Two couples were eliminated on October 27. ABC does not publish full viewer-vote totals.
Was anyone eliminated on Dedication Night?
No. All ten couples were safe on October 20. Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov led the night with 38 out of 40.
How many couples are left on DWTS Season 35?
Seven couples remain as of November 6, 2026. Jackson Olson and Emma Slater and Tyler Cameron and Sharna Burgess were eliminated on Horror Movie Night, October 27, and Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa were eliminated on Disney Night, November 2.
What are the Horror Movie Night songs and dances?
All ten songs and dance styles were revealed on October 22 by former contestant Andy Richter on the official Dancing with the Stars podcast, according to Us Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and Cosmopolitan. Three couples danced the Argentine tango and four danced contemporary; the paso doble, Viennese waltz and jazz appeared once each. For example, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson’s Saw-inspired contemporary to “Toxic” earned 40/40, and Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov danced a Black Swan-inspired Argentine tango to “Perfection.” The full list is in the article table.
When is the next DWTS episode after Horror Movie Night?
Disney Night aired on Monday, November 2, 2026, one day earlier than the usual Tuesday, with eight couples and guest judge Cynthia Erivo. Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa were eliminated. Grammy Night follows on Tuesday, November 10.
Follow the full Season 35 record
One episode belongs to a much larger dance history.
Editorial Sources & Media Credits
Dance Mogul Magazine’s original reporting and Dance Lens analysis; ABC’s official Horror Movie Night announcement; ABC7 / On The Red Carpet and TheWrap for episode results; and ABC’s official episode photo gallery.
Photography: Disney/ABC. Individual photographer credits appear alongside the photographs.
Video: Performance clips are embedded from YouTube. Video rights remain with their respective owners.
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