About the Genre

History of Horror

Horror films started as a focus from english literature, as a separate genre, in the late 1700's. This was called Gothic Horror. Developed by writers in both Britain and the United States, the gothic part of the name refers to the pseudo medieval buildings that took place. For example, gloomy dungeons, forests and dark alleyways. 

Famous gothic writers include Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe.

Horror in silent films

The inspiration for horror silent films came from the booming public interest of horror from the genre of literature. At the time, the genre was popular in books and theatre, and the term 'Horror' was never actually used until the 1930's. Instead 'Gothic' was used. 

A popular 1930's silent horror film

Early horror films

In the late 1920's, directors starting to use sound effects transformed cinema. It was big jump, especially for the horror genre as it enhanced the scenes and spooky effects even more. This jump in technology, using sound effects, had more of an impact on the horror genre than probably any other.

Roger Corman

Horror films in this century 

Monster films turned increasingly to CGI effects for scares such as Species, and Anaconda. Psychological Horror and Thriller have remained popular throughout the 90s and 2000s including films like Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Se7en, The Others and The Ring.

Silence of the Lambs