2. Horror, Oxford English Dictionary – 1) An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. 2) A
thing causing such a feeling. 3) Intense dismay. 4) informal a bad or mischievous
person, especially a child.
History of Horror stories; Origin
 Horror films originated from early creation myths in all cultures; they engage with
our nightmares through darkness and demons. Horror films use the suggestion and
the belief on a world beyond the physical to create the fear.
 Each culture has something unexplained or unknown happening. These are
embedded in our beliefs and some of the origins that these beliefs come from are;
- Egyptian mythology, which centres on a world beyond the physical
- Classical mythology, which centres on the monsters; e.g. Greek mythology
Horror films are the modern medium for performing the epic poems and ballads that
would have been verbally passed on by our predecessors.

3. - 1920’s
 The early horror films were silent and were often surreal and very dark. Scenes had to
be shot in broad daylight as the film used was unable to operate in dark conditions,
lacking the drama of modern lighting. The first films were so fragile that most of the
copy's have been lost, only a few are remaining that can be viewed on DVD.
 Some of these early films included (all below were created by Geordes Méliès);
- Le Manoir du diable(also known as The Haunted Castle), 1896
- La Caverne maudite (also known as The Cave of the Unholy One), 1898
 The first true great horror novel was a book called Frankenstein, which was written in
1818 by Mary Shelley. The first film version of Frankenstein was produced by Edison
Studios in 1910.
 The first Vampire film was made in 1922 based on the book Dracula by Bram Stoker but
was unauthorised by the authors family so the film is known as Nosferatu.
 Other Horror films of this time were;
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
- The Golem
 Nosferatu influenced the following generation of the American cinema, to produce films
like;
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- The Phantom of the Opera – Lon Chaney did all his own make-up for his role as
the Phantom
- The Monster
 Expressions and movement were very important as there was no music, speech or
sound effects to set the mood and atmosphere.

4. 1930’s
 As a result of the popularity of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of
the Opera, Universal Studios entered a stage of releasing hit Horror films starting
with Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931. Dracula was the first modern horror film;
although it was still in black and white it was the first to include sound.
- The dreamlike imagination of the silent films was replaced by screaming, howling
etc. to create the eerie and tension building films.
 In Frankenstein (1931) the killing of the young girl (who was not judgemental
towards Frankenstein) created controversy as it was a knew step in the horror
genre as blood had never been shown in a film before. This particular scene was
left out of the film in may countries and was only put back in 50 years later.
 Horror films would never have been truly successful if Dracula and Frankenstein
weren't produced.
 Producers began to spend money on special effects.
 In 1933 the frist example of horror shot in colour.
 Audiences wanted to be scared by supernatural monsters and to escape from the
reality of the ‘The Depression’
 Freaks (1932) used performers from freak shows and was banned from many
countries including Britain, until it was premiered in 1962 at the Cannes Film
Festival.
 The Mummy (1932) captured the publics enthusiasm following the Tutankhamen
Exhibition that had toured the world in the 1920’s and 30’s.
 King Kong (1933) is a sad story like beauty and the beast.
 The actors were; Boris Karloff (real name - William Henry Pratt), Faye Ray and
Bela Lugosi.

5. 1940’s
 During World War 2, America was the only country making Horror films; they were
banned in Britain.
 Films included;
- The Wolfman (1941); had spectacular make-up and special affects.
- Cat People (1942); was a sociological thriller where the audience were left to
make up there own minds.
- Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, was a comedy Horror produce by
Universal which reflected the mood of the audience following the war.

6. 1950’s
 The audience were influenced by the Cold war, atomic bomb, science and
technology.
 Horror films were mainly rated as B movies and were mainly watched by
teenagers. Gothic themes were replaced with themes reflecting the modern
issues. The two main genres were a Horror of Armageddon and the horror of the
demonic (the Devil).
 Films included;
- Godzilla (1954 – made in Japan) featured monsters that were mutated from the
effects of nuclear radiation.
- Evasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- The Thing From Another World (1951)
 Blue screen techniques where used to turn real life forms into monsters, models
and animation were also used. For example It Came From Beneath the Sea
(1955), had a mutant octopus attacking San Francisco.
 Hammer Films, a British company, began producing explicit violent gothic films,
starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing including;
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Dracula (1958)

7. 1960’s
 The 1960’s was a decade of change and social revolution. People demanded
horror films to reflect reality.
 Alfred Hitchcock, the British director directored the first ‘slasher’ movie; Psycho
(1960). He also directed The Birds (1963) which was where ‘nature had gone mad’.
 Other films made included;
- Night of the Living Dead (1968); a film involving zombies
- Blood Feast (1963); a ‘splatter’ movie
- Rosemary's Baby (1968); which was a demonic film