horror movie essay introduction

Best Essays and Books About Horror Movies

Learn more about your favorite frightening films, or film theories of horror itself, with this list of creepy books and essays.

You’ve probably wondered about the inspiration behind your favorite scary movies and the background of some of those horrifying stories. Sometimes the origins of a horror movie are as simple as an author telling a scary story, and at other times films are based on more sinister, true events . You might also be interested in the making of certain horror movies or the impact they have on the audience or the cast. Maybe you're into film theory and want to study the gender dynamics, cultural and political significance, and philosophy of horror, like in Carol Clover's seminal book Men, Women, and Chainsaws . Luckily, there are plenty of resources that explore these exact topics and the development of horror movies in general.

You might be interested in why people are attracted to horror movies and the act of feeling fear. In which case, you might want to read Stephen King’s essay Why We Crave Horror Movies . Digging even deeper, you might notice horror films can help us examine fears around eating, sexuality, religion, and more. You might even wonder about the characters that often die first and why, which is explained by Lindsay King-Miller in her essay A Love Letter to the Girls Who Die First in Horror Movies . Whatever it may be, in addition to the aforementioned texts, here are the best essays and books about horror movies.

Monsters in the Movies: 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares

Director John Landis ( American Werewolf in London, Twilight Zone: The Movie ) wrote a book on movie monsters covers some of cinema’s most terrifying creatures and their development. Landis explores the design of movie monsters and special effects, both in high and low-budget films. Monsters in the Movies includes interviews with the minds behind the monsters, their historical origins, and tricks behind bringing these ghouls to life.

Nothing Has Prepared Me for Womanhood Better than Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

Sarah Kurchak’s essay examines a subject people might not consider in horror movies. The truth is that many scary films express beliefs about women and their experiences via horror and gore. Kurchak dissects how Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 features female stereotypes in hot pants but also explores women facing the threats of men and emerging from adolescence completely altered. Kurchak argues that this horror comedy can teach female viewers about what to expect from the world and adolescence.

Stephen King At the Movies: A Complete History of Film and Television Adaptations from the Master of Horror

The chilling stories of author Stephen King have made both startling reads and frightening films. King’s works have established more than 60 horror movies and 30 television series. This book covers the making of all of them, including behind-the-scenes material and King’s opinion on some adaptations. If you’re looking to dive deeper into some iconic films based on King’s stories , consider picking up Stephen King at the Movies .

There’s Nothing Scarier than a Hungry Woman

Remember how we said that horror movies can contain messages that don’t appear obvious on the surface? Laura Maw notices how in many horror movies there is always a scene of a ravenous woman eating, and her fascinating essay considers the meaning behind that.

Related: Best Performances in Horror Films of All Time, Ranked

Maw writes that “horror invites us to sit with this disgust, this anxiety, and to acknowledge our appetite and refuse to suppress it.” Maw presents a feminist analysis of hungry women in well-known horror movies in a way which both explores and challenges preconceptions about women.

Behind the Horror: True Stories that Inspired Horror Movies

Dr. Lee Miller’s research into the origin stories of movies like The Exorcist and A Nightmare on Elm Street are compiled in this handy book. Miller details the true accounts of disappearances, murders, and hauntings that inspired these hit movies.

Behind the Horror explains the history of the serial killers featured in Silence of the Lambs and takes a good look at the possessions that motivated the making of The Exorcist and The Conjuring 2 .

My Favorite Horror Movie: 48 Essays by Horror Creators on the Film that Shaped Them

Arguably one of the best books to read if you are curious about the makers behind famous horror movies. My Favorite Horror Movie features over 20 essays from filmmakers, actors, set designers, musicians, and more about the dark works that solidified their careers.

The films discussed include It , Halloween , The Shining , and others. It’s a good book for looking at horror movies from different angles and recognizing the many minds that contributed to these iconic works.

The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History

Yet another great book for establishing a rounded perspective of horror movies, this time in a much more visual way. The Art of Horror sorts through famous illustrations, movie posters, cover art, comics, paintings, photos, and filmmakers since the beginning of horror with Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s infamous Frankenstein . Learn about these talented artists, their chilling work, and their impact on the direction of horror.

Wes Craven: Interviews

If you’re trying to hear from the best horror directors themselves, the Wes Craven interviews are a great place to start. Craven is responsible for films like Scream , The Hills Have Eyes , A Nightmare on Elm Street , and The Last House on the Left , and is often considered one of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time.

Related: The Best Scream Queens of All Time, Ranked

Craven established a particular style in his films that changed the way horror movies are made, and this book pulls information from the master himself. Wes Craven: Interviews includes almost 30 interviews with the director ranging from the 1980s until Craven passed away in 2015.

101 Horror Movies You Should See Before You Die

Ever wonder if you’re missing a great horror film from your spooky collection? This is the book for you. 101 Horror Movies You Should See Before You Die covers the absolute essentials of every kind of horror film, from gothic to slasher and international horror classics as well. Horror can take on so many different forms and this book is one of the best for finding horror films you might have missed.

The Science of Women in Horror: The Special Effects Stunts, and Stories Behind Your Every Fright

Authors Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence examine women in horror movies in this book that explores feminist horror films , and more misogynistic ones from the standpoint of feminist film theory. The Science of Women in Horror recalls the history of women in horror movies and goes on to analyze more recent, women-centered horror flicks and series such as The Haunting of Hill House and Buffy the Vampire Slayer . If you want to know more about the women on and off-screen in horror movies, check out this book!

• Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Robin Wood on the Horror Film: Collected Essays and Reviews ed. by Barry Keith Grant (review)

• Khara Lukancic
• Center for the Study of Film and History
• Volume 49, Number 1, Summer 2019
• 10.1353/flm.2019.0009
• View Citation

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“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis Essay

Introduction.

Halloween , the 1978 movie directed by John Carpenter, is considered to be an all-time classic of the horror genre. If a film’s greatness is defined by the combination of popularity and significance, then Halloween is “arguably, the most successful horror film in American history” (Knöppler, 2017, p.212). The reason why it is such a remarkable movie is the way Halloween satisfies the spectator who came to see the horror story by building up the tension and then releasing it via various tools and decisions.

Halloween as a Classic Example of the Killer Genre

Summary and genre classification.

In order to identify which genre of horror Halloween belongs to, one needs to turn to an overview of the plot. Knöppler (2017) lays it out as follows: the year is 1978. Michael Myers, a young man, who killed his sister, has remained in a psychiatric hospital for the past fifteen years. On October 30 th , Michael escapes and drives back to his hometown, while his psychotherapist, Dr. Loomis, decides to track him down, knowing what danger he possesses. There, Myers, wearing a white mask, stalks female high-schoolers Laurie, Annie, and Lynda. On Halloween night, Myers kills Annie and Lynda, and attacks Laurie. Dr. Loomis arrives to the rescue and shoots Michael, but the body vanishes. The film ends with Myers’s heavy breathing – it is implied he has survived.

From the description it becomes evident which genre of horror this movie belongs to. Halloween is a classic example of the killer genre, which, consequently, features a killer – a human being or a supernatural creature – who, for some reason, hunts people. This perfectly fits the description of the antagonist, Michael Myers, who stalks teenage girls throughout the entire narrative in hopes to kill them.

Narration that Evokes Fear

Since the plot of the movies of the killer genre revolves around the murderer, it is only fair that the way his presence and actions are depicted is what makes the story horrifying. Catharsis, which is a crucial element of horror, occurs at the very end – and one is masterfully led up to it (The Psychology of Fear). One example, according to Knöppler (2017), would be the audiovisual presentation of Michael Myers. The first half of the movie only features him in long shots or extreme close ups, escalating tension. The music adds to it – non-diegetic sounds indicating danger accompany Michael’s appearances on the screen. His body language is almost absent and he rarely makes a sound; even his accessory is a mask with no expression. All this dehumanizes Myers and presents him as rather a shadow of the person, which provides a spine-chilling effect (Knöppler, 2017).

Another way to emotionally affect the audience is to adopt the camera to Michael’s point of view. Some have argued that this subjective camera use is one of John Carpenter’s more arguable choices since it makes the viewers active partakers in the violence depicted on the screen (Knöppler, 2017). Nevertheless, that might have been exactly what the director was going for: the spectator, walking in the killer’s shoes in low key lighting, realizes the danger and fears for the unsuspecting victims. The article Scared Witless (1999) speaks about the physiology of fear and the way our body reacts to being scared. Exploring what it is like to make the viewer feel as if they are actually a criminal about to murder might be another subject worth writing an article about. That is a smart move in terms of provoking a reaction.

One more tool to present the antagonist as someone not quite human is the way his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, talks about him. Doctor claims that Myers’ eyes are “the devil’s”, that he is evil – “purely and simply”, and refers to him as “it” rather than “he” (Knöppler, 2017). All that further establishes the killer as something different, which is often present in the monster genre of horror. Here the otherness is metaphorical and portrayed with the help of the director’s ideas and tricks.

The Monster’s Role

However, one might argue that there are ways to look at the underlying message that do not necessarily align with the laws of the horror genre. For instance, Myers’ role can be interpreted as that of the originator of justice rather than the classic role of peace-breaker. The reason for that is the fact that the girls killed are promiscuous – and the survivor is a typical virgin. In that sense the murderer serves as the “patriarchal father”, coming to murder in a side lighting, and that appeals to more conservative audiences, even though the horror genre is perceived to be as one breaking the barriers (Knöppler, 2017, p.223).

Fulfilling the Viewer’s Needs

Stephen King (1979) states that, when one encounters the genre of horror, they are not necessarily scared of the mythical and absurd; rather, it is the implications behind the stories that are terrifying. Granted, since Halloween stars a psychopath with a desire to kill – a much frequent occurrence than a vampire or a sea-monster – it is easier to imagine oneself in the exact same situation as the teenagers in the movie. Still, what is actually frightful are the hate and deliberation with which the killer pursues his victims – and the way it is presented from the artistic point of view.

Halloween is called a classic not simply because it grossed a big box-office or became immensely popular. It is due to the director John Carpenter’s vision, which helped him create a film full of effects that evoke an emotional reaction in the audience. The fact that it gained both the critical acclaim and the love of public is just the cherry on top.

King, Stephen. 2012. Night Shift . United States: Anchor Books.

Knöppler, Christian. 2017. The Monster Always Returns: American Horror Films and Their Remakes . Germany: transcript Verlag.

Scared Witless – The Physiology of Fear. Canada: Toronto Star, 1999.

The Psychology of Fear. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, November 23). “Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/halloween-1978-a-film-analysis/

"“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis." IvyPanda , 23 Nov. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/halloween-1978-a-film-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis'. 23 November.

IvyPanda . 2022. "“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis." November 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/halloween-1978-a-film-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis." November 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/halloween-1978-a-film-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“Halloween” (1978): A Film Analysis." November 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/halloween-1978-a-film-analysis/.

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Our Favorite Essays and Stories About Horror Films

Reading Lists

Make tonight's evil dead marathon more literary with our best writing about the genre.

It’s the spookiest day of the spookiest season, but you already had your party last weekend, and now you have to stay home and either hand out candy to grabby children or turn out all lights visible from the street and pretend you’re not home. What makes a night in both fun and seasonally appropriate? Horror movies, of course! So while you’re waiting for, or hiding from, trick-or-treaters tonight, put on a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon and make your way through some of the best stuff we’ve published about scary films.

“ There’s Nothing Scarier Than a Hungry Woman ” by Laura Maw

Maybe you haven’t noticed this, but horror movies contain a lot of scenes of women eating—and not only eating, but eating voraciously. Laura Maw has noticed, and she thinks she understands. This essay is both a sensitive cultural analysis of a horror movie trope and a beautiful personal narrative of coming to terms with both the threat and the banality of hunger.

As a woman, to say that you have found eating uncomfortable at times is not particularly groundbreaking. The anxiety has become mundane because it is so common for women, but isn’t that in itself noteworthy? Horror invites us to sit with this disgust, this anxiety, to acknowledge our appetite, to refuse to let us suppress it. There is something uncomfortable and enthralling about watching a woman devour what she likes with intent.

“ Horror Lives in the Body ” by Meg Pillow Davis

This Best American Essays notable is about the physical experience of horror—both horror films, and the familiar horrors we encounter in our normal lives, the ways we brush up against mortality and violation and fear. Why do we seek out this physical experience—”the pupil dilation, the quickening heart, the sweat forming on your upper lip and the surface of your palms, and the nearly overwhelming urge to cover your eyes or run from the room”?

If those other viewers are anything like me, they watch horror movies because they recognize the horror, because its familiarity is strange and terrifying and unavoidable. It is the lure of the uncanny filtering into the cracks and crevices of the cinematic landscape and drawing us in.

“ What ‘Halloween’ Taught Me About Queerness ” by Richard Scott Larson

Michael Myers wears a mask to hide his face while he kills—but is that the only mask he wears? Richard Scott Larson talks about watching Halloween obsessively as an adolescent, while he was starting to understand that his own desires were also considered monstrous.

The experience of adolescence as a closeted queer boy is one of constantly attempting to imitate the expression of a desire that you do not feel. Identification with a bogeyman, then, shouldn’t be so surprising when you imagine the bogeyman as unfit for society, his true nature having been rejected and deemed horrific.

“ If My Mother Was the Final Girl ” by Michelle Ross

The “final girl” is the one who’s left standing at the end of the film, the one who survives the carnage. But what do you call someone who’s still standing after childhood trauma? This short story is about horror films, but more than that, it’s about mother-daughter relationships—a deeper and more mundane form of horror than the kind in slasher flicks.

The one thing my mother and I share is a love for slasher films. When the first girl gets hacked up or sawed in half or stabbed in the breast, my mother says, “Now there’s real life for you.” And I glance at her sideways and think, you can say that again.

“ A Love Letter to the Girls Who Die First in Horror Films ” by Lindsay King-Miller

Unlike the “final girl,” the girl who dies first doesn’t have a catchy title. Lindsay King-Miller writes about the lost friend who taught her that we don’t all have it in us to be a final girl—and that we should celebrate the girl who dies first, because she’s not living in fear.

To survive a horror story you have to realize you’re in one. The girl who dies thinks she’s in a different kind of story, one that’s about her and what she wants: to dance, to party, to fuck, to feel good. She thinks she is the subject of this story, the one who watches, desires, sees, the one who acts upon the world. She does not feel the eyes on her, does not know she is being observed, that her fate is not to reshape the world but to be reshaped by it.

“ Nothing Has Prepared Me For The Reality of Womanhood Better Than ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’ ” by Sarah Kurchak

Yes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a cheesy horror-comedy hybrid in which women are menaced and their bodies are treated as set dressing. But so is adolescence. Sarah Kurchak writes about the many ways in which this movie taught her what to expect from the world.

Sure, this was, on many levels, a schlocky B-movie with so many of the expected hallmarks of the time — women in hot pants and peril, over-the-top gore. But it was a schlocky B-movie in which a woman faced men’s threats, both implicit and explicit, and was left breathing but almost unrecognizable at the end of it. That felt familiar.

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How to Write a Great Horror Movie

There's only one genre out there that everyone is buying. so in honor of halloween, i want to walk you through how to write a horror movie. get your knives ready. .

The horror genre is tried and true. It's the one genre every studio and streamer is buying. Why? 

Because it's the one that usually delivers the most profitable movies. Horror films come with a huge audience, and the nature of the stories usually keep them pretty cheap. 

But are there tricks to writing a horror screenplay that makes the process different?

I don't know about any tricks.... but I can assure you this post is a real treat! 

Okay, if that didn't chase you away or horrify you enough to stop reading, let's forge ahead into the unknown...

What's the worst that could happen? 

Table of Contents

Horror movie definition .

What is a horror movie?  

A horror movie is a film whose plot is  designed to frighten the viewer. The story must cause some sort of existential dread and invoke our very worst fears. Horror films are roller coasters for viewers often climaxing in a shocking finale. They can be cathartic or just plain fun. 

What kinds of horror movies are out there? 

There are so many different kinds of horror movies in the world. This genre contains a bunch of subgenres. Before you start writing, you should pick one, or mash a few up.

I want to address something that comes up in the comments a lot. I often get people replying "This is fine, but what actually sold with this stuff?"

I know we aren't supposed to read the comments, but the comments section is my horror movie. 

I usually don't address this stuff but I want to this time. 

Mostly because as a professional writer, horror is where I've found most of my recent work. 

Last year I wrote on a horror anthology series that was on Netflix called Don't Watch This . My episode was called Keep Out.  I've done extensive work for CryptTV .  Keep your eyes out for it. 

My point is: I have worked in this space and I want to help. 

I'm not calling myself "the authority" but I'm only going to give you the things I've used for my screenplay work. 

So let's look at some of the horror sub-genres and see what each entails. 

Horror movie sub-genres 

Slasher movies usually have killers who use knives or hooks or machetes to hack up their victims. They can be like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Scream in tone. There can be one or multiple killers. They have a lot in common with the mystery genre and thrillers. 

From Godzilla to The   Fly , monster movies come in all shapes and sizes. Usually, these monsters terrorize a small community, like in Jaws , but they can also be a global threat, like in Cloverfield . We don't always need a direct scientific explanation for why or how the monster exists, but that might clue everyone in on how you can defeat them. 

Supernatural  

Ghosts, demons, and Satan all exist within these worlds. Your demons can be like Freddy Kreuger or they can be like the possessor in The Exorcist . They can be spirits like in The Others or a riff like in Ghost . Or just straight-up horrific like in Poltergeist . 

Inanimate Objects 

A few years ago it felt like every movie had a scary doll in it. Now, with the Chucky reboot and Anabelle , these dolls don't seem like they're going away. But what about something like The Fog or Christine ? They also fall into these types. 

Found Footage 

I know this is technically a WAY to make a movie, but I wanted to address it last. While these movies are not as popular as they once were, the staples are still the most famous. The Blair Witch, The Visit, and Paranormal Activity  changed the way we viewed cinema. You have to write for found footage for it to be found footage. 

How to Write a Horror Movie (Free Outline)

Before you sit down to write or outline, I wanted to go over some of the tropes within these kinds of films. These tropes can be things you subvert or lean into depending on the situation. You can learn about them here or see them in action by d ownloading 80 Horror Screenplays for inspiration ! 

So let's ask the question...

What are some horror screenplay tropes? 

Guys, I love a great horror screenplay. They make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and make you shake with excitement. 

Common tropes of horror screenplays include:

• Action : People often creep around with little dialogue. 
• Suspense: Pacing in horror is a must. Think Hitchcock ! 
• Jumpscares : Sudden noises or reveals should POP off the page. 
• Gore : Gruesome death or torture scenes are commonplace in these movies. 
• A memorable villain: Create someone who will haunt dreams for years to come. 

Okay, you picked your horror subgenre and found our logline and treatment pages so you did your prep work. Now it's time to jump into the outline and then in your screenwriting software to type some pages. 

So what does a horror screenplay outline look like? 

The horror screenplay outline:, 1. unraveling the terror  - do you have an opening scare that defines the movie.

Do you like  Scream ? The opening scene of the  screenplay  sets the tone for the entire story. 

2. The Entry Point  - Who will be involved in these terrifying escapades and what are they dealing with? 

In a movie like  Dawn of the Dead , it's the series of scenes where we meet who will inhabit the mall. 

3. Before It Goes to Shit  - What’s a normal day look like in this world?

Think about the way the family gets by in  Poltergiest  before the ghosts show up. 

4. The Horror Sets In  - What horrific thing sets our characters off on their journey?

Nothing is worse than realizing your daughter is possessed as the characters do in  The Exorcist .   

5. The Uneasy Path - Everyone is together, what keeps them moving this way?

In something like  Godzilla , it's the reason why they deal with the monster at hand? What do they have to gain? 

6. Walking Over Broken Glass - How do our heroes deal with the problems as they go?

In the  Saw  franchise, this is how people try to get out of the sick traps and hunt Jigsaw. 

7. Through The Dark Cave  - Do you have a B story? Set that story off on its own now too.

B-stories, like the marital tension in  Rosemary's Baby , are great scenes to juxtapose against the horror at hand. 

8. Reassess the Terror  - You’re in the middle. Is there another way to get out alive?

In  Shaun of the Dead  its when they decide to go to the Winchester. 

9. People are Going to Die  - Things begin to fall apart, let the body count rise and show how they deal with it. 

In  The Descent , this is when the people in the group begin to be picked off one by one. 

10. The Fall  - The worst thing happens, something so bad you don’t think you can get up.

I n a horror movie like  The Mist , it's when they are forced outside and surrounded by the actual mist. 

11. The Hidden Clue  - What do your characters discover that they never saw before?

Is there a way out? Something they never realized, like in the  Sixth Sense  when David realizes he's a ghost. 

12. Race To the Final (Girl)  - They’re up and running no matter what. They can make it! 

This is the series of scenes that carries us toward your thrilling finale. In  Alien , it's when Ripley is confronted and has to think fast. 

13. The Moment of Relief  - Did they make it out alive? Has life returned to normal?

What does their day feel like with the problem corrected? Think about when  Jaws  finally blows up?

14. Where We Go From Here? - Show us the world in a new light, hint what’s next. Maybe the killer or monster returns for one final scare!

In every horror movie, it feels like there's one last scare. Like in  I Still Know What you did Last Summer  when it turns out the hook-handed man is under the bed! 

Horror Movies and Comedy Movies 

One last thing I wanted to address is the addition of humor to your screenplay. 

So many horror movies use comedy to help bring levity to dark things. Sure, it doesn't happen all the time, but comedy helps ease people into scenes., If you're laughing, you might be more susceptible to a jump scare or a misdirect. 

You can be as funny as Shaun of the Dead , or use the deadpan humor of The Dead Don't Die. 

Even titles as unsettling as Midsommar contain humor that helps the audience engage. 

So consider adding humor to your pages to keep them turning. 

Sam Raimi, one of the best to do it, uses comedy in all his horror films. 

What's next? Learn about Movie and TV genres ! 

Film and TV genres affect who watches your work, how it's classified, and even how it's reviewed. So how do you decide what you're writing? And which genres to mash-up? The secret is in the tropes. 

How 'Hundreds of Beavers' Pulled Off Slick Visual Style With After Effects

Writer-director-editor-vfx guru mike cheslik on crafting the slapstick masterpiece of our wildest, woodland dreams..

Ever think that in 2024 we'd have a beautiful, black-and-white slapstick masterpiece about a guy and his Loony Toons -esque vendetta against hundreds of beavers portrayed in goofy, straight-forward beaver mascot costumes?

I sure didn't, but I've never been so delightfully ignorant.

Mike Cheslik's Hundreds of Beavers is a beautiful anomaly of a movie made with his long-time high school best buddy Ryland Brickson Cole Tews in the leading role. From their personal history, to the conception of the project, to utilizing savvy indie filmmaking techniques to their fullest extent Hundreds of Beavers is a pipe dream for anyone who's ever wanted to make a movie with their friends and have it really take off. It doesn't hurt that it's truly independent through and through.

Below, Mike dives deep into his filmmaking origins, breaks down the art of slapstick comedy, and most importantly, explains how they pulled off those titular "hundreds of beavers" visually.

Editor's note: the following quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

The Secret Origins of Mike Cheslik, Filmmaker

Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (L) and Mike Cheslik (R)

Courtesy of Hundreds of Beavers

"I started to make videos in high school when it was MiniDV.

I graduated high school in 2009 in Milwaukee where I met [ Hundreds of Beavers lead ] Ryland [Brickson Cole Tews] and the principal hired us to do a video promoting our school for the open house night for parents, and we just filled it with a bunch of visual gags and jokes. It was like seven minutes, and then we got a bunch of laughs from all the parents that went that night, and we really enjoyed getting laughs for the video that we made together.

I went to NYU at 18 and he went to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but we continued working together. I made a few films at school and then after college we did a show called LIPS: The League of Interplanetary Process Servers that was half live action, half animation, really simple crude after effects animation, probably inspired by Adult Swim stuff and Adventure Time .

We tried to fill it with jokes. I spent a little time trying to sell that show, trying to sell the pilot we made to a real studio, and it was just kind of a waste of time. And while I was driving around LA trying to sell that, Ryland just started shooting a movie called Lake Michigan Monster and started sending me footage. Then I started editing the footage, and by the third act I was more involved and we did this whole storyboard and sequence for the end of that movie, which turned into a dry run for Hundreds of Beavers , our second feature and my directorial debut."

Crafting 'Hundreds of Beavers' From Concept to Reality 

"It starts as gags on note cards the same way you'd have written ideas on note cards just being moved around this big Joseph Campbell structure of "guy thrust into wilderness learns to survive, learns to become a master fur trapper and catch hundreds of beavers", and then the beavers get their revenge in act three.

That basic structure is super simple with a mentor figure and a love interest. That is how all of the gag ideas are hung on that simple structure. And we just spent months moving the gags around to get the runners working and have all the runners kind of dovetail. And then we had a big grid for the second act that was like the 12 stops in the trap line and the five loops that he makes around the trap line, each item he gets affects each location. So it's like every row is a physical principle of the location and every column is the new item.

He gets on that loop and then drawing 80 gags or whatever from that. So it was a big crossword puzzle. It was like writing a crossword puzzle, and once all those gags are in place for the structure as simple little note cards ideas.

Then I did the actual storyboards in Storyboard Pro, which is a pretty standard storyboard software for an animation pipeline. You can print Storyboard Pro storyboards into a PDF that you take on set and you check off the shots as you shoot them, but you can also export it into a QuickTime that you lay down in Premiere Pro and sync to music.

So the timeline for Hundreds of Beavers began in writing, and that same timeline took us all the way to the end of the film, and we were just dropping the effects elements onto the animatic as we went, keeping the same songs in most cases. And so the entire shoot less than covering scenes like a normal movie, it was a slowly collecting effects elements. It was just a very long, tedious scavenger hunt for effects elements to drop on Animatic."

The Power of a Well-Executed After Affects Workflow 

Mike Cheslik comping for Hundreds of Beavers

"Very little was built. It's all After Effects comps with Shutterstock elements. The only thing that's real is the cabin is a real historical cabin, and then there was just the little oak arena of time.

The merchant stand was built by Ryland's dad and placed in front of a real cabin. Other than that, I don't know how much we built. I mean, my buddy's barn becomes the fight interior where Ryland gets chained to a table. But the art there is, we put some fish on the wall and we put up a quilt my wife made, and then we lugged a table in there. It's not a ton of set design. It's mostly After Effects comps.

My shoddy comp work being hidden by the grainy black and white, that aesthetic of doing grainy black and white on Lake Michigan Monster and Hundreds of Beavers . I really think if you don't have much money, you should just steal that because you can make a big crazy image without having to achieve a high quality visual effect.

You just get the audience to accept that. It's just going to look kind of shoddy up front and just say, nah, this is a punk. This is a punk lo-fi look. This is our style, man. But actually it just allows you to make stronger images quickly. And then we're not limited in writing. We know we can do anything as long as it fits into the parameter of it's just Ryland and mascots, and we have three days on set with the other actors.

But other than that, it's like 12 weeks of mascots and Ryland in the snow and on green screen. So any idea we want to have within those limitations we can achieve with our silly look. So I don't know. I think the grainy black and white thing that could become a whole look the way that we would always say an indie game, so many of them are pixel art because that's a style that a team of two can achieve all their biggest ideas if they stick to pixel art instead of trying to make a more sophisticated aesthetic.

It was like 1500 after effects shots over the four years. And sometimes the first element for a shot would come in, I would do a temp version, and then two years later, the fish element or whatever would come in and I would add that.

We shot I think it was 12 weeks, nine of which were winter exteriors, and I then I just had this [post production] project going for four years—five, including the release and just not updating Adobe or my operating system that entire time."

How Did They Craft All Those Beavers?

Hundreds of Beavers

"Just bought them online. I mean, we added the second tooth. Everything is pretty much just ordered on Amazon. Some props were made, oh, we need a wooden fish. And then Ryland's dad would make it. We went to a real guy for the rocket miniature, but most of these things are pretty handmade or bought offline. It's very simple. I mean, all the effects are me just downloading Shutterstock images and comping them in really simply.

[There were just six beavers] and then I had just seen a Lord of the Rings special feature where they just duplicated a group of three. You don't want to duplicate one subject a hundred times, but if you have a little group that makes it a lot easier, and then they're bumping into each other, so it just adds a little realism to it."

The Art of Slapstick Comedy 

"I think there should be a bedrock of the straight world, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail . They actually did try to make a nice looking medieval setting without a lot of money. They tried their best to establish the straight world.

The Naked Gun movies have a real professional crew doing their best to have the aesthetics of a cop show or a cop movie, and then the music is straight. It's from the Dick Wolf library, and that's what Monty Python and the Holy Grail does too. There's very straight music, and then you want your one joke happening at a time in an otherwise straight, logical world. And then clarity, just making sure that all extraneous information is removed from the frame so that you have a really clear joke and then you want your setup should be straight, and then there should be a hard turn into the joke.

In Ryland's case, we also crafted his performance. He's a puppet where he just has to hit communicative poses one after the other and kind of pop and log through them the way that to share up a food egg would where he is just using his whole body. He's very quickly demonstrating one emotional beat after another, and he's like an editor's dream. He gets through those. So physically and quickly."

Mike's Story-Driven Advice To Filmmakers 

"I think you need to entertain an audience and start with that. And I think a movie should have a strong dramatic question that heightens, and it should be a question with a definitive answer. Is the steam roller going to crush the guy? And that could be the whole movie, and it has a definitive answer where either it crushes him or the steam roller is destroyed, and then we know that's the end.

You need a physical dramatic question that can play out visually, and I think you should have shots with more than one thing in them, not just singles of people talking, but I think a shot should have two people or a person and an object or show the spatial relationship between two things. And I think that the story, the goal and obstacle should play out physically. Even if you do have dialogue, it should still be playing out onscreen visually.

And I think if you want to do bigger, crazier things, you should pick a lo-fi aesthetic and let the audience know right away that's how it's going to look, so that their expectations of realism are set at zero and you can have bigger, crazier ideas."

Hundreds of Beavers is now available to buy and rent digitally.

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Why We Crave Horror Movies

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Analysis: “Why We Crave Horror Movies”

The essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” interweaves point of view , structure, and tone to address the foundational themes of fear, emotions, and “insanity” in relation to horror movies. It examines why horror films allow the expression of fearful emotions linked to irrationality. The essay integrates literary techniques and pop culture references to form a cohesive whole, and it highlights several key themes: Good Versus Bad Emotions , The Expression of Fear Through Horror Movies , and “Insanity” and Normality in Society and Horror Film .

King argues that fear and other negative emotions are universal and that horror movies are a key art form for expressing these emotions. The essay gives audiences permission to experience and enjoy these films as a vehicle for fears.

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How to Write Horror for Film

It’s a common mistake to call a horror movie a scary movie. Not all horror movies are scary, and certainly not all scary movies are in the horror genre. Therein lies the biggest hurdle to overcome when crafting compelling horror –  figuring out just what is “scary.” That is a question so vast it can be scary itself, crippling creativity and leading to unfinished projects, self-doubt, and wasted talent. So, how do you write a horror for film that captivates an audience?

How to Write Horror for Film: 4 Essential Tips

The truth is that good horror isn’t about scaring as much as it’s about entertaining. When you set out to entertain instead of scare, you will always win the audience. In fact, the first horror film wasn’t considered a horror movie at all, as it was the first movie of its kind. Horror can be our everyday world shown through a nightmare lens and can be inspired by the situations we face and mundane parts of our day suddenly uprooted by the otherworldly. It’s the ultimate genre of escapism, and great horror writers never lose sight of that. 

Here are additional tips on how to write compelling horror.

1. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel, Just Make a Great Wheel 

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, the budding subgenre of the body-count movie was on the rise. Victor Miller, a screenwriter, and director Sean S. Cunningham were amazed by the box office success of John Carpenter’s Halloween and decided to try to replicate it with the first Friday the 13 th .

While Halloween played with suspense in its kills, Miller and Cunningham went in the opposite direction, upping the gore factor. The godfather of gore himself Tom Savini, fresh off Dawn of the Dead , was called in to bring to screen what Carpenter hid in the shadows. Practically telling the same story of teens picked off one by one by a psycho killer, both movies are seen as forefathers to the slasher subgenre yet handle it entirely differently. One chose to grotesque their audience into fear by showing the mayhem, while the other let what the audience didn’t see drive their fear. 

When it comes to writing your own horror, don’t get hung up on re-inventing it, find your angle to adapt it.  For example, in 1968, George A. Romero would forever change the idea of the zombie from Voodoo lore to the flesh-eating ghoul. Romero created an entirely new subgenre by re-contextualizing an already existing idea of the recently deceased rise from their freshly dug graves. Every zombie movie since Romero’s Night of the Living Dead has brandished the classic’s fingerprints proudly. Because it’s not always about making something new, but about making something enjoyable.

2. Watch The Best (and Worst) Horror Films 

How do you get to perform at Carnegie Hall? Practice. Nothing will beat hours upon hours of self-education on a subject. Luckily, film is a visual medium, and you can literally watch scary movies and call it research. If you’re new to the genre, grab a Top 100 list and hop into the deep end. If you’re a long-tenured fan of fright, then you’ve been doing your homework this whole time. By watching good movies and bad, you’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, which scary movie scenes scare you and which do not, and what entertains you and what doesn’t. All art grows from what came before it, so set out to consume as much horror as you can and expose yourself to all the horror subgenres and horror from other countries. The only thing that can truly hurt you in horror is a narrow imagination. 

Additionally, take the time to listen to the director’s commentary on a DVD or Blu-ray. A simple yet often overlooked tool, these pseudo-TEDtalks are goldmines of reusable info on not only filmmaking but the nature of the horror genre. Rocker turned horror auteur Rob Zombie always includes an extensive make-of documentary to show just what steps go into every step of crafting a horror movie, following from day one of production all the way to the Martini shot. These readily available resources can help you hone your skills in showing kills. 

3. Don’t Feel Pressured to Follow Trends

Horror changes quicker than any other genre. As soon as a new style of horror hits with fright fans, everyone tries to re-create the same magic. The market becomes oversaturated, and just as fast, the style falls out of favor. In 2004, James Wans’ horror debut Saw hit screens and ushered in the short-lived subgenre of Torture horror. Movies that featured exceedingly cruel and unyielding deceptions of violence, such as Hostel and Wolf Creek, are solid examples. 

Wans’ film was a masterclass in how to write horror for film and effective indie filmmaking . The young filmmaker understood how to torture his audience on a budget with implication rather than gratuity. A slew of gorier and gorier knock-offs would follow, enough that by 2007 audiences had grown desensitized to all the bloody carnage. Torture horror all but ceased overnight as Found Footage-style horror movies would find a second and steadier life. This all shows the fickle nature of audiences and that an attempt to create material simply to feed a trend can be a blind and thankless ambition.

4. Create the Horror Movie You Never Got to See

The band KISS is quoted as saying that the key to their success was being the band they never got to see growing up. That’s a beautiful way to approach any creative endeavor. Make the art you never got to enjoy. Whether your dream project deals with a murderous Easter Bunny or a haunted insane asylum, it doesn’t matter. Whatever the idea is, hold on to it and work with it, and, most importantly, make sure it’s something you yourself would want to watch. Think back to being an audience member and what style of story got you excited. If you make the story you wanted to see but never did, you may be surprised to learn just how many people are ready to be terrified by your nightmares as well. 

Learning How to Write Horror for Film

Some call a life in the arts living the dream. Well, for those who love horror, it might be a dream job, but it’s their nightmares that inspire them. So, to the future masters of horror out there, we wish you chilling nightmares, you’ll need them.

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Analysis of 'Why We Crave Horror Movies' by Stephen King

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Words: 1020 |

Published: Apr 8, 2022

Words: 1020 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Stephen King's essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies," delves into the intriguing phenomenon of why people are drawn to horror films. King explores the idea that individuals enjoy challenging fear and demonstrate their bravery by willingly subjecting themselves to scary movies. He suggests that humans have an inherent desire to experience fear and that society has built norms around the acceptable ways to do so, with horror movies being one of those sanctioned outlets.

King ultimately argues that horror movies serve as a release valve for the darker aspects of our psyche, allowing us to maintain a sense of normalcy and societal conformity. He suggests that by indulging in controlled madness within the confines of a movie theater, we can better appreciate the positive emotions and values of our everyday lives.

Throughout the essay, King's thoughts evolve from an exploration of psychological impulses to a nuanced consideration of the ethical and moral dimensions of our fascination with horror. He challenges readers to contemplate the complexities of human nature and the role of horror movies in our society.

Works Cited:

• American Psychological Association. (2021). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
• National Geographic. (n.d.). Why we believe in superstitions. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/taboo/articles/why-we-believe-in-superstitions/
• New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Superstition. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Superstition
• Radford, B. (2016). Superstition: Belief in the age of science. Oxford University Press.
• Rogers, K. (2019). The power of superstition. Scientific American Mind, 30(6), 50-55.
• Sørensen, J. (2014). Superstition in the workplace: A study of a bank in Denmark. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 30(1), 34-42.
• Truzzi, M. (1999). CSIOP Investigates: Superstition and the paranormal. The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, 1(1), 174-181.
• Vyse, S. A. (2013). Believing in magic: The psychology of superstition. Oxford University Press.
• Woolfolk, R. L. (2018). Educational psychology: Active learning edition (14th ed.). Pearson.
• Yamashita, K., & Ando, J. (2019). Superstition and work motivation: A field study in Japan. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 49(1), 28-36.

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What is Horror? Definition and Examples in Film

W hy are humans drawn to the horror genre? From books to film, we can’t seem to get enough of what scares us most. In this article, we will look at the definition of horror and why we enjoy the genre so much. We will also look at a brief history of American cinema and how horror has evolved over the years. While this article will provide a general definition of horror, the genre is open to interpretation. After all, what is horror to you, is Child’s Play to me.

Watch: What Makes a Great Jump Scare?

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Define Horror

The horror genre explained.

Horror is one of the most popular genres in storytelling. What began in literature can now be found in movies, television, theatre, and video games. The horror genre has been divided into many sub-genres with their own definitions and criteria. Before we get to those, let's define horror at a basic level:

HORROR DEFINITION

What is horror.

Horror is a genre of storytelling intended to scare, shock, and thrill its audience. Horror can be interpreted in many different ways, but there is often a central villain, monster, or threat that is often a reflection of the fears being experienced by society at the time. This person or creature is called the “other,” a term that refers to someone that is feared because they are different or misunderstood. This is also why the horror genre has changed so much over the years. As culture and fears change, so does horror.

What are some defining elements of the horror genre?

• Themes : The horror genre is often a reflection of the culture and what it fears at the time (invasion, disease, nuclear testing, etc.). 
• Character Types : Besides the killer, monster, or threat, the various sub-genres contain certain hero archetypes (e.g., the Final Girl in Slasher movies).
• Setting : Horror can have many settings, such as: a gothic castle, small town, outer space, or haunted house. It can take place in the past, present or future.
• Music : This is an important facet in the horror genre. It can be used with great effect to build atmosphere and suspense.

Horror Subgenres

Different types of horror movies.

The horror genre has given birth to many sub-genres and hybrids of these various types. Each has its own unique themes, but all of them share one common goal: FEAR.

Found Footage

The point-of-view takes place from the perspective of a camera. Famous titles include  The Blair Witch Project  and  Rec .  

Lovecraftian

Focuses on cosmic horror. Monsters are beings beyond our comprehension. Often incorporates science fiction, including horror classics like  Alien  and  The Thing . 

Psychological

This sub-genre focuses on the horror of the mind. What is real? What is madness? Two great psychological horror movies are  Silence of the Lambs  and  Jacob’s Ladder . 

Science Fiction

Focuses on the horror and consequences of technology. Monsters are often aliens or machines. Two great sci-fi horror movies are  The Blob   and  War of the Worlds .

The monster is a psychopath with a penchant for bloody murder. Often focuses on the punishment of promiscuous teenagers. Popular movies include  Halloween  and  A Nightmare on Elm Street .

Supernatural

Focuses on the afterlife. Primary creatures include ghosts and demons. Great titles include  Poltergeist   and  The Exorcist .

Similar to slasher; focuses on the punishment of people. The villain takes pleasure in the physical and psychological torment of victims. Famous movies include  Hostel  and  Saw . 

One of the oldest horror sub-genres in which icons like Dracula feed on human blood. Some of the best vampire movies include  Nosferatu and Interview with the Vampire . 

When a full moon is out, beware of these beastly shape-shifters. The best werewolf movies include  An American Werewolf in London  and  The Wolf Man . 

A group of survivors is usually attacked by a horde of flesh-eating undead.  Night of the Living Dead  is considered one of the best zombie movies along with  28 Days Later... and Shaun of the Dead .

A History of Horror Movies 1896-2018

Horror vs thriller, the relationship of horror and thriller.

While the two genres are often confused, there is a clear difference between horror and thriller movies. Horror movie rules demand violence and a monster that appears early and relatively frequently. The climax revolves around a final fight or an escape from the monster. The "monster" in horror is typically "unnatural" or even "supernatural," whereas thrillers tend to rely on human threats.

In a thriller, there is much more mystery and discovery. Tensions rise as the protagonist gets closer to discovering the evil threat. The climax revolves around a big reveal, such as the true intentions of the villain.

The two genres con blend, of course, such as the modern horror/thriller Get Out (2017). Something like  Halloween  might also be considered a crossover since the killer is human but he exhibits supernatural abilities — like how he never seems to die when he's "killed."

Now that we've covered our horror film definition, let's take a look back at a history of horror movies. Through the decades, the horror movie has evolved to reflect what we we fear the most, as explained in this video.

The Horror Genre and Cultural Fears

1930’s horror, horror and the depression.

The 1930s was a tough period for America. We were in the midst of the Great Depression and Americans were feeling more desperate than ever before.  Despite the economic turmoil, people spent what little they had on entertainment, like movies. One of the first great American horror films that garnered much popularity was Dracula (1931), based on the novel by Bram Stoker. And it set the standard for the  Best Vampire Movies thereafter.

But why was Dracula so terrifying? Americans were afraid of European influence. World War I ended only 13 years prior. The American mindset was still heavily influenced by the atrocities that took place. Combined with the influx of European immigrants, people were afraid of outsiders corrupting American culture. Someone had to be the scapegoat.

Another film that was a reflection of the fears of the time was  Frankenstein (1931), based on the novel by Mary Shelly. This movie created a more sympathetic monster; one that was fleeing from the oppression of his creator.

Below is the original disclaimer that ran before the movie began. It is a warning played up for dramatic effect ("...it might even horrify you!"). 

Frankenstein Disclaimer

Americans felt as though they that their government had failed them.  They blamed their leaders for their misfortune, much like how Dr. Frankenstein failed to protect his creation.

A recurring theme in horror is that the monster is often mankind itself. The villagers lashed out against something they didn’t understand, becoming monsters themselves.

What is Horror? Dracula (1931)

1950s horror, horror in the '50s.

World War II ended in 1945, but it left a huge mark on the world, both literally and figuratively. The use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave way to a new era of fear in the nuclear age. The consequences of mankind’s use of science and technology would become a common theme.

Often not thought of as horror, Godzilla (1954) is a Japanese film that came to America. It was a response to the bombs used by the U.S. In this story, an animal is transformed by nuclear radiation into a giant monster and terrorizes the country. With the advent of the nuclear age, many questions and fears were brought up with this powerful but dangerous energy source.

The monster movie has a rich tradition within the horror genre, dating back to the very first movies. Do yourself a favor and watch this documentary on the history of the monster movie.

History of the Horror Genre  •  Monster Movies

The 50’s also gave to the Red Scare and the fear of communism. The theme of invasion became prevalent in many monster movies. Science fiction would blend with the horror genre, giving birth to films such as   War of the Worlds (1953) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

In the first film, aliens begin an invasion of earth in a small town, indicative of a communist attack. In the second film, humans are replaced with alien duplicates, which represents the fear of communism overtaking democracy.

What is Horror? War of the Worlds (1953)

1960s-'70s horror, when the monster became human.

The 1960s-'70s was a period of uncertainty and violence for America. We were in the midst of the Vietnam War, a conflict that caused much controversy. For the first time, the U.S. was no longer in the right for a global conflict. The violence committed by men led to the fear of what we as a species were capable of.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) came as a result of this fear and uncertainty. The monsters, which looked very human, would mercilessly attack, kill and devour people. What made the zombies most terrifying was that they could take on the appearance of our loved ones. If we cannot trust our fellow human, who can we trust?

Thanks to a copyright error,  Night of the Living Dead belongs in the public domain. That means you can watch it for free right now. Any self-respecting horror genre fan has to watch this movie.

Watch Night of the Living Dead in its entirety

The 70’s were also known for the increase in news coverage on serial killer murders. Media outlets reported on these maniacs as if they were celebrities. People were afraid of the monster next door coming by and killing them in their homes.

This gave rise to the first “slasher,” Halloween (1978). Despite appearing human, Michael Myers was  an unstoppable killer that stalked his victims with murderous intent. Slashers grew immensely in popularity, even affecting movies that are not slashers .

The slasher sub-genre would also explore the subject of morality. The sexually promiscuous would be punished and violently murdered, while the moral “Final Girl” would survive to the bitter end.

One would think that these human monsters would drive people away from horror. But the blood-soaked films would make the genre more popular than ever.

What is Horror? Halloween (1976)

1980s-'90s horror, what is self-aware horror.

Coming out of the serial killer era in the '70s, the '80s would continue the trend of slashers with a massive influx of these movies. Friday the 13th ,   A Nightmare on Elm Street   and even Halloween would spawn numerous sequels, each one more absurd than the last.

Hitting a breaking point, the horror genre became more "aware" of itself in the form of Scream (1996). Though very much still a slasher, this film acknowledged the well-worn tropes established by its predecessors, such as the Final Girl.

What is Horror? Scream (1996)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) would take the trope of the weak high school girl and turn her into a monster killer. While the protagonist, Buffy, was killing vampires and other monsters, she and her friends would still experience the woes of being a teenager.

The '90s would also pave the way for a new sub-genre: found footage. The Blair Witch Project   (1999) gave the audience the point-of-view of a camera, putting them in the shoes of the victims. This made the horror more personal for viewers, revitalizing the genre as a whole.

Horror Sub-genres  •  Found Footage

2000s horror, when the horror film took a dark turn.

After 9/11, the war on terror would spawn a generation of films that would redefine what horror is: torture. The prospect of psychos capturing and torturing their victims, both physically and psychologically proved to be a box office success.

Perhaps the most notorious of these is Saw (2004). In this film, a sociopath captures several people and forces them to play his sadistic games if they want to survive. This gruesome concept would spawn a plethora of sequels and copycats, flooding the market and coining a new term for the excess of violence: torture porn.

Global fears and international terror attacks made the end of the world seem more plausible. People became more fascinated than ever over the prospect of a catastrophe like a zombie apocalypse.

As such, the horror genre would reflect this with shows such as The Walking Dead (2010-present). How would any of us survive? How can something so overwhelming ever be stopped? As zombie movies grew in popularity, so did the number of movies. And as this video explains, what we now call "zombies" began as something quite different.

Horror Sub-genres  •  Zombies

The future of horror, what is horror today.

To say we live in a new world would be an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we act, think and feel. Global culture as a whole has changed and it will continue to do so for some time. As such, expect the horror genre to reflect this evolution of fear. Don’t be surprised when an influx of movies revolving around isolation and global pandemics hits theaters.

There has been a sort of renaissance of horror movies in the last decade that has been quite excited to watch. Films like The Witch , It Follows and Hereditary have been dubbed "elevated horror" — a divisive term to say the least. Whatever we call them, they are all still really strong and effective horror movies. Here's a breakdown of Midsommar and how the shape of the horror genre continues to evolve.

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The best horror movies of all time.

We just covered a very broad horror genre definition and there is a lot more to explore. We've been talking a lot about the horror genre but now it's time to face our fears and actually watch some. Through the last century, across genre to sub-genre, from ghouls to goblins, here are the Best Horror Movies of All Time.

Up Next: Best Horror Movies →

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Robin Wood on the Horror Film: Collected Essays and Reviews (Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Studies) Paperback – November 12, 2018

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Robin Wood's writing on the horror film, published over five decades, collected in one volume.

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101 Terrifying Horror Story Prompts

Welcome to the story den of horror, scares, and the macabre.

Most writers are often asked, "Where do you get your ideas from?" A majority of the time, writers find it difficult to answer that question.

We get our ideas from a plethora of sources — news headlines, novels, television shows, movies, our lives, our fears, our phobias, etc. They can come from a scene or moment in a film that wasn't fully explored. They can come from a single visual that entices the creative mind — a seed that continues to grow and grow until the writer is forced to finally put it to paper or screen.

In the spirit of helping writers find those seeds, here we offer 101 originally conceived and terrifying story prompts that you can use as inspiration for your next horror story.

They may inspire screenplays, novels, short stories, or even smaller moments that you can include in what stories you are already writing or what you will create in your upcoming projects.

But beware! If you scare easily — and have active imaginations like most writers do — turn up the lights and proceed with caution...

1. A girl goes missing in the woods, and her parents find only a decrepit and scary doll left behind. They soon learn that the doll is actually their daughter. And she's alive.

2. New residents of an old neighborhood are invited by their friendly neighbors to a Halloween party. The neighbors are vampires.

3. A family dog runs away from home. He returns a year later to the delight of his family. But there's something different about him. Something demonic.

4. A girl goes missing. Fifteen years later, her parents get a call from her older self. But they listen in fear because they killed their daughter that dark night years ago.

5. A man reads a novel, soon realizing that the story is his very own — and according to the book, a killer is looming.

6. A scientist clones his family that died in an airplane crash — but soon learns the repercussions of playing God.

7. A man wakes up bound to an electric chair.

8. A man wakes up in a coffin next to a freshly dead body.

9. A woman wakes up to find her family gone and her doors and windows boarded up with no way to escape.

10. A man afraid of snakes is shipwrecked on an island covered with them.

11. Serial killers worldwide are connected by a dark web website.

12. The world's population is overtaken by vampires — all except one little child.

13. A woman afraid of clowns is forced to work in a traveling circus.

14. An astronaut and cosmonaut are on the International Space Station when their countries go to Nuclear War with each other. Their last orders are to eliminate the other.

15. A treasure hunter finds a tomb buried beneath the dirt.

16. A young brother and sister find an old door in their basement that wasn't there before.

17. Winged creatures can be seen within the storm clouds above.

18. A man wakes up to find a hobo clown staring down at him.

19. Residents of a town suddenly fall dead while the dead from cemeteries around them rise.

20. A doctor performs the first head transplant — things go wrong.

21. A man is texted pictures of himself in various stages of torture that he has no memory of.

22. A girl wakes up to find a little boy sitting on his bed, claiming to be her younger brother — but she never had one.

23. A scare walk in the woods during Halloween is actually real.

24. A bartender serves last call to the only remaining patron, who is the Devil himself.

25. Earth suffers a planet-wide blackout as all technology is lost.

26. A boy's stepfather is actually a murderous werewolf.

27. Something has turned the neighborhood pets into demonic killers.

28. A priest is a vampire.

29. A woman wakes up with no eyes.

30. A man wakes up with no mouth.

31. A monster is terrified by the scary child who lives above his bed.

32. An astronaut jettisoned into the cold of space in a mission gone wrong suddenly appears at the doorstep of his family.

33. A woman answers a phone call only to learn that the voice on the other end is her future self, warning her that a killer is looming.

34. A boy realizes that aliens have replaced his family.

35. A woman wakes up in an abandoned prison that she cannot escape.

36. A bank robber steals from the small town bank that holds the riches of witches.

37. A door-to-door salesman circa the 1950s visits the wrong house.

38. Deceased soldiers return to their Civil War-era homes.

39. Kidnappers abduct the child of a vampire.

40. An innocent circus clown discovers the dark history of the trade.

41. A homeless man is stalked by faceless beings.

42. A spelunker stumbles upon a series of caverns infested with rattlesnakes.

43. A group of friends is forced to venture through a chamber of horrors where only one is promised to survive.

44. He's not the man she thought he was. In fact, he's not a man at all.

45. Suburbia is actually purgatory.

46. Someone discovers that we are all actually robots — who created us and why?

47. She's not an angel. She's a demon.

48. An old shipwreck washes ashore.

49. A sinkhole swallows a house whole and unleashes something from beneath.

50. A man has sleep paralysis at the worst possible time.

51. A woman out hiking is caught in a bear trap as the sun begins to go down.

52. Naked figures with no faces stalk campers in the woods.

53. An astronaut is the sole survivor of a moon landing gone wrong — only to discover that the moon is infested with strange creatures.

54. A woman is wrongfully condemned to an insane asylum.

55. A mother's baby will not leave its womb and continues to grow and grow and grow while doctors try to cut it out but can't.

56. Friends on a road trip stumble upon a backcountry town whose residents all dress up as different types of clowns.

57. Tourists in Ireland retreat to an old castle when the country is taken over by greedy and vengeful leprechauns.

58. A boy on a farm makes a scarecrow that comes alive.

59. A figure dressed in an old, dirty Easter Bunny suit haunts the children of a town.

60. The abused animals of a zoo are unleashed and wreak havoc on a small town.

61. A deceased grandma's old doll collection comes alive.

62. Little Red Riding Hood was a vampire.

63. Somebody clones Hitler and raises him as a white supremacist.

64. A pumpkin patch comes alive — beings with heads of pumpkins and bodies of vines.

65. An endless swarm of killer bees wreaks havoc on the country.

66. Christ returns to Earth — at least that is who people thought he was.

67. A natural anomaly brings all of the country's spiders to a horrified town.

68. A woman finds old 16mm film from her childhood and sees that she had a sister — what happened to her?

69. Something ancient rises from an old pond.

70. A woman suddenly begins to wake up in somebody else's body every morning — each day ends with her being stocked and killed by the same murderer in black.

71. An Artificial Intelligence begins to communicate with a family online, only to terrorize them through their technology.

72. A family buys a cheap house only to discover that an old cemetery is their back yard.

73. Years after the zombie apocalypse subsides, survivors discover that the epidemic was caused by aliens that have appeared to lay claim to the planet.

74. A woman has memories of being abducted by aliens — but she soon learns that they weren't aliens. They were...

75. A boy has a tumor that slowly grows into a Siamese twin — the older they get, the more evil the twin becomes.

76. A cult that worships history's deadliest serial killers begins to kill by copying their methods.

77.  Stone gargoyles suddenly appear on the tops of buildings and houses of a small town.

78. A family on a boat trip stumbles upon an old pirate ship.

79. A winter snowstorm traps a family in an abandoned insane asylum.

80. A little girl comes down from upstairs and asks her parents, "Can you hear it breathing? I can."

81. A town is enveloped in unexplained darkness for weeks.

82. A jetliner flies high in the sky as Nuclear War breaks out below.

83. Children discover a deep, dark well in the woods — an old ladder leads down into it.

84. A child sleepwalks into their parent's room and whispers, "I'm sorry. The Devil told me to."

85. As a woman showers, a voice comes from the drain whispering, "I see you."

86. A child finds a crayon drawing of a strange family — it's inscribed with the words we live in your walls .

87. All of the cemetery's graves are now open, gaping holes — the dirt pushed out from underground.

88. A woman is watching a scary movie alone on Halloween night — someone, or something, keeps knocking at her door.

89. Someone is taking a bath as a hand from behind the shower curtain pushes their head into the water.

90. A farmer and his sons begin to hear the laughter of children coming from his fields at night — no children are in sight.

91. Someone looks out their window to see a clown standing at a corner holding a balloon — staring at them.

92. Mannequins in a department store seem to be moving on their own.

93. What if the God people worshiped was really Satan — and Satan had somehow kept God prisoner?

94. A man dies and wakes up in the body of a serial killer — and no matter how hard he tries to stop killing, he can't.

95. A prisoner awakens to find the prison empty — but he's locked in his cell.

96. A woman jogging stumbles upon a dead, bloody body — she then hears a strange clicking sound and looks up to see a dark figure running towards her.

97. A girl hears laughter downstairs — she's the only one home.

98. An Uber driver picks up the wrong person — and may not live to tell the tale.

99. There's someone or something living and moving up in the attic — but it's not a ghost.

100. A child's imaginary friend is not imaginary.

101. The reflections that we see of ourselves in the mirror are actually us in a parallel universe — and they are planning to do whatever it takes to take our place in this world.

Share this with your writing peers or anyone that loves a good scary story.

For some more scares, check out ScreenCraft's  20 Terrifying Two-Sentence Horror Stories and  8 Ways Horror Movies Scare the S*** Out of Audiences!

Sleep well and keep writing.

Once you're inspired, take your idea to the next level and  Develop Your Horror Movie Idea in 15 Days .

Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.

He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries  Blackout , starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner. Follow Ken on Twitter  @KenMovies 

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10 best horror movie introductions to the genre.

Not everyone is sold on horror movies and may want to dip their toes in the genre before diving into the intense and terrifying entries in the genre

For some movie fans, Halloween and the Fall season are the perfect excuse to watch all of their favorite horror films. However, not everyone is fully sold on horror movies and may want to dip their toes in the genre before diving into the more intense and terrifying entries.

RELATED: 10 Oscar Nominated Performances In Horror Movies

Horror is a diverse genre that contains films of varying levels of scares. The ideal introduction to the horror genre is a film that is scary but not too scary and one that helps the new viewer establish proper expectations of films in the genre for the future.

Halloween (1978)

1978's Halloween is a thrilling and straightforward story about a ruthless, unstoppable killer named Michael Myers who escapes from a sanitarium and returns to his small hometown to wreaks havoc on Halloween night.

The film is one of the most influential classic horror movies. As arguably the greatest slasher film ever made , it helped to establish and popularize the subgenre that contains some of the most popular films and characters in horror movie history. The film is tense and well-made but not so scary that newcomers to the genre won't be able to handle it.

Get Out is a renowned psychological horror film that follows a young Black man as he travels to meet his white girlfriend's family for the first time, discovering some horrifying secrets in the process.

The film is an excellent introduction to the horror genre because it is not only one of the most effective psychological horror movies ever, but it is also a tremendous film regardless of genre. Thanks to incredible writing and direction from Jordan Peele, multiple great acting performances from the cast , and timely social commentary, Get Out is an endlessly entertaining must-watch film even for those who do not normally watch horror movies. The film proves that a horror movie can be more than cheap thrills and can instead be a force for cultural impact.

The Shining

Based on a novel by a master of horror, Stephen King, The Shining is a tense and thoughtful slow-burn psychological horror movie about a man who moves his family to the Overlook Hotel to take care of the hotel during the offseason, only to fall into a murderous madness that drives him to try to kill his family.

Directed by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, The Shining still holds up today and is a great introduction to the genre that presents the audience with compelling characters, a simple but effective story, and just enough scares to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat.

Psycho (1960)

Helmed by the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho is a thriller that revolves around the relationship between a woman who is fleeing her hometown after committing embezzlement and a shy motel manager who has a complicated relationship with his over-protective mother.

RELATED:  10 Horror Movie Performances That Were Snubbed For Oscar Nominations

The film is not only one of the best horror movies ever, but it is also the film to introduce the jump scare to the world. While the film may not have modern audiences jumping in terror, it is still a tense, thrilling, and shocking film that will entertain modern audiences.

Based on the novel by Stephen King, It is a coming of age horror movie that follows a group of outcast kids who come together in order to battle a shape-shifting monster who takes on the form of his victim's greatest fear.

Both the 1990 and 2017 versions are great introductions to the genre. Because they both focus on a group of kids, they are relatable for a younger audience than most horror movies. For fans of properties such as Stand By Me or Stranger Things , It is the perfect first horror movie.

Night Of The Living Dead

Often cited as the first modern zombie film, George A. Romero's  Night of the Living Dead follows a group of people as they hide out in a farmhouse and try to survive the night during a zombie apocalypse.

RELATED: 10 Horror Movie Villains Who Could Have Been Redeemed (But Weren't)

Despite being over 50 years old, the film still packs some scares and tense moments. It is a tense and gripping allegory about the political climate of the day and racism. Night of the Living Dead is a great starting point for viewers looking to get into the zombie subgenre because of its historical impact and its sustained effectiveness even today.

The horror-comedy classic Gremlins revolves around a young man who receives a unique pet for Christmas, but his failure to follow the very specific rules for raising it leads to some unexpected and dire consequences.

Gremlins is the perfect first horror movie for younger viewers as it features the cutest movie monsters ever and balances the scares with a lighter tone. The humor prevents the movie from ever getting too dark or overwhelming for new viewers. It is a fun and thrilling movie that the entire family can watch together.

A Quiet Place

The 2018 hit horror film A Quiet Place follows a family living in a post-apocalyptic world in which they must constantly avoid making noise in order to avoid being attacked by alien monsters that hunt by sound.

The movie features a lot of tense sequences, likable characters, and an intriguing central concept. While the movie has a lot of tense moments, it is not overwhelmingly scary. By watching A Quiet Place , audiences will be able to get a good sense of whether or not horror movies are for them.

Silence Of The Lambs

Best Picture winner The Silence of the Lambs is a horror thriller about a young FBI agent who enlists the help of a cannibalistic serial killer in order to hunt down a killer who is skinning women.

Despite leaning more towards being a thriller than a straight-up horror movie, The Silence of the Lambs has more than its share of scary moments. The iconic and terrifying character of Hannibal Lecter helps push the movie over the top and make it a chilling film that newcomers to horror films can use as an introduction to the genre.

Friday The 13th

The original Friday the 13th movie is a slasher film that follows a group of summer camp counselors as they attempt to reopen Camp Crystal Lake, despite the camp's troubled and tragic past history, only to be picked off one by one by an unseen murderer.

Friday the 13th is a quintessential horror movie that has served as the inspiration for countless other films. It helped solidify the expectations and rules of a teen slasher film and spawned sequels that would star one of the most famous horror characters ever.

NEXT: 10 Best Horror Movie Fakeouts That Got Us Good