HOW HORROR HAS CHANGED

The horror genre is as diverse as it is vast, and has remained appealing to media consumers since its inception, touching on a wide array of human fears and anxieties to create thrilling stories. Here’s how horror fiction has evolved and changed over time.

Literature

Western literature composed for the purpose of being frightening really began in the 18th century. Gothic literature is characterized by dark moods, settings, and events. The haunted Victorian mansion, the towering medieval castle crammed with sharply-roofed towers, the mad scientist, and the vampire are all hallmarks of the Gothic fiction genre. Rooted in fears of the time—such as the vampire panic of Europe, the lingering fears of witchcraft in the US, or the new interest in poltergeists and hauntings in England (especially among scamming photographers)—the genre quickly caught on, and stuck with Western fiction for a very long time.

AUDITORIUM SEATS SET PERFECTLY FOR SOME MOVIE WATCHING; PHOTO BY JOSH GAETA

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole was published in 1764, making it widely considered to be the first gothic horror novel. According to EBSCO Research, the work was published under the pretense that it was an old Italian tale from during the Crusades which Walpole (or rather the fictional possessor of the pseudonym he used) had translated. Walpole’s subtitle of the work was, “A Gothic Story,” effectively naming the genre. The story focuses on the family of the prince of Otranto and his hidden usurpation of the rightful king. Ghostly things happen throughout the story, such as an omen in the form of a bloody statue and the ghost of the dead prince. Many contemporary critics thought the story was unsavory for its use of supernatural themes, but its legacy of importance to horror literature remains intact.

As the story goes, the esteemed Lord Byron hosted a party with his friends Mary Godwin and her future husband, Percy Shelley, in the summer of 1816, which was incredibly dark and cold due to immense amounts of atmospheric ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. At the party, a contest was held to see who could write the best ghost story. Mary Godwin is said to have won, and used her idea—the story of the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein—to write a novel. This was published in 1818, after her marriage to Percy, as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Shelley provided an alternative title for it: The Modern Prometheus, implying the magnitude and implications of Victor Frankenstein’s discovery of corporal reanimation.

Edgar Allan Poe is responsible for some of the most famous Gothic works, such as “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Masque of Red Death,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Conqueror Worm.” His work is invaluable to horror fiction, and helped to cement psychological and even cosmic horror as popular subgenres. “The Raven” is one of the most famous English poems ever, and has inspired many imitations and parodies. “The Tell-Tale Heart” has a strong focus on psychological horror and the guilt of the human mind, while “The Masque of Red Death” appeals to fears of disease and death, and how they affect even the most affluent noblemen. “The Fall of the House of Usher” focuses on supernatural themes and death especially. “The Conqueror Worm” is a bit unusual, but still poignant. It depicts a theater full of angels watching a play called “Man,” during which a giant worm chases and eats helpless humans. At the end, the worm is said to be the hero of the play, suggesting that humankind is helpless against impending death, and that even angels can be of no assistance.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897, has become a lasting favorite among horror enthusiasts. It is an epistolary novel—its narrative is constructed in diary entries, letters, etc. The chilling tale of a somewhat charming count proving to be a bloodthirst monster has captured countless imaginations, but Stoker did not invent vampires. They had been in the public mind for years and years, making Dracula all the more impressive in becoming the quintessential vampire story.

Since the inception of the motion picture, horror literature has largely been overshadowed by horror movies, with a few, very notable exceptions—among these are the works of H. P. Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson, but none so successful as Stephen King. King’s works have (and still do) become staples in horror fiction, and likely need no introduction.

Movies

Horror movies have been around almost as long as movies themselves. Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror from 1922 is an early but enduring silent horror film based on Stoker’s Dracula. It is considered one of the most important films in cinema history.

Alfred Hitchcock’s hit 1960 film Psycho, with its iconic score by Bernard Herrmann, is a masterpiece of suspense and a landmark accomplishment. It cleverly (and barely) evaded  the motion picture regulations of the time, and is famously the first movie to show the flushing of a toilet. 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is another horror classic. It came out in 1974. It’s a good bit more intense than its suspense-focused predecessors, which rarely showed any gore at all.

Particularly after the release of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, horror films started to become more intense and gory. Slashers like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street became popular. More recently, psychological horror has expanded. Horror movies in recent years have been released at dizzying speeds, and the volume of movies put out continues to increase.

Sources

• “The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole | Research Starters | EBSCO Research.” EBSCO, 2022.

• “The Castle of Otranto | CSUN University Library.” Csun.edu, 2023.

• HISTORY.com Editors. “Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ Is Published | January 1, 1818 | HISTORY.” HISTORY, 13 Nov. 2009.