With the come of October, I’m sure many people are going to be watching horror movies. Horror movies have been a staple for instilling fear in people for decades. But we’re so familiar with horror movies in the modern age, it makes me wonder how did we get here? What’s the history of horror?

The term “horror movie/film” wasn’t used until the 1930’s. However, things we now consider horror movies have existed far before then. Film that’s classified as horror could be observed in the late 1800’s. The early formations truly came to life in the 1920s, with German Expressionist films. Their weird, twisted visuals inspired later horror films. The first movie to be considered horror was the 1931 Dracula, a film version of Bram Stokers novel. After this release, horror movies increased in popularity.

In the 1950’s, the beginning take was a very sci-fi approach. A groundbreaking movie released was Psycho, which was incredibly successful due to its controversial nature and horror elements. After this, slasher films came in the 70’s with Friday the Thirteenth following close after. Horror movies lived for the sci-fi approach till the late 1990’s. The found footage genre became popular with the release of The Blair Witch Project and their realism.

In the modern age, we have a large blend of various types of movies along experimental genres. No matter what genre, horror has been loved amongst all and the complex history of horror will forever keep our interest!