A History of HorrorEver since horror leapt from popular fiction to the silver screen in the late 1890s, viewers have experienced fear and pleasure in exquisite combination. Wheeler Winston Dixon's A History of Horror is the only book to offer a comprehensive survey of this ever-popular film genre. Arranged by decades, with outliers and franchise films overlapping some years, this one-stop sourcebook unearths the historical origins of characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman and their various incarnations in film from the silent era to comedic sequels. A History of Horror explores how the horror film fits into the Hollywood studio system and how its enormous success in American and European culture expanded globally over time. Dixon examines key periods in the horror film-in which the basic precepts of the genre were established, then banished into conveniently reliable and malleable forms, and then, after collapsing into parody, rose again and again to create new levels of intensity and menace. A History of Horror, supported by rare stills from classic films, brings over fifty timeless horror films into frightfully clear focus, zooms in on today's top horror Web sites, and champions the stars, directors, and subgenres that make the horror film so exciting and popular with contemporary audiences. |
Contents
Origins | 1 |
Classics | 25 |
Rebirth | 65 |
New Blood | 123 |
The Future | 172 |
Top Horror Web Sites | 211 |
50 Classic Horror Films | 215 |
217 | |
223 | |
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actor Alien American audiences auteur became Bela Lugosi bizarre blood Boris Karloff box office brutal budget camera career Carpenter’s cast Castle Chaney’s character Christopher Lee cinema classic comedy Corman Courtesy created Curse Curse of Frankenstein Dead death despite directed director Dracula evil filmmaker franchise Frankenstein Freddie Francis Friday the 13th Fulci ghost Grand Guignol graphic grisly Halloween Hammer Haunted Hollywood homicidal horror films horror genre House J-Horror Jack Jerry Ohlinger Archive John killer killing Lewton Lon Chaney Jr Michael monster movie Mummy murder narrative Night novel perhaps Peter Cushing played plot Poe’s production released remake Robert role scene screen script sequels sequence short story shot special effects star studio success supernatural tale television Terence Fisher Texas Chainsaw Massacre theater thriller torture Universal Universal’s Val Lewton vampire victims viewers violent vision werewolf Wolf Zaroff zombies