Horror Films:

A Bibliography

Scope:

Film is a heavy medium in society, both in America and all over the world. Societies have gone from oral cultures, where people sing, dance or have stories memorized, to societies that have literature and books with pictures. Now they have combined mediums and film has taken over as a mainstay of storytelling. Ever since storytelling began, Horror has been in our culture. Odysseus faces the giant Cyclops in The Odyssey. There were stories of Banshees in Ireland. There are the monsters of Frankenstein, Dracula, and the beast from Beauty and the Beast, in the thousands of ways they have been told. There is Dante’s Inferno about hell, and some even consider religious ideas about devils and demons simply made up stories of things that are there to frighten and spook society of the dangers of not living a certain way. Either way, scary stories live in the subconscious of all societies around the world. Horror films are the new way to tell them, and let us come face to face with our fears. Filmsite.org describes a horror film as “an unsettling film” intended to “frighten” us and “invoke our worst fears” of alienation, death, bodily harm, sexuality, loss of identity, and the ever present fear of the unknown. This bibliography will be a guide to materials and information about horror movies. The bibliography is wide in its scope, including foreign films as well as domestic films. It will be good for anyone who wants to understand the cultural impact horror films have had on society and where to go to get information on films of the horror genre. This could be a librarian, looking to know what movies are relevant to add to a collection, an academic looking for what materials are significant for studying horror films and popular culture, or an enthusiast who just wants to know more about the subject.

Nosferatu-1922

Introduction:

Themes of Horror Films:

The motive of horror films is to scare us, and while there are many ways to do this, many of the same themes reoccur. Fear of Nature is one of those. Whether it be Jaws, Lake Placid, or any other movie where it is man vs. beast. This fear of nature is one theme that always reoccurs.

The fear of the supernatural also is one of the most prominent. Monsters are a mainstay in our imagination, whether its Dracula, the Devil, or little Damien of Omen. In all the films where we are supposed to fear the supernatural, there is usually an element of good v. evil, us v them. Being deeply religious comes with being human, and fear goes along with the faith.

The third kind of fear is usually of the scientific kind, usually involving a scientist, or nowadays a “terrorist” that creates a virus that causes a pandemic. This is the typical Frankenstein story, where we fear what we have created.

Finally, a serial killer, which is probably the most common type of villain in the horror film in modern times, combines elements of all of these. They are usually shown as monsters, which sometimes cannot control their urges, or as cold calculated beings such as a scientist. They are they are considered evil. The core of the horror film is the belief that there is good and there is evil, and not only that, but evil is a powerful and dangerous force. The public goes to horror movies to remind themselves that, like others, they do have these reoccurring fears.

Ghosts, Ghouls, Gremlins and Monsters:

In the 1890s, when film cameras where first being invented, they were already starting to make horror films. The Devil’s Castle (French title: Le Manoir Du Diable) was a two minute movie of a bat that metamorphoses into one of the princes of hell. This short French film movie can be found on Youtube or The Internet Archive today. Monsters became the main thing in the earliest part of the 20th century. By, 1910 Frankenstein had been made into a movie.

Twelve years later, Nosferatu, a German film, became one of the most famous representations of Dracula. Hollywood would repeatedly alternate films about the two horror villains. While Frankenstein remains a story of what happens when man “plays God”, the vampire genre has taken on multiple layers, often being romanticized in such films as Interview with the

Vampire with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, or the modern love series, Twilight. This shows that horror film is so influential that characters and villains in some movies, can be taken out of their natural element, and still have cultural significance. Vampires also have interesting relations with Christianity, juxtaposing their lives with humanity. Vampires can only live at night, and humans come out during the day. Vampires live for eternity on earth, and humans are mortal/live forever in heaven. Vampires also fear the cross and can be killed with holy water. The fear of people that are non-Christian is clear when looking at vampire movies and literature.

Werewolf of London and The Wolfman, released in 1935 and 1941 respectively, were films that really introduced the general idea of werewolves to the public. The 1935 film was not nearly as visceral and infamous as 1941’s The Wolfman. These monsters would all clash in films such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. This would be the precursor of modern day films as Freddie vs. Jason, or Alien vs. Predator which pits two rival monsters/killers against each other.

Zombies are another creature, although they are just infected humans, which get a lot of play in Hollywood. Seen in such early films as 1932’s White Zombie, the pivotal zombie film of all time is George Romero’s 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead. Romero would follow up his film with other zombie movies that featured zombies running, and almost seeming intelligent compared to their early, monotone selves. Zombies give us multiple things to fear, including disease, death(obviously), and the fear that we too may lose control of our bodies and take part in essentially cannibalism.

International Horror:

Old Boy, Korean film, 2003

France:

While most film genres seem to only reach audiences of their nation, if they are not produced in American, horror films seem to branch out more than any other genre. Like written earlier, the first horror film was Le Manoir Du Diable, directed by Georges Méliès. French cinema often seems to be artsy and many of their films of the 20th Century had to deal with vampires.

La Belle et la bête is one of the earliest representations of Beauty and the Beast back in 1946. While this is more of a fantasy, the film is considered a frightening portrayal of the story, and the film contains sexual overtones. This version of the fairytale bears mentioning because it is a frightening version of the tale, and some consider it one of the best films of all time.

Haute Tension (High Tension) and Les Pacts de loups (Brotherhood of the Wolves) are two modern French films. Both released in the 2000s, they are films that are known for their stylized cinematography. While High Tension is much more violent than Brotherhood of the Wolves, both films showcase their directors’ ability to tell a story on a grand scale.

Martyrs is a 2008 film, written and directed by Pascal Laugier. The film is an ultraviolent film, pessimistic view on humanity, and shows some of the most realistic torture scenes in film history.

France is also the birthplace and former home of Roman Polanski, famed director of such classic films as Rosemary’s Baby. France has an important connection with horror, art, and especially cinematography, and it should be recognized as important by critics.

Germany:

Germany is one of the most influential countries in the western hemisphere. Nosferatu is the established film about Dracula/ vampires. The performance of the actor who plays the lead is so good that it even sparked a 2001 American movie, entitled Shadow of the Vampire, where the film suggests that the actor who played the lead was actually a vampire.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, released in 1919, is another important early horror film that is very artistic. Both films are noted for being visually stunning, but Nosferatu is noted especially for the actor’s movements, his makeup, and incredible storytelling ability even though it was a silent film. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is known for its camera work, its special effects, and the surreal nature of the film.

M (1931) is one of the most renowned horror films of all time. It follows a serial killer being hunted by both criminals and police who are looking for him because he lures children to become his friend only to kill him. The film is controversial because the audience member is put into the mind of the killer, showing him as a pretty average guy other than the fact that he is a child murderer and assumed pedophile.

Current German films are very gory, and the directors Uwe Boll and Jörg Buttgereit are two of the more controversial directors, having made such films as Nekromantik (Buttgereit’s 1987 film) and BloodRayne (Boll’s 2006 remake of a videogame). While many of these films are unpopular, they do have more of a cult following. Antikörper (Antibodies-2005) however, is one of the most popular international horror films of the 2000s. It is a psychological thriller about a murderer of young boys, and the audience is appalled at the unremorseful lead character. We see with German film that it is important as an early starting point for horror, focusing on cinematography and acting, while its modern films are more of cult hits, focusing on shock factor and gore to appeal to audiences.

M, 1932, Germany

Great Britain:

Britain has given the international community some of the most critically acclaimed and prominent horror movies. The Wicker Man may be one of the famous horror films. The movie unfolds as a Scottish policeman is searching for a lost girl. This film is erotic, as it portrays a modern day community that embraces Paganism and shows ritual sex. The film comes to an end when the community burns the virgin, Christian policeman as a sacrifice to get their crops to grow. The policeman sings a hymn as he is being burned, and the audience sees the fear of the other outside of Christianity portrayed in this film. This film is an excellent example of good v. evil personified.

Alien is one of the most interesting horror films of the later 70s/80s. Filmed in Britain by British director Ridley Scott, Aliens is a sci-fi horror film, and it was a shocking film for its time. A woman gives birth to an alien baby, and a male crew member is also said to be “raped” in the face by an alien. The fact that the setting was in outer space gave the sense that the crew was really trapped inside their spaceship. Aliens is also important because it showcases a strong female lead in Ripley. Aliens plays on our fears of being isolated, having no control over our body, and fear of the unknown universe.

Britain is known for one thing above else when it comes to horror, Hammer Films. Hammer films was a low budget movie studio that specialized in “Creature Features” just when Universal Studios of America was getting out of making as many horror films. They had a big hit with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Hound of Baskervilles (1959), the erotic Lust for a Vampire (1970) and other films featuring Frankenstein, Dracula, and other monsters that had gone to the wayside. The strength of other

studios’ horror films of the 70s eventually put Hammer out of business though.

The Wicker Man, 1973

Latin:Latin horror has become popular recently due to one man, Guillermo

Del Toro. His films Hellboy and Blade 2 made him a household name as a director, and his Spanish language films, Cronos, Pan’s Labyrinth, and The Orphanage have made him a horror film legend.

Pan’s Labyrinth is set in Spain and tells the story of a girl who has an abusive stepfather. The film shows fauns and various other fantasy creatures that are either trying to help or hurt the girl. The movie is renowned for its cinematography as well as its look at child abuse.

Latin films are not strictly for Mr. Del Toro. Chilean born, and Mexican(at the time) resident, Alejandro Jodorowsky, made some of the most eccentric films of all time, including, Fando y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain (which was funded by John Lennon). His films were bloody, and

while more art pieces, El Topo especially would revolutionize cinema in the fact that it would became a cult hit and be the first of the “Midnight Movies.”

Some other famous Latin films include The Crying Woman (1933), El Vampiro (1957), and Children of God (2002). While many of the Latin films are not as famous to the American audience, they certainly have inspired American directors and film makers.

Faun from Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006

Asian Horror:

Asia may be the biggest producer of horror films today, and they make some of the most influential movies right now.

The most celebrated Japanese monster was Godzilla, starring in a string of movies from the 50s on. He was a monster created because of lack of care of nuclear materials. This monster, along with others like him in Japan, was like America’s Frankenstein, destroying the world that created it.

Japanese films have become immensely popular as of recent. Ringu and Ju-on were both huge films in Japan. These films inspired the films, The Ring and The Grudge, both of which spawned sequels in America.

China is also a big player in Horror. Hong Kong was once of the greatest movie making cities of the world. Some renowned Chinese films are Dumplings and The Eye. Dumplings is a film about cannibalism, while The Eye is about a girl that can see ghosts after receiving eye transplants.

Without a doubt, though, Asian horror films of today are coming out of Korea. Old Boy and its sequels such as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance are some of the most famous films of the last decade, let alone being Horror genre or not. R-Point, A Tale of Two Sisters, Phone, and Acacia are other massively, well-liked movies from Korea. The storytelling by directors that are able to put the audience in an eerie mood, beautiful scenes of by Asia’s landcape, groundbreaking cinematography, and an interest in the supernatural makes critics consider Korean Horror some of the best films being produced in recent memory.

Ju-On, 2002, Japan’s original version of The Grudge

Other Geographic Regions:

This author has covered most of the nations and continents(other than America), but there are still a few I need to touch on briefly.

Scandinavian films have become increasingly popular. Cold Prey, Dead Snow, and Sauna are all films that have been relatively successful in the international market. The films of Igmar Bergman, one of the most critically-acclaimed international directors of all time, fall into somewhat the category of horror, as they deal with questions on the human condition, death, and the afterlife.

Australia and New Zealand are putting out Horror to wide audiences, including Peter Jackson’s Braindead and the grisly horror film, Wolf Creek. Braindead is a typical zombie film, known for its special effects, but inWolf Creek, we see another film such as Martrys, which does not follow traditional storytelling and allows the antagonist to kill several teenagers without being caught.

While these venues may not be as strong as the others, these smaller geographic regions are putting out horror films that are both liked by critics, and foreign audiences alike.

A zombie Nazi from Norwegian film Dead Snow (Død snø) - 2009

American Horror:

The highest grossing films in horror always come from the same place, American cinema. Hollywood has a strong hold on the industry, and America has the most famous movies of all time. Whether it be King Kong, Jaws, Psycho, Rosemary’s Baby, The Last House on the Left, or modern favorites such as: Saw, Hostel, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elm Street, America has made it, or made a remake of it.

Cult Horror:

One thing that surprises me about horror films is the fact that it is able to bridge high and low culture. A movie that does not do well at the box office can become a big hit on DVD, or in late night showings all over. Examples of these include the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo), The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Evil Dead, or campy films such as Leprechaun 2 or Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Horror is one of the only genres that can get away with putting something out there, whether the critics like it or not, and the public still consumes it.

1975

Famous Directors/Actors:

Many people are known for just one kind of genre, and it is the same for the Horror genre. Alferd Hitchcock is renown directing Pycho, The Birds, and Vertigo. Others, such as Sam Raimi, use the same actor, Bruce Campbell over and over again for his work in the Evil Dead series and later movies. George Romero, Wes Craven, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and David Cronenburg are some of the classic names that come up when thinking of directors of horror, as well as newcomers Rob Zombie and Eli Roth.

Famous actors also come up as well when you mention horror. Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price are just two names that come up since they were in so many films on the subject, but people, such as Jennifer Aniston in her role in Leprachaun, have achieved fame from horror films.

Classification:

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Ghost FilmsHaunted House FilmsHorror FilmsHorror Films-History and CriticismMad Scientist FilmsMonter FilmsSlasher Films

Library of Congress Classification PN 1993-1999 Motion Pictures

LC Number: PN1995.9

Dewey Classification: 700 Arts and Recreation

Dewey Decimal Number:

791.436164

    

General Movie Websites:

International Movie Database. www.IMDB.com

IMDB.com is the most used and most famous movie website. Not only does it give synopses and information about the film (such as cast members and budget), but it also gives users the opportunity to rate movies. Www.imdb.com/chart/horror is the link for those interested in just the top rated horror films. The reader has to be aware that the ratings can be skewed as some films are seen by more or less people, and people that rate certain films may have a general consensus about that film. The reader should also be aware that while some of the reviews on imdb.com are very thought out, many of them are by viewers that hate or love the film they are writing about. The reader must learn how to discern the extreme reviews of a film.

Rotten Tomatoes. www.rottentomatoes.com

Rotten Tomatoes, like IMDB.com, is a website that allows its users to rate movies. Rotten Tomatoes is a little more interesting in that it has what it calls a Tomatometer which tells if a movie is fresh or not. I suppose that is different, as sometimes rating a movie on a ten point scale can get old, but in actuality it is the same thing. Rotten Tomatoes not only rates movies that come out on the big screen, but also DVDs, because the DVD can be a lot different than the movie with directors cuts and special features. Rotten Tomatoes also gives the reader a choice between well known critics and general public reviews. This is good for the reader because there are movies that critics and the general public will always disagree about. Take for instance the 2004 horror film Saw, which received a thirty-one percent rating from critics but a seventy-eight percent from the Rotten Tomatoes community of users. This just shows that there can be a great disconnect between the critics and the general public, and an informed critic of film has to understand that critics may not like the formulaic way horror films unfold, but the general public may love it. Rotten Tomatoes is in my opinion better than IMDB.com for many reasons, and one of them is the allowance to have both the general public and film critics’ reviews of both films, and the allowance of reviews of DVDs.

Roger Ebert. www.rogerebert.suntimes.com

Rogerebert.suntimes.com is the website of famed film critic Roger Ebert. He, along with Gene Siskel, made their patented thumbs up or thumbs down approach to grading how good films were. Roger Ebert writes for the Chicago Sun Times and he gives reviews of one to four stars with half stars included. He has been reviewing films since 1967 and the public considers him one of the greatest critics. This website is great for anyone who wants to know if a horror movie is going to be good or not.

Filmsite. www.filmsite.org

Filmsite.org, in association with American Movie Classics Company(AMC), is a useful tool for doing research on movies. It provides definition of genres, such as the one I had for Horror. Film critic Tim Dirks is the one who really runs the website. He has a history of Horror films by decade, and he pays particular attention to certain characters such as Dracula or Wolfman, actors, such as Lon Chaney(“the first American horror film star”), directors, such as Hitchcock or George Romero, movie studios, and anything else you could want to know on the topic of horror film. This site also has sections entitled “Greatest Deaths”, “History of Sex in Cinema”, and “Most Controversial Films”, which all discuss many Horror films in depth. He also has a section on “Great Directors”, many of which directed horror films such as Hitchcock. This site is an especially good website for those that

want to get an introduction, learn some basic history, and have a general knowledge of Horror film.

Genre Specific Websites/magazines:

Since Horror film is a thing that has a very cult following, most of the websites and magazines are produced together. Most websites are just that, websites, but I decided to throw the two together because they are interconnected.

Bloody-Disgusting. www.bloody-disgusting.org

Bloody-Disguting.com is a website that offers reviews of movies. They have a rating system on their website of 1-5 skulls and it goes by halves as well. Like IMDB.com, they have user reviews and their own staff reviews. As well as reviews and news, they also have trailers and interviews with actors and directors. They do not have a magazine affiliated with them like the website Fangoria does.

The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. www.irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com

For a review of this electronic journal, go to the “Journals” section.

Fangoria. www.fangora.com

Fangoria.com is the website that reviews the Horror genre. It is actually a magazine as well as a website, but the website offers reviews for free on everything from movies to literature to video games. The website also has blogs of its staff that write on their topics of interest. This is a good site to get news and reviews because they are by people that really like the topic.

Fear Net. www.fearnet.com

This is website allows viewing of Horror films and shows for free, legally that is, and the website also has news, trailers, clips, and the website even has vlogs (video blogs).

Rue Morgue. www.rue-morgue.com

Rue Morgue is primarily a magazine dedicated to exploring Horror in “culture and entertainment.” The website has a lot more though. The website has a weekly radio show, staff blogs, and something interesting was their list of 100 “alternative horror movies” for those people who have seen

all the critically acclaimed films, but want some cult favorites among the horror crowd. However, the website, is primarily a supplement to their magazine.

Tartan. www.tartanvideo.com

The name Tartan rings a bell for fans of horror because they are responsible for distributing many of the Asian films that we have seen in the western hemisphere. TartanVideo.com is the new website for Palisades Tartan, the newly constructed branch of Palisades Media after Tartan went bankrupt a few years ago. Not only does it have list of the films that they have access too, but also synopsis of the movies and links to where you can buy the movies. This website is useful if one ever needs to browse through and find an Asian horror film or need help finding somewhere to buy a certain film.

R-Point – 2004- example of Tartan Video

Up Coming Horror Movies. www.upcominghorrormovies.com

Upcominghorrormovies.com is a website dedicated to showing what Horror films are coming out or in production. This way, one can keep up to date on what films certain directors are making, what movies are in production, and when movies will be out. The website is helpful in that it catalogs what kind of movie it is that are coming out. So if someone wanted to find the latest zombie movie, they can, or if they aren’t in the mood for zombies, there are subjects like prequels, remakes, sequels, killers, international, and more. This website does a great job on keeping up with a lot of different works and giving society the scoop on upcoming horror cinema.

Reference Books:

This is the area for books that are more about cataloging and synopsizing the movies of a particular time or genre than focusing all of its attention on criticism.

100 European Horror Films: BFI Screen Guides. London: British Film Institute, 2007

This is like a pocket IMDB.com for European Films except that it is just synopses and history a brief history of the film, and it is written by critics. It is in alphabetical order, and it is inclusive of all types of European horror films, and does not just focus on British horror. It also tries to cover more than just one kind of horror film, going form Italian cannibal films to German psychological thrillers.

The BFI Companion to Horror. London: Wellington House, 1996.

The BFI Companion to Horror is a book published in 1996 by the British Film Institute. It is essentially a dictionary of horror film. It goes in topical order. It is well written and offers general overview of directors, films, and actors up to that point.

Hutchings, Peter. Historical Dictionary of Horror Cinema. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

This book is useful for a few reasons. It has a chronological timeline of important events in horror film. It also has write ups, not only for the actors and directors, but for important themes in horror films, such as “Homosexuality” or “Children in Horror films.” This book is relatively new (2008), and it also has an extensive bibliography that the author cites, which could prove helpful for those looking up more information on a subject.

Muir, John Kenneth. Horror Films of the 1970s ; Horror Films of the 1980s. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland: 2002 and 2007.

Two must-have reference books are both by the same author, John Kenneth Muir. His Horror Films of the 1970s won a RUSA award and his book Horror Films of the 1980s is the follow up book. Muir’s gives us very usable books as they go in order by year, but the films are alphabetized each year. Muir gives us the critical reception of the film, the synopsis, the cast and crew details and even sections on the legacy of the film. The books have his favorite rankings of the decade as well. These decades are important because the 70s had such films as The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, The Wicker Man, and the 80s had such films as Evil Dead, Halloween, and A Clockwork Orange. Both decades really raised the bar for horror films and though, while the seventies are considered maybe the best decade for horror, the eighties films are still being watched and remade today. These books are important because Muir does a great job of going over films that may not be covered in your average book about film. Muir is not really an academic, but all he really does is write books on the subject of popular culture, horror being his biggest interest.

Academic Books:

Hoberman, J and Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Midnight Movies. New York, NY: Da Capo Press, 1983.

Starting with one of the most frequently viewed films in public, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, this book examines some of th most fascinating cult films of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. This book is relevant because it is talking about films that were especially pertinent then. This is right after these films had become huge underground hits. Films like El Topo, Blow Job, and Eraserhead all could not make it in traditional cinema outlets, but they could survive at little theaters at midnight showings eHumphries, Reynold. The American Horror Film: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002.

This is an introductory book on Horror films, the thematic items such as stock characters such as the “Final Girl” or the mad scientist. He looks at essential figures of Dracula, Frankenstein, and others. He does the usual look at certain directors like Craven and Romero, but he does something different than a lot of books, he looks thematically at Horror. He doesn’t just write about it; he writes how it has changed, and what that says about us. Mr. Humphries is also included in the list because he is one of the editors for Horror Studies, a new academic journal reviewed later on in the bibliography. This shows he is respected in the profession and is still working in this area.

Phillips, Kendall R. Projected Fears: Horror Films and Amercian Culture. Westport, Connecticutt: Praeger Publishers, 2005.

Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture by Kendall Phillips, a Communications Studies Professor from Syracuse University, is a book that really examines what fears are being portrayed in the Horror films. Helping us understand what fears are being portrayed will help us understand what we are afraid of, and helping us understand that will help us understand who we are. If we are afraid of demons, then why are we this way? He looks at thing such as Nationalism, sexual norms, class struggles, family values, and a lot of other ideas to do kinds of deconstructionist readings of horror films such as Dracula, Psycho, and The Silence of the Lambs

Odell, Colin and Le Blanc, Michelle. Horror Fims

Horror Films, by Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc is brief and not very wide in its scope, but it does break down geographic regions and gives a general introduction to each region. It talks about Britain’s Hammer studio’s. It mentions specific works of early German Horror such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu. The book mentions Asian classic from Godzilla to A Tale of Two Sisters. The book does such a great job at being readable and being an introductory source for International(including American) film. The book also follows the progression of films in each country/geographic region.

Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s. London: F.A.B. Press, 2000.

Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s, edited by Harvey Fenton and David Flint, is a book everyone on the internet is giving really positive reviews of, and mainly for the vast pictures. One of the main reasons this book is in here, besides the 70s being a great decade for horror, is because people buying it on Amazon have pushed a once moderately priced book to being sold for 135 dollars. This book can contribute a lot on the subject of British Horror during an important decade, and I also feel that a

book that has a lot of pictures can be of use because you are also seeing some snip bits of the film as well. Fangoria says about it that it is “an essential book that is the most eye opening work of horror film criticism since Pete Tombs’ Mondo Macabro.

The book cover for Ten Years of Terror

Worland, Rick. The Horror Film: an Introduction Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

327 pages long, this book is written by a Southern Methodist University Communications Professor. He argues in the book that what scares people isn’t always the same, but the fear of death is universal. He cites movies like Godzilla of the 50s being reactionary to the the Cold War fears of nuclear bombs. This book analyzes everything you could want for an introductory course on horror.

Journals:

While there are many journals on film, there are only two very new academic journals dedicated specifically to the horror genre.

THE IRISH JOURNAL OF GOTHIC AND HORROR STUDIES is an academic journal, made available biannually through the internet at irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/. Elizabeth McCarthy and Bernice Murphy of Trinity College in Dublin are the editors and it is a peer reviewed journal, and has many more professors on the editorial board. The journal, however, does accept submissions of articles, but most of them are from other academics. While not primarily dedicated to horror films, it is dedicated to the horror genre as a whole. It has reviews of both recent films and television(shows such as Dexter), and the journal even takes time to review

“multimedia” items such as video games, which I consider to be interlinked with movies because of story modes which use animation to tell stories of characters. The journal is interdisciplinary, so many angles are looked at such as Psychology, Gender Studies, and of course Film Studies. The journal is relatively young, having only been established in 2006, but it looks to be a good source to discuss the Horror genre as a whole, and get in depth reviews and analysis of films from academics, not just uninformed.

Horror Studies is a brand new academic journal that just published its first issue this year, 2010. Like The Irish Journal of Gothis and Horror Studies it is going to be published biannually. Right now, the first issue is online for free, but this journal is going to be another academic journal that libraries are going to have to pay for. They are going to make it available in print form, though. It is based out of the UK, and it is published by Intellect Books. I do not think they would accept entries from others than academics like The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. They do seem to have an international aspect though, with editors at the University of Oklahoma, University of Stirling in Scotland, University of Belfast in Ireland, and the University of Western Ontario. This seems like it will be a good thing if you are writing about a genre because you would get reviews of films that you might not usually see in just the American cinemas or

Film Festivals:

This is where one can go and see all the new horror films or even submit their own film to compete and maybe even get international distribution.

Festival of Fear

The Festival of Fear is Rue Morgue’s annual horror expo in Toronto, Canada. This event is for fans and collectors, but it would be a good thing to go to if one wanted memorabilia that you may not be able to have elsewhere.

A Night of Fear International Film Festival

This festival is in its fourth year, and is held in Sydney, Australia. They have loads of categories, including best foreign language film, and Best Australian Film.

The New York City Horror Film Festival

The New York City Horror Film Festival happens near Halloween every year. It is the largest, genre specific, film festival of its kind.

Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival

This festival is an established festival in its tenth year, and it frequently screens independent horror films. It is located in Providence, and is an offshoot of the Rhode Island Film Festival.

Shriekfest

Shriekfest is a film festival/ screenplay competition in Los Angeles. This festival is dedicated to helping moviemakers and screenwriters in LA get their start. This would be a good place to see movies and talent that nobody has seen before, or get your material out there.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival has been going on since 2005. Last year’s winners were Dead Snow, Trick R’ Treat, and Black Dynamite, all of which received wide distribution in stores and even theatres last year. The festival draws film companies such as IFC, Lionsgate, and even Fox to try and sign the winners to deals, and they often show up in stores like Wal-Mart

afterwards with the words, After Dark, written on their case, showing horror fans that it is approved basically.

There are many more film festivals. A list can be found at this website: http://www.unstoppablepacific.com/biglist.html