Nice link, thanks zwoti.:)

just sowing seeds....we'll see if any knowledge takes root

Very nice link, thanks a lot for that. And thank everyone who has thus far contributed. I've decided to open with a very brief history of horror's roots in the mythologies of early civilizations, then mention the first tangible "evil" emerging in Beowulf. From there, I was going to briefly mention the middle ages with Germanic and Romanian folk and fairy tales, then move to the English (where I will have to mention Shakespeare). A brief talk about the gothic novel in the eighteenth century and its influence on Shelley, Stoker, Blackwood, and Poe.

The twentieth century will have to start with a discussion of pulp magazines, and a brief talk about Lovecraft. Also, I will have to point out the eventual collapse of the magazine market with the advent of television and film.

I will discuss the 40's and 50's briefly, and spend the majority of the article discussing the 70's, 80's, 90's and today (mentioning, along the way, TCM, Halloween, The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, Stephen King, Interview with the Vampire, Psycho, Hell House, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Scream, Se7en, The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, and the recent rise of Asian horror.)

One more question:

Do you see the horror genre moving more strongly into the video game market? I see the video game as being the perfect medium for horror, bringing fans of the genre into the story on levels that they have never before been. With fiction and film, the audience still has the safety of detachment. It isn't THEM fighting the evil, it's the character on page or screen. But in video games, the player becomes the character on a level that page and screen cannot reach. The actions of the character in the game are the actions of the player. And the outcome depends solely on the player. What do you guys think about this? Should I mention video games?

Thanks again for all of your help, and I will use the link you posted zwoti. Much appreciated.

Yes you should mention it. But i could see it moving more strongly into the video game genre although there arent very many horror suggested games out there nowadays. I think they should make a Silent Hill movie. If they then proceed to fuck that one up then they should quit.

I hope i was of some help in this thread Stingy..

stingys writing a article for the newspaper? o my they're gonna have to cut down half the amazon rain forest for the extra paper for that edition:rolleyes:
p.s dont mention wendigo.

Blacula? I wouldn't really call him Horror. More of a comedy.

So you want to know about the History of Horror? Or is it the History of Halloween?

P.S. For Wufong:
Well, he IS king of the long post...

The history of horror (even though The History of Halloween would seem more appropriate). This came about after I delivered a lecture to my Creative Writing class on writing horror stories. The son of the editor of the paper is in that class, and he (the editor) gave me a call when his son came home talking endlessly about the stuff I talked about. The editor thought that if it interested his son so much, I should write an article about it in the hopes of getting more young people to read the paper. Go figure.

And I don't plan on making it a long article ... although, any "history" has to be longer than your average newspaper article in order to be done justice. I think I can write about 4 pages, typed. I'll then let the paper hack and slash to its heart's content (shudder).

you might want to mention independent and low budget horror

it was a joke

I would say village of the damned
house on haunted hill
Pantasm
hellraiser
Blairwitch
And american psycho
TCM
NOES
Thats my list and im stickin to it