The document discusses how horror films have reflected the fears of society over time. It provides examples of how early 20th century horror films represented fears of war, monsters, and segregation. In the 1950s, films reflected a fear of nuclear weapons. The 1970s saw an increase in serial killer-focused films like Halloween that tapped into real crimes. More modern films like Get Out explicitly address contemporary social issues like racism to try and influence viewers. Overall, the document argues that horror films both draw from and impact societal fears and attitudes.

1. How do Horror films reflect the fears of society?
The horror genre is one of the oldest genres in storytelling
and it has evolved over time to appeal to the fears of the
time. Horror films specifically use several aspects to frighten
audiences however in a quote from John Carpenter he sums
up the factors behind creating fear by saying;
“There are two different stories in horror: internal and
external. In external horror films, the evil comes from
the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness
that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.”
(Carpenter, 2011)
This quote is useful for explaining the dynamics of all horror
films such as how the external fear in most horror films
comes from how they can reflect our societal fears and the
darker side of our society.
Since the first horror films in the late 19th century up until
the most recent horror films the themes and subtext of horror
films have reflected the fears of society and tropes of the
genre have been influenced by discrimination, racism and
sexism and looking at the releases of horror films it becomes
clear to see how these tropes that were once used to keep a
status quo have been twisted to progress the views of our
own society. In this essay I will show how horror films have
been influenced by societal fears by explaining how several
periods of horror films incorporated the fears of society into
the subtext of the film and also looking at the discrimination
shown in the tropes of the genre. I will also discuss the
impact horror films have had on our society in ways both
good and bad.

2. Societal fears have influenced horror films in many different
ways as cultural fears have changed. Before I talk about
horror films I need to talk about America because most
horror films are created in America or are made by
Americans. I think that American society is explained fairly
well in this quote.
“America is a nation that was built on violence. The
country has faced a long history of trauma and turmoil; the
massacre of the Indigenous population, slavery, the Civil
War, Prohibition, the Vietnam War… Jim Crow
segregation and the KKK, the LA riots and police
brutality…the list goes on.” (McNeely, 2018)
From this list it’s easier to see how the fears of American
society have influenced and shaped horror films. Horror films
from the 1910’s up until the 1940’s seemed to mostly be about
similar things with the monster being some kind of creature such
as Frankenstein (Whale, 1931) or Dracula (Browning, 1931)
who tends to live segregated from the nearby village, these
concepts may have reflected the fear of war from foreign
countries as the monsters in these films were detached from
normal society. Dracula also represented the fear aristocracy,
that the high class were evil because they were also detached
from society. In the 1950’s there was growing fear of nuclear
weaponry and the possibility of human extinction, which
stemmed from World War 2 the Hiroshima bombing in 1945.
This fear was implemented into horror films such as Godzilla
(1954) and Them! (1954) Which both feature the world ending
threats of giant creatures caused by American nuclear
experiments and it’s clear that both films are a commentary on
America that have a surprisingly similar message as a warning
to society about the world ending power of nuclear weapons
which is a message that’s still relevant today.

3. In the 1970’s some of the most prolific horror films were made
such as The Exorcist, Carrie, The Wicker Man and Jaws, which
have all influenced societal fears however I think that the horror
film that represented the biggest fear of society at the time was
Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) which drew it’s influences from
many places such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and Bob
Clark’s Black Christmas (1974) as well as real life serial killers
such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy however because
Halloween was made during a time when these killers were
most prevalent the film dug into the fear of serial killers in
American society. Halloween was so influential in its concept
that it ended up creating a new sub-genre, the Slasher genre
which continued into the 80’s with film franchises like Friday
the 13th (Cunningham, 1980) and A Nightmare on Elm Street
(Craven, 1984) that drew their fear from real events of serial
murders which may seem insensitive however I believe that
these fears are placed in films as a warning to the audience that
society is unsafe especially for teenagers who were the main
demographic of these films.
In the new age of Horror there are new fears that have been
conceived by our society however I believe that horror directors
are now making the fears of society more explicit in their work.
“I find campfire stories and urban legends are kind of the
bread and butter that inspires a lot of people who are
making horror and thriller. There is a nugget of truth
behind these sort of cautionary tales.” (Jordan Peele, 2016)
I think that this quote sums up how a lot of modern horror films
are explicit warnings for issues in our society as the fear that
they create is aimed to make people see these fears. This is
made especially clear in Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017), which
was a wakeup call to society that exclaimed that racism was still
a prevalent part of American society and I think that this opened
the eyes of a lot of Americans as the film grossed a total of 176
million in the United States alone which is a lot for a horror film

4. however I believe that this is because of its message which was
bound to be controversial due to the racial tension at the time of
the film’s release however the film is made important as Peele
presents a very modern interpretation of racism that feels very
real to a certain point. Modern horror films such as Get Out use
horror to try and make an impact in how the audience thinks (in
this case showing how racism can still be prominent even if it
isn’t implied) and I think that this shows how horror is more
than just a way to scare the audience but it’s something much
more powerful, a way to spread cautionary tales about the
society we live in.
Horror films haven’t just taken inspiration from society but
the entire industry has been greatly affected by society. One
of the biggest problems that has occurred in the horror film
industry is racism that has been present from when horror
films began in the 1890’s and it’s still an issue that
continues today. In the early 1900’s Black characters were
played by white actors in makeup which reflects the racism
of society at the time black people weren’t accepted in
America and they weren’t allowed a role in the film industry
they were only mocked and caricatured by white actors
which further spread hatred and racism. Black characters are
often the first to die in horror films and are often given very
little development compared to their white counterparts and
this is an issue that can still occur in the industry however it
has become spoofed in films such as Scary Movie (Wayans,
2000) and Get Out which means that the racism in films of
the past have been mocked and experimented with as a trope
in modern films this shows that there has been a shift in the
mentality of horror films and a development in the overall
attitude of society. The beginning of a new attitude in
Horror was The Night of Living Dead (Romero, 1968) which
featured Ben who was the first Black protagonist ever in
horror film and unlike most (if not all) black characters in
horror at the time he was smart, capable and shared similar

5. heroic qualities to any white hero character in other horror
films however at the end of the film he is shot as he is
mistaken for a zombie which may have been social
commentary on gun violence against black people. The film
was very progressive and paved the way for more horror
films which challenged racism and society.
In the 1970’s the blaxploitation genre began and with it
came more horror films that featured black protagonists such
as Blacula (Crain, 1972) and Abby (Girdler, 1974) which
were basically just reinterpretations of popular horror films
with black characters replacing the white ones however this
was enough to show society that the genre belonged to all
people regardless of race.
“Despite the genre's potential to reinforce negative stereotypes, a large majority of the
black community considered blaxploitation cinema to be a sign of progress…the
typical depiction of African Americans in television and film was as sidekick or
victim…this new cinematic movement would seek to put an end to that.” – Viddy
Well
This quote is important as it shows how the blaxploitation
genre divided society at the time as it could be seen as both
progressive and regressive depending on who was watching
it but ultimately the goal of the genre was to give an un-
conventual view of black characters in cinema and in
achieving this it inspired various modern directors which I
believe has shaped society for the better. Although the
blaxploitation genre took many forms I believe that it’s link
to the horror genre still has influence today on horror films
such as Candyman (Rose,1993) and Get Out.
The most recent film I’ve found in the horror industry which
I found to be problematic is with a film called “The Curse
Of La Llorona” (Chaves, 2019) La Llorona is a Mexican
folktale which was adapted into this film. The film does
feature Latino characters and some insight into Mexican
culture however it’s set in Los Angeles instead of Mexico
and the protagonist is a white American and although this

6. isn’t too problematic however it’s clear that the film was
intended to have a strong Latino audience from it title alone
which is disappointing as it feels like the decisions to have
the film set in America with a white lead were made to keep
a low budget yet it also strips away Mexican culture from a
film that should be all about its culture. This quote from
Code Switch shows how a Latino audience ca affect a films
performance at the box office
Latinos...are big moviegoers — 22 percent of audiences on any
given weekend. But when it comes to horror, that proportion jumps
to as much as half the box office. - Vanessa Rancarno
I think that films such as La Llorona can be problematic as they
use culture as a way to gain an audience and if they can’t respect
the culture that they’re basing their film off it becomes a cash-
grab and I think films that do this are the most relevant problem
in the horror industry.
From the beginning of horror films in the 1890’s horror films
have mirrored atrocities and events that have shocked our
society and I think that this is something that makes horror a
special genre as the fear that it causes can be used for change, a
message of warning that the evils in films can exist in our
society. The issues of society at its various stages of progression
and regression have seeped into the horror films that we know
and love and I find this important as they can feel like time
capsules of the darker sides of society where most classic films
can feel nostalgic to the period it was made in I believe that
horror encapsulates the importance of fear in these different
periods. Overall, I think that horror is dependent on a society as
it takes advantage of it’s fears and social norms to create a
cautionary tale that can be used to overcome the fear.

7. Bibliography
Quotes
1. John Carpenter 2011 interview with Vulture
2. Kelly McNeely 2018 article for Salem Horror Fest
3. Jordan Peele 2016 interview with Forbes
4. .. (2018). thehistoryof blaxploitationcinema. Available:https://www.viddy-
well.com/articles/the-history-of-blaxploitation-cinema.Last accessed 18th Dec 2019.
5. Vanessa Rancarno 2015 Code Switch article
Films
Frankenstein 1931 James Whale
Dracula 1931 TodBrowning
Godzilla 1954 Ishiro Honda
Them! 1954 Gordon Douglas
The Exorcist 1974 William Friedkin
Carrie 1976 Brian De Palma
The WickerMan 1973 Robin Hardy
Jaws 1975 Steven Spielberg
Halloween 1978 John Carpenter
Psycho1960 Alfred Hitchcock
Black Christmas 1974 Bob Clark
Friday the 13th 1980 Sean Cunningham
A Nightmare on Elm Street 1985 Wes Craven
Get out 2017 Jordan Peele
Scary Movie2000 Keenan Wayans
Night of The Living Dead 1968 George Romero
Blacula 1972 William Crain
Abby 1974 William Girdler
Candyman 1993 Bernard Rose
The Curse of Llorona 2019 Michael Chaves