History & Background of Supernatural horror

History & Background

Supernatural horror rooted from folklore and religious traditions including death, the afterlife, the demonic and evil and the principle of evil embodied in the devil. These were shown in stories of witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. In the eighteenth century, it was Gothic horror that drew on these sources producing the works of “Vathek” (1786) by William Beckford, “The Mysteries of Udolpho” (1794). “The Italian” (1797) by Anne Radcliffe and “The Monk” (1796) by Mattew Lewis.

Horror fiction of this era was predominantly written by women and marketed at a female audience. The typical scenario of the stories consisted of a female protagonist being menaced and tormented by fiends in a gloomy castle. Fast forwarding to Supernatural horror of today, using a female as the main character remains a convention of the genre.

The Gothic tradition continued in the 19^th century giving birth to the icons of horror. These include:

Frankenstein’s Monster

Count Dracula

Other legendary figures of horror from the 19^th century are the murderers, Burke and Hare infamously known as the 'body snatchers'. Sweeney Todd aka the demon barber of fleet street and Jack the Ripper.

In this modern day, we can distinguish between the Supernatural horror and the Gothic Horror. Yet, back in the 19^th century ofcourse they both meshed into one, and so there is a relationship between them and historical relevance. All horrors attempt to provoke a response from audiences, whether that is emotional, psychological or physical. Different techniques are used to elicit fear such as unreal figures (phantoms or the living-dead) or more real situations and figures (serial killers). The main characteristic of horror is that the viewer can relate to the narrative somehow; the whole genre of horror is built up upon people’s fears of the unknown and anxieties. Supernatural horror’s deal with the viewers nightmares, hidden worst fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots written with the subgenre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event or personage of the supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Conversely, films about the supernatural aren’t always horrors.

History Time-line

Pivotal moments in supernatural horror history

1880 – 1920

1896: “Le Manoir du diable” (aka “The House of the Devil”) created by film pioneer Georges Melies, his other depiction "La Caverne Maudite" (1898) both contained elements of the supernatural.

1910: “Frankenstein” from Edison Studios.

The 20^th century introduced the concept of monsters to appear in a full-length horror film, “Quasimodo” the hunchback of Notre-Dame who had appeared in Victor Hugo’s novel, “Notre-Dame de Paris”.

1920: “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Robert Wiene. The 1910’s and 20’s saw an era of German Expressionist films, many of which went on to significantly influence later Hollywood films. 

Wiene made an impact on film-makers from Orson Welles to Tim Burton.

1920: “The Phantom of the Carriage”

1922: “Nosferatu” created by F.W.Murnau. This was the first vampire-themed feature which was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers “Dracula” and I quote "Nosferatu! That name alone can chill the blood!"

1923: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” an early Hollywood drama. 

1925: “The Monster” and “The Phantom Of The Opera”

1930 – 1940

It was during the early 1930’s that horror films became popular due to Universal Pictures Co. Inc. They brought to the screen a series of successful gothic features including remakes of “Dracula” 1931 and “Frankenstein” 1931.

1941: “The Wolf Man” it was not the first werewolf film, nonetheless it was the most influential.

1942: “Cat People”

1943: “I Walked With a Zombie”

1945: “The Body Snatcher”

1950 – 1960

Due to advances in technology that occurred in the 1950s the tone of horror films shifted from the gothic and fell into two subgenres, the ‘horror of Armageddon’ and the ‘horror of the demonic’. This era also saw the development of plots including alien invasions and deadly mutations to people or insects (relating to the effects of nuclear radiation). This is when horror movies began to exploit audiences by relating to their fears as a society. For instance...

1956: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” managed to channel paranoia of the Cold War into atmospheric creepiness.

1957: “The Incredible Shrinking Man” although more of a science-fiction story, the film portrayed fears of living in the ‘Atomic Age’ and the terror of social alienation.

1959: “The Mummy”

1961: “The Innocents” created by Jack Clayton. Ghosts and monsters still remained popular, many films used the supernatural premise to express the horror of the demonic.

1963: “The Haunting”

1963: “The Birds” by Hitchcock, its menace stems from nature gone mad. The film is one of the first American examples of the horror-of-Armageddon sub-genre.

1965: “Dr. Terrors House of Horrors” contributed to a boom in horror film in the 1960’s and 70’s.

1968: “Night of the Living Dead” created by George Romero. This horror-of-Armageddon film about zombies was later deemed ‘Culturally, historically and aesthetically significant”. The film combines psychological insights with guts and gore, moving away from gothic trends of earlier eras and brought horror to everyday life.

1970 – 1980

The 1970’s released more films with occult themes such as the Devil representing the supernatural evil, by either impregnating women or possessing children. Satan became the villain in many horror films with a postmodern style and dystopian worldview.

1973: “The Exorcist”

1976: “The Omen”

1977: “Alice, Sweet Alice”

1977’s “The Hills Have Eyes” and 1974’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” recalled the Vietnam War. 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” all of which explored contemporary fears about technology, modern science and society.

1978: “Halloween” created by John Carpenter.

1990’s

Horror was pushed backward during this period due to two problems. Firstly, the horror genre had worn itself out with the non-stop slasher and gore films in the eighties. Secondly, the adolescent audiences of the blood and morbidity of the previous decade grew up. In order to re-connect with its audiences, Horror become more self-mocking and ironic. For instance “Scream” (1996) featured teenager fully aware of (and often made reference to) the history of horror movies, blending humour with the shock. It attempted to re-ignite the horror genre.

2000’s

1999: “The Blair Witch Project” created the style of ‘found-footage’ films. Also inspired Asian horror movies, such as 2002’s “The Ring” and 2004’s “The Grudge”.

2001: “The Others” was the first horror in the decade to rely on psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore.

2009: “Paranormal Activity”