Despite the copious amounts of gore and self-seriousness that define the genre’s contemporary outings, American cinematic horror has gone through some seismic shifts in its 100+ year history. Prior to the ‘60s, horror films usually fell into three camps: sci-fi in the shadow of the Atomic Age, cheap dime-a-dozen B-movies, or theatrical adaptations of Gothic literature. The Hayes Code meant these films had to have some degree of restraint, and the horrors on-screen felt fantastical and removed from reality.
