Horror film is a film genre that seeks to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on their fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley, horror films have existed for more than a century. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres.
Horror films often deal with viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, extraterrestrials, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, psychopaths, and serial killers.
Frankenstein & Werewolves, Vampires & Mummies, Giant Beasts & Aliens, Mad Scientists, Freaks, & Vincent Price, Fantasy . . . all of those FMF magazine covers are featured in our gallery.
Tour through a gallery of 100 most memorable horror icons. The gallery feature popular horror icons from the 1920's to the new millennium. Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein's Monster, Annabelle the Doll, Freddy Krueger . . . a good chance you will find your favorite horror character here.
Within the horror genre, a popular character type is the creepy harbinger, who warns the main/supporting characters of doom and gloom. They are often portrayed as loners, or possibly homeless, or alcoholics, or touched with insanity, and often old, though not always. This SFMZ feature highlights a few of those unsavory soothsayers in film.
No doubt there are a number of terrific witches showcased in films like Witches of Eastwick and other movies. Witches are often performed by beautiful actresses depicting witches as gorgeous beings, the opposite of the iconic old hag. With this SFMZ feature, sexy witches are excluded, only the ugliest, most grotesque witches seen on the big screen are showcased here.
We sampled ten popular online top horror film polls to determine SFMZ's Top Ten Horror Films of All Time. Based on their average ranking per poll, each film was measured how well it fared in the lists below. Only Films that appear in at least six of the ten polls were measured.
SFMZ presents this gallery of dark art by the SFMZ webmaster, who likes to dabble in Photoshop to create renderings of demented clowns, creatures of the sinister, and more.