Whilst horror has it’s good and bad years, 2018 seems to have driven it forward and into the public eye – why else would Vogue be making such weird proclamations? (And @UberFacts -wtf!?!) We’ve had new writers, new movies, new series (did you see Don’t Watch This on Netflix?), remakes, and additions to favourite franchises. Sorry Vogue but 2018 has been an amazing year for horror.
By its very nature, horror is diverse. It has an amazing number of sub-genres to slide your way through and find your particular favourite. And not all will be to your taste. Whether you want lots of gore (not just for the guys), no gore (not just for the gals), ghosts, natural disasters, supersized scary animals, dolls, clowns, or any number of normalised horrors we see and deal with every day, there is something for you.
And as a result, the horror community, it’s fans, the family, are just as diverse. We accept the strange and the weird because horror asks you to open your eyes where other genres ask you to shut out the world and believe in the dream. Which is nice an’ all but how padded do you want your pigeon hole?
Let’s Begin With The Franchises
Let’s face it, these things really wouldn’t happen if there wasn’t money to be made. These films have a following already and an army of fans willing to watch them no matter what the budget. Not to mention those who are visibly begging for more movies of particular franchises -More Nightmare on Elm Street anyone?
And this year we’ve had a number of franchise entries, including (with the Box Office results for those in the top 100):
- Halloween – $246.3 Million at the Box Office Worldwide (no’29)
- The Nun – $364.9 Million at the Box Office Worldwide (that’s no’18 on the list for this year in case you were wondering)
- The First Purge – $136.3 Million Worldwide (no’38)
- Insidious: The Last Key – $167.7 Million Worldwide (no’35)
- The Cloverfield Paradox
- Hellraiser: Judgement
- Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
- Day of the Dead: Bloodline
And an Amazing Year for Horror Series
Horror series must be popular because TV service providers have been hogging their exclusive horror shows. And only people paying them for their services can get certain ones in the UK. Not to mention the fact that there are streaming services with their own exclusive series. We are all either paying far too many people for our TV or are missing out because we refuse to buy into yet another streaming service just because they have that one show we really feel we’re missing out on. We know they’ll all eventually be on Netflix or Prime but come on, I wanna watch them now-ow-ow!
Here are just a few of the horror shows we’ve enjoyed this year, either as an ongoing series or something brand new, streaming or not:
- The Haunting of Hill House
- American Horror Story
- The Walking Dead
- The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
- The Terror
- Channel Zero
- Into The Dark
- Lore
- Santa Clarita Diet
- Stan Against Evil
- The Purge
- A Haunting
And How About None Franchise Movies
You don’t have to be a franchise fan to enjoy horror, there are plenty of stand alones, remakes, and new ‘might one day be a franchise’ movies to sink your teeth into:
- Overlord (Currently at no’96 – released on Nov 9th)
- Winchester (no’93)
- Death Wish (no’85)
- Slender Man (no’76)
- Hereditary (no’60)
- Truth or Dare (no’48)
- A Quiet Place (no’21) – with $340.7 Million at the Box Office Worldwide
- The Meg (no’12) – $527.8 Million Worldwide
- Slaughterhouse Rulez
- The Open House
- Hell Fest
- Unfriended: Dark Web
- Apostle
- Susperia
- Annihilaton
Children’s Horror Movies
How can anyone deny the popularity of children’s horror movies? Not only do the kids want to see them but so do their parents and grandparents.
- Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (no’54)
- The House with a Clock in its Walls (no’41)
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (no’13)
What’s my point? By the numbers, horror is doing well. Most films fit into one or more categories, so, as this is my pie Box Office Top 100 chart and I did all the work, I chose the most logical (from those listed on IMDb) for each. Comedy and horror are the genres that often list only one category. But I would be willing to bet there are movies in other genres that could also be considered horror.
And the year isn’t over – those numbers are going to change as the more recently released horror movies move up the ranks.
Not just a numbers game
We have horror made for YouTube appearing on Netflix, streaming channels dedicated to horror, conventions and festivals the world over, new horror specific screenwriting competitions, amateurs grabbing a camera and having a go
P.S. Sorry Stephen King, I had to use the world amazing but at least it wasn’t in a book 😉