As we look back on key cinematic moments from the 115-year-long life of motion pictures, there is no denying the impact of classic horror films on the movie landscape. Seventy-five years ago, a new type of monster burst onto the screen in an all-time classic movie, and though she appeared for only a few scant minutes at the very end of the film, she was instantly and forever stamped in viewer's minds as one of the leading horror icons in cinema history: The Bride of Frankenstein.

As we look back on key cinematic moments from the 115-year-long life of motion pictures, there is no denying the impact of classic horror films on the movie landscape. Seventy-five years ago, a new type of monster burst onto the screen in an all-time classic movie, and though she appeared for only a few scant minutes at the very end of the film, she was instantly and forever stamped in viewer's minds as one of the leading horror icons in cinema history: The Bride of Frankenstein.

80th anniversary article about the landmark horror film, 1931's Frankenstein, illustrated with photos, paintings and digital renderings of the film's key characters.

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Critics have traditionally characterized classic horror by its use of shadow and suggestion. Yet the graphic nature of early 1930s films only came to light in the home video/DVD era. Along with gangster movies and “sex pictures,” horror films drew audiences during the Great Depression with sensational content. Exploiting a loophole in the Hays Code, which made no provision for on-screen “gruesomeness,” studios produced remarkably explicit films that were recut when the Code was more rigidly enforced from 1934. This led to a modern misperception that classic horror was intended to be safe and reassuring to audiences. The author examines the 1931 to 1936 “happy ending” horror in relation to industry practices and censorship. Early works like Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and The Raven (1935) may be more akin to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Hostel (2005) than many critics believe.

Word Horde is proud to publish Eternal Frankenstein, an anthology edited by Ross E. Lockhart, featuring sixteen resurrecting tales of terror and wonder paying tribute to Mary Shelley, her Monster, and their entwined legacy.

British horror classic with a foreward by Walter James Miller and an afterward by Harold Bloom.