Head down the storm drain and into the dark, spooky sewers of horror cinema. Inside, you'll find Instant Expert guides on the essential subgenres, interview with horror auteurs and the lowdown on the best and worst this terrifying side to cinema has to offer. Collated by the experts at Total Film and SFX, this is the ultimate guide to horror, and one genre fans shouldn't miss out on.
HORROR THE ULTIMATE CELEBRATION
THE DEFINITIVE 25 GREATEST HORROR MOVIES EVER MADE • From Romero, Carpenter and del Toro to Freddy, Jason and Leatherface… We polled EVERYBODY who’s anybody in horror to discover, once and for all…
INSTANT EXPERT: SLASHER MOVIES • DEFINITION: Big knives, big breasts and masked killers… From Psycho to Scream, slasher movies appeal to our dark fascination with sex and death
PSYCHO KILLER • In 1960, two horror films terrorised audiences. One was a box office smash. The other was labelled trash. We celebrate the violent visions of Psycho and Peeping Tom…
FRIDAY THE 13 • It was an unexpected genre blockbuster that spawned an entire industry of sequels and spin-offs. We revisit an unkillable franchise…
SCREAM • Wes Craven’s meta-horror re-invented the slasher, repositioned the final girl and almost killed the genre; it’s still one of the most important films of the ’90s
13 HORROR FRANCHISES THAT JUST WON'T DIE • Try to kill these movies if you dare – they’ll just get right back up for one more scare
INSTANT EXPERT: HAUNTED HOUSE MOVIES • DEFINITION: A subgenre of the horror movie that suggests dead people don’t move out promptly, and houses have long memories
DEATH IN THE FAMILY • The most disturbing movie of 2018? Hereditary has been billed as The Exorcist for a new generation – TF speaks to the director and cast behind the unnerving mystery-box chiller that everyone should see. If they’re brave enough.
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT • Almost 20 years after the found footage of three hungry, hunted and unhappy campers was revealed, we go back down to the woods…
STRANGER THAN FICTION • Terrifying true tales and the movies they inspired
THE REAL GHOSTBUSTER • Meet the inspiration behind The Conjuring’s paranormal investigator. We remember a visit with Lorraine Warren…
HORROR loves… Grady the caretaker • Meet the psycho at the heart of The Shining. No, it’s not Jack…
The Wicker Man • BURNT OFFERINGS | Edward Woodward’s sizzly end
THE OMEN • It was the spawn-of-Satan ’70s shocker that broughtthe Antichrist centrestage, sowing numerous demonicoffspring sequels and knock-offs in the process – it’seasy to underestimate how important The Omen was…
The crazy deaths in The Omen • Flying heads, impaled priests, swinging nannies. Trendsetters, every one…
Dario Argento • Italy’s ultimate nightmare-weaver tells us about the influences behind his twisted tales
INSTANT EXPERT: HAMMER HORROR • DEFINITION: Full-blooded, lushly coloured cycle of British horror movies that resurrected the moribund genre in the ’50s and ’60s.
DRACULA • It introduced the serious, sexy vampire, and cemented the late, great Christopher Lee as a true horror icon. Do up your nightie and close the window, as we revisit Hammer’s greatest bloodsucker
BLOOD LUST • Neck nibblers earned a bad name thanks to a certain mega franchise but in 2012, Interview With A Vampire director Neil Jordan bit back with sensual re-vamp Byzantium, which could just be the anti-Twilight…
SIX GOOD THINGS WE OWE TO TWILIGHT • Byzantium is one good thing that came off the back of the mega franchise, here are six more…
THE LOST BOYS • Before Edward Cullen sunk his fangs into the box office, an ’80s Brat-Pack movie was getting teen bloodlust raging. We revisit Joel...