Halloween is a time to embrace all things spooky, but our fascination with fright extends well beyond October. Horror movies have been a scary staple of our lives for more than a century, and generations of audiences have embraced the thrill.

"We like the rush," said Orquidea Morales, assistant professor in the University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film and Television. "Fear or anxiety are more manageable in the safety of your own home or a theater. So it's a safe rush."

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Scary movies have been around since the creation of film, Morales said. "The Haunted Castle," a three-minute silent movie by French actor and director Georges Méliès, is considered one of the first horror movies. The term "horror," relating to horror films, wasn't introduced until the 1930s.

"Before then, films would be called horrific, terrifying and suspenseful, but it wasn't a genre classification until 1931," Morales explained. "That's when 'Dracula' was released and the publicity specifically called it a horror film. That's where we see the genre being born."

Be afraid … be very afraid

Whether driven by current events or simply by the evolving taste of the audience, horror movies have adapted over the decades to match what viewers of the time found scary. 

A lot of the early horror movies, like "Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde" and "Frankenstein," were adaptations from books, Morales said. The genre slowly transitioned into more parody and humor in the '40s, with movies like "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and "The Ghost Breakers." Monsters took the lead in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly after the development of the atomic bomb – "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" and "The Blob" are examples.

World events led horror movies into more violence in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Morales said.

"Many horror scholars believe this is reflective of our world post-World War II and during Vietnam where we saw violence and economic issues globally," she said. "Horror became darker, more visceral and violent as opposed to the earlier monsters that were very much fictional."

Among the most significant movies of this time was 1973's "The Exorcist," which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won two.

"That got horror into spaces that horror hadn't been before," Morales said. "It gave the genre some cachet. For a long time before that, horror had been seen as a genre for people with bad taste."

Body horror – a subgenre involving graphic transformation or destruction of the human body – gained popularity in the 2000s, with movies like the "Saw" franchise leading the way.

"While it's still out there, today we're moving away from that a bit and more into psychological and suspenseful horror," Morales said. "It's based on the feeling of dread, that something bad is going to happen, but we don't know where it's coming from."

Horror's next generation

Another reason horror is so popular is that it's an accessible pathway for young filmmakers to get into the business, Morales said. Since a lot of horror is inspired by folklore or legends people grew up with, there is a lot of familiarity with source material.

"They're also cheaper to produce," she said. "You have two friends and you pour some blood on somebody – you're good to go. The narrative can also be a little flimsier if the effects and dread are there."

Many filmmakers take advantage of the fact that horror is seen by some as a lesser genre, so there is less policing over what creators can make and release, Morales said.

"A lot of folks in marginalized communities in particular use horror to process their experienced monstrosities and talk about their experiences," she said.

Recommended viewing

Morales said she has a high tolerance when it comes to horror films, so it's hard for her to find movies that really scare her – but there are exceptions.

"'Sinister' scares me, which is a little embarrassing to admit because it's not considered one of the scariest horror movies," she said. "But there's something about the creature and the sound design that combined to hit a nerve with me."

As Halloween nears, Morales has some recommendations of lesser-known movies that even some of the biggest horror devotees might not recognize.

• "Vampires in Havana" (1985)
• "Geometria" (1987)
• "Frailty" (2001)
• "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" (2016)
• "Huesera: The Bone Woman" (2022)

Morales cohosts the podcast "Monstras," which explores the world of Latino folklore, horror and monsters. The show will return in January with a season on Latinas in horror.