A Gothic Chronology

This is a resource I initially put together when lecturing Gothic fiction about ten years ago which I’ve now attempted to update. It is relatively straightforward to compile a list of primary sources for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but after that it gets tricky, firstly because it becomes more difficult to categorise within the evolving genre, and also because of the sheer volume of material. I have decided, therefore, to largely restrict myself to landmarks in literature and film, with only the occasional nod towards art and architecture, graphic novels, TV, gaming, music and fashion. This certainly isn’t a comprehensive timeline, and if I’m missing something obvious or beloved – or if you think I’m leaning more towards ‘horror’ than ‘Gothic’ – then please forgive me. (The latter distinction was always a murky boundary, but I have my reasons for each selection.) That said, I hope this is at least enough of an overview to analyse innovations and trends within the form across the world. Being British, I have presumed to leave the film and fiction of the UK untagged, while countries of origin otherwise appear in parentheses.

Pop Quiz: In Jane Austen’s satire of the fashion for gothic romance, Northanger Abbey, Isabella Thorpe enthusiastically recommends seven ‘horrid novels’ to Catherine Morland. For many years these were believed by literary scholars to have been inventions of the author. There were actually all real books – see if you can find them in this list…

 

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: STURM UND DRANG

 

1706 – Daniel Defoe, A True Relation of the Apparition of one Mrs. Veal, the next Day after her Death: to one Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury. 

1743 – Robert Blair, The Grave.

1747 – Horace Walpole, 4^th Earl of Orford, purchases Strawberry Hill in Twickenham, and begins to ‘Gothicize’ the property. John Baillie, An Essay on the Sublime.

1755 – Dr. Johnson’s dictionary defines ‘Romantick’ as ‘Resembling the tales or romances; wild, improbably; false; fanciful; full of wild scenery.’

1757 – Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.

1758 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell (De Caelo et Eius Mirabilibus et de inferno, ex Auditis et Visis, Sweden).

1764 – Walpole, The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story.

1765 – Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

1768 – Walpole, The Mysterious Mother.

1774 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther, Germany).

1777 – First performance of Wirrarr, oder Sturm und Drang (Confusion, or Storm and Stress) by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (Germany).

1781 – Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, Die Räuber (The Robbers, Germany). Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Fussli) ‘The Nightmare,’ oil on canvas.

1782 – Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, Dialogue entre un prêtre et un moribond (Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man, France).

1785 – Sade, Les 120 journées de Sodome, ou l’École du libertinage (The 120 Days of Sodom, France).

1786 – William Beckford, Vathek, An Arabian Tale.

1790 – Ann Radcliffe, A Sicilian Romance.

1791 – Radcliffe, The Romance of the Forest. Sade, Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue.

1793 – Eliza Parsons, Castle of Wolfenbach.

1794 – Radclife, The Mysteries of Udolpho. William Godwin, Things as They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams. Ludwig Flammenberg (Carl Friedrich Kahlert), The Necromancer; The Tale of the Black Forest (Germany).

1796 – Matthew George Lewis, The Monk; The Castle Spectre. Parsons, The Mysterious Warning, a German Tale. Peter Will, The Horrid Mysteries, A Story From the German Of The Marquis Of Grosse (A translation of Der Genius by Carl Grosse, Germany).

1797 – Radcliffe, The Italian. Death of Horace Walpole. Sade, Juliette, Or Vice Amply Rewarded.

1798 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere. Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland: or, The Transformation: An American Tale (US). Anon, The Midnight Groan; or The Spectre of the Chapel: Involving An Exposure of the Horrible Secrets of the Nocturnal Assembly. Anon, Tales of the Crypt. Regina Maria Roche, Clermont. Francis Lathom, The Midnight Bell. Eleanor Sleath, The Orphan of the Rhine.

1799 – Godwin, St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century. Brockden Brown, Edgar Huntly, Or, Memoirs of a Sleepwalker.

 

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: FROM ROMANTIC TO VICTORIAN

1800 – Brockden Brown, Arthur Mervyn. Sade, ‘Idée sur les romans,’ Les Crimes de l’Amour (France). Walter Scott, ‘Glenfinlas; or, Lord Ronald’s Coronach.’

1801 – Lewis, Tales of Wonder.

1807 – T.J. Horsley-Curtis, The Monk of Udolpho: A Romance.

1808 – Scott, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. Goethe, Faust Part One (Faust. Eine Tragödie or Faust. Der Tragödie erster Teil, Germany). Lewis, Romantic Tales.

1809 – Birth of Edgar Allan Poe.

1814 – Percy Bysshe Shelley elopes with Mary Godwin.

1815 – E.T.A. Hoffmann, Die Elixiere des Teufels (The Devil’s Elixirs, Germany).

1816 – George Gordon, Lord Byron goes into exile. Byron, Claire Claremont, John Polidori and the Shelleys holiday at the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva – Mary has a prophetic dream which she records. Charles Robert Maturin, Bertram, or, The Castle of Aldobrand. Hoffmann, Nacht-stücke (including ‘Der Sandmann,’ Germany).

1817 – Byron, Manfred: A Dramatic Poem. Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine established.

1818 – Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey published posthumously. Death of ‘Monk’ Lewis. Thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey. Scott, ‘Remarks on Frankenstein’; ‘Narrative of a Fatal Event.’ Daniel Keyte Sandford, ‘A Night in the Catacombs.’ John Wilson, ‘Extracts from Gosschen’s Diary.’

1819 – John Polidori, ‘The Vampyre.’ Leigh Hunt, ‘A Tale for a Chimney Corner.’

1820 – Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer. London Magazine established. Washington Irving, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.’

1821 – John Galt, ‘The Buried Alive.’ William Maginn, ‘The Man in the Bell.’ William Childs Green, The Maniac of the Desert. Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. Polidori commits suicide.

1822 – Shelley drowns in the Bay of Spezia. Hoffmann, ‘Die Doppeltgänger.’ Death of Hoffmann.

1823 – Death of Ann Radcliffe. W.H. Ainsworth, December Tales. Richard Brinsley Peake, Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein (the first dramatic adaptation of the novel).

1824 – Death of Byron. James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

1826 – Radcliffe, ‘On the Supernatural in Poetry.’ Childs Green, The Abbot of Montserrat.

1827 – De Quincey, ‘On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.’ Henry Thompson, ‘Le Revenant.’

1829 – Catholic emancipation. William Burke and William Hare arrested for body-snatching and murder. Scott, ‘The Tapestried Chamber.’

1830 – William Mudford, ‘The Iron Shroud.’ James Hogg, ‘The Mysterious Bride.’ Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft.

1831 – Peacock, Crotchet Castle. Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris (France).

1832 – Anatomy Act. Death of Sir Walter Scott. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Eugene Aram. William Godwin the Younger, ‘The Executioner.’ David Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic. Goethe, Faust Part Two. Death of Goethe.

1834 – Death of Coleridge. Ainsworth, Rookwood: A Romance.

1836 – Charles Lever, ‘Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer.’ A.W.N. Pugin, Contrasts: Or, A Parallel Between the Noble Edifices of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries and Similar Buildings of the Present Day. Shewing the Present Decay of Taste.

1837 – The Ingoldsby Legends by the Rev. R.H. Barham commence in Bentley’s Miscellany.

1838 – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu publishes the first short story of the ‘Purcell Papers,’ ‘The Ghost and the Bonesetter.’ Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Psyche Zenobia’ and ‘The Scythe of Time’ (AKA ‘How to Write a Blackwood Article’ and ‘A Predicament,’ US).

1839 – Newgate Controversy. Poe, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’; ‘William Wilson’; Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (US). Le Fanu, ‘A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family’ (probable influence on the ‘madwoman in the attic’ device of Jane Eyre; Le Fanu later expanded this in The Wyvern Mystery).

1840 – Ainsworth, The Tower of London: A Historical Romance.

1841 – Poe, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (US). Old St. Paul’s by Ainsworth serialised in The Sunday Times.

1842 – Poe, ‘The Masque of the Red Death’; ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ (US). Bulwer Lytton, Zanoni. Robert Browing, Madhouse Cells. Serial publication of Les Mystères de Paris by Eugene Sue (France).

1843 – Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Poe, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’; ‘The Black Cat’ (US).

1844 – Serial publication of The Mysteries of London by G.W.M. Reynolds.

1845 – Poe, Tales; The Raven and Other Poems; ‘The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar’ (US). Reynolds commences serial publication of Wagner, The Wehr-Wolf. Edward Lloyd begins publication of Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest (uncredited) in penny instalments.

1846 – Reynolds concludes The Mysteries of London, commences serial publication of The Mysteries of the Court of London. Rymer and Prest, The String of Pearls: A Romance (the original source of the Sweeny Todd legend). Poe, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ (US).

1847 – Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights; Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre.

1848 – Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches. The ‘Hydesville Event’ (The Fox Sisters, Maggie and Kate, are seen to ‘commune with spirits’ at the family farm in upstate New York). Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Death of Emily Brontë.

1849 – Death of Edgar Allan Poe.

1851 – Death of Mary Shelley.

1855 – Death of Charlotte Brontë.

1859 – Bulwer-Lytton, ‘The Haunter and the Haunted.’ George Eliot, The Lifted Veil. Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White serialised in All The Year Round.

1862 – Bulwer-Lytton, A Strange Story. Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley’s Secret.

1863 – Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard.

1864 – Le Fanu, Uncle Silas. Browning, ‘Mr. Sludge, “The Medium.”’ Serialisation of Our Mutual Friend by Dickens. Launch of The Illustrated Police News.

1866 – Dickens, ‘The Signalman.’ Le Fanu, All in the Dark.

1868 – Last public execution in England. Collins, The Moonstone.

1869 – Le Fanu, The Wyvern Mystery.

1870 – Dickens commences The Mystery of Edwin Drood but dies before the serial can be completed.

1871 – Bulwer-Lytton, The Coming Race. Le Fanu, Carmilla; The Rose and the Key.

1872 – Le Fanu, In a Glass Darkly.

1873 – Fyodor Dostoevsky, ‘Bobok’ (Russia). Death of Le Fanu.

1875 – Blavatsky and Olcott found the Theosophical Society in New York.

1876 – Amelia B. Edwards, Monsieur Maurice, and other stories.

1882 – Foundation of Society for Psychical Research.

1883 – Boston millionaire Marcellus Seth Ayer founds The Working Union of Progressive Spiritualists, the independent Christian Spiritualist Church.

1884 – Robert Louis Stevenson, ‘The Body Snatcher.’

1886 – Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Serialisation of She by Henry Rider Haggard.

1888 – ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders. Rudyard Kipling, The Phantom Rickshaw & other Eerie Tales. John Francis Brewer, The Curse Upon Mitre Square (the first ‘Ripper’ novel, published before the cycle of killings actually ended).

1890 – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Kipling, ‘The Mark of the Beast.’ Ambrose Bierce, ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ (US).

1892 – Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; ‘Lot Number 249.’

1893 – Translation into English of Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis (Germany, 1886). E. Nesbit, Something Wrong; Grim Tales.

1894 – Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan. George Du Maurier, Trilby. Death of R.L. Stevenson.

1896 – Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Georges Méliès, director, The House of the Devil (France).

1897 – Bram Stoker, Dracula. H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man. Nesbit, Tales Told in Twilight. Wilde, ‘The Canterville Ghost.’ Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol opens in Paris.

1898 – Henry James, The Turn of the Screw.

1899 – Lafcadio Hearn, In Ghostly Japan (Japan). Méliès, dir, Cléopâtre (AKA Robbing Cleopatra’s Tomb, France).

 

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: THE HAUNTED SCREEN

1902 – Stoker, The Mystery of the Sea. W.W. Jacobs, ‘The Monkey’s Paw.’

1903 – Stoker, The Jewel of Seven Stars. Hearn, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things (Japan). Méliès, dir, Bluebeard; The Monster (France).

1904 – M.R. James, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. Kipling, ‘They.’ Aleister Crowley and Rose Edith Kelly, The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis, Egypt). William Hope Hodgson, ‘The Goddess of Death.’

1905 – Alice Guy-Blaché, dir, La Esméralda (France).

1907 – Hope Hodgson, The Boats of ‘Glen Carrig.’

1908 – Hope Hodgson, The House on the Borderland. Nesbit, ‘The Third Drug.’ William Selig, dir, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (US).

1909 – Hope Hodgson, The Ghost Pirates. Serialisation of Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux (France).

1910 – Nesbit, Fear. August Blom, dir, Necklace of the Dead (Denmark). J. Searle Dawley, dir, Frankenstein (US: Edison).

1911 – Stoker, The Lair of the White Worm. M.R. James, More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. Blom, dir, Ghosts of the Vault (Denmark).

1912 – Hope Hodgson, The Night Land; ‘The Thing Invisible’ (the first of the Carnaki, Ghost Finder stories, published in The New Magazine). Death of Bram Stoker.

1913 – Carl Laemmle, dir, Jekyll and Hyde (US). Paul Wegener and Stellan Rye, dirs, The Student of Prague (Germany). Marie Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger.

1914 – Harold M. Shaw, dir, Trilby. S. Ansky (Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport), The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds (Russia, first performed in Warsaw in 1920). Posthumous publication of ‘Dracula’s Guest’ by Stoker, the deleted opening section of Dracula. Stellan Rye dies in a French prisoner of war camp.

1915 – D.W. Griffith, dir, The Avenging Consciousness (US: ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ meets ‘Annabel Lee’). Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen, dirs, Der Golem (Germany). Franz Kafka, Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis,); Der Process (The Trial, Austria-Hungary). Theda Bara cast as ‘The Vamp’ in A Fool There Was directed by Frank Powell (US: Fox Film Corporation).

1917 – H.P. Lovecraft, ‘The Tomb’ (US).

1918 – Hope Hodgson killed in action in France.

1919 – M.R. James, A Thin Ghost, and Others. W. F. Harvey, ‘The Beast with Five Fingers.’ Sigmund Freud, ‘The Uncanny’ (Germany).

1920 – Robert Wiene (replacing Fritz Lang), dir, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Germany, starring Conrad Veidt). Paul Wegener, dir, Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (The Golem: How He Came Into the World, Germany). John S. Robertson, dir, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (US, John Barrymore played Jekyll). Theodore Dreiser, ‘The Hand’ (US).

1921 – Benjamin Christensen, dir, Häxan (Sweden/Denmark).

1922 – Lovecraft, ‘Herbert West – Reanimator’ (US). F.W. Murnau, dir, Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Germany, starring Max Schreck).

1923 – Lovecraft, ‘The Rats in the Walls’ (US). Wallace Worsley, dir, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (US, starring Lon Chaney Snr). May Sinclair, Uncanny Stories.

1924 – Kipling, ‘The Wish House.’ Paul Leni, dir, Das Wachsfigurenkabinett (Waxworks, Germany). Death of Kafka.

1925 – M.R. James, A Warning to the Curious, and Other Ghost Stories. Rupert Julian, dir, The Phantom of the Opera (US, starring Lon Chaney Snr). Florence Balcombe (the widow of Bram Stoker), backed by the Society of Authors, wins a protracted lawsuit against Prana-Film (the makers of Nosferatu) for infringement of copyright. It is ruled in court that all prints should be surrendered to her or destroyed, although copies resurface in America in the late-20s. (Balcombe never actually sees the movie.)

1926 – Lovecraft, ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ published in Weird Tales. Kafka’s Der Schloss (The Castle) is published posthumously (Germany).

1927 – Lovecraft, ‘The Case of Charles Dexter Ward’ (US). Paul Leni, dir, The Cat and the Canary (US). Tod Browning, dir, London After Midnight (US, starring Lon Chaney Snr). Peggy Webling’s stage version of Frankenstein – produced by Hamilton Deane – performed in Preston (this was the basis for the 1931 movie starring Boris Karloff). Bela Lugosi stars as Dracula in a Broadway production adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, produced by Horace Liveright. Alfred Hitchcock, dir, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog.

1928 – Lovecraft, ‘The Dunwich Horror’ (US). Paul Leni, The Man Who Laughs (US, starring Conrad Veidt). J.B. Priestly, Benighted (AKA The Old Dark House). M.R. James, ‘Wailing Well.’

1929 – Paul Leni dies of blood poisoning.

1930 – Lon Chaney Snr dies of lung cancer.

1931 – Lovecraft, ‘At the Mountains of Madness’ (US). Tod Browning, dir, Dracula (US: Universal Studios, starring Bela Lugosi). James Whale, dir, Frankenstein (US: Universal, starring Boris Karloff). The Witch’s Tale begins broadcasting on WOR: New York. M.R. James, Collected Ghost Stories.

1932 – Karl Freund, dir, The Mummy (US: Universal, Karloff). Fredric March wins Academy award for best actor in Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931, US: Paramount). Browning, dir, Freaks (US: MGM). Victor Halperin, dir, White Zombie (US: United Artists, Lugosi). Whale, dir, The Old Dark House (US: Universal, Karloff). Carl Dreyer, dir, Vampyr (Germany/France).

1933 – Guy Endore, The Werewolf of Paris (US). Whale, dir, The Invisible Man (US: Universal, starring Claude Rains).

1934 – Isak Dinesen (Karen Christentze Blixen), Seven Gothic Tales (Syv Fantastiske Fortællinger, Denmark). Dennis Wheatley, The Devil Rides Out.

1935 – Whale, dir, The Bride of Frankenstein (US: Universal, Karloff). Stuart Walker, dir, Werewolf of London (US: Universal, starring Henry Hull). Freund, dir, Mad Love (US: MGM, starring Colin Clive and Peter Lorre). Denison Clift, dir, The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (Hammer, starring Bela Lugosi).

1936 – Lambert Hillyer, dir, Dracula’s Daughter (US: Universal, starring Gloria Holden; Edward Van Sloan reprises his role as Van Helsing from Browning’s Dracula.). Augustus Montague Summers, The Grimoire and Other Ghostly Tales. George King, dir, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Milton Rosmer, dir, Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn (both starring Tod Slaughter). Death of M.R. James.

1937 – Death of H.P. Lovecraft from stomach cancer. Colin Clive dies of tuberculosis.

1938 – Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca. Charles Addams commences ‘The Addams Family’ cartoons in The New Yorker (US).

1939 – First appearance of Batman, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, in Detective Comics (US). Rowland V. Lee, dir, Son of Frankenstein (US: Universal; stars Karloff, Lugosi, and Basil Rathbone). William Dieterle, dir, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (US: RKO, starring Charles Laughton). King, dir, The Face at the Window (Tod Slaughter).

1940 – Hitchcock directs Rebecca for Selznick International (US). George Marshall, dir. The Ghost Breakers (US: Paramount).

1941 – George Waggner, dir, The Wolf Man (US: Universal; stars Lon Chaney Jr). Victor Fleming, dir, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (US: MGM; stars Spencer Tracy). Inner Sanctum Mystery begins broadcasting on the NBC Blue radio network.

1942 – Jacques Tourneur, dir, Cat People (US: RKO, starring Simone Simon).

1943 – Tourneur, dir, I Walked With a Zombie (US: RKO). Roy William Neill, dir, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (US: Universal; Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr). Robert Siodmak, dir, Son of Dracula (US: Universal, Lon Chaney Jr).

1945 – August Derleth, The Lurker at the Threshold (a ‘posthumous collaboration’ with H.P. Lovecraft, US). Shirley Jackson, ‘The Lottery’ (US). Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer, dirs, Dead of Night. Albert Lewin, dir, The Picture of Dorian Gray (US: MGM, starring George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield).

1946 – Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan. Robert Florey, dir, The Beast with Five Fingers (US: Warner Brothers, Peter Lorre).

1947 – Summers, Supernatural Tales.

1948 – Wheatley, The Haunting of Toby Jugg. Charles T. Barton, dir, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (US: Universal; Lugosi and Chaney Jr reprise their famous roles, but Glenn Strange plays the monster).

1949 – Angus Wilson, ‘Raspberry Jam.’

1950 – Peake, Gormenghast. William M. Gaines’ EC Comics launch The Haunt of Fear, The Crypt of Terror (later Tales from the Crypt), and The Vault of Horror (US).

1952 – Daphne du Maurier, ‘The Birds.’ Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (US).

1953 – Wheatley, To The Devil A Daughter.

1954 – Richard Matheson, I Am Legend (US). Fredric Wertham’s The Seduction of the Innocent (US) leads to Senate Hearings on horror comics and juvenile delinquency and the self-regulating Code of the Comics Magazine Association of America. Jack Arnold, dir, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (US: Universal). The Vampira Show premiers on KABC-TV, hosted in character by Maila Nurmi (US).

1955 – Charles Laughton, dir, Night of the Hunter (US: United Artists; Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters). Henri-Georges Clouzot, dir, Les Diaboliques (France). Ed Wood, dir, Bride of the Monster (US: Banner Pictures).

1956 – Bela Lugosi (born Belá Blaskó in Hungary in 1882) dies of a heroin overdose.

1957 – Terence Fisher, dir, The Curse of Frankenstein (Hammer; Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star). Gene Fowler Jr., dir, I Was a Teenage Werewolf (US: American International Pictures); Herbert L. Strock, dir, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (US: AIP). Jacques Tourneur, dir, Night of the Demon (Columbia; from ‘The Casting of the Runes’ by M.R. James). Wisconsin farmer Ed Gein arrested for murder. ‘Tarantual Ghoul’ (Suzanne Waldron) hosts KTP-TV’s House of Horrors in Portland, Oregon (US).

1958 – Fisher, dir, Dracula (Hammer: Cushing and Lee). Publisher James Warren and editor Forrest J. Ackerman launch Famous Monsters of Filmland (US). Matheson, A Stir of Echoes (US).

1959 – Robert Bloch, Psycho (US). Jackson, ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (US). Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone begins its TV run (US). Fisher, dir, The Mummy (Hammer: Christopher Lee). Edward D. Wood, dir, Plan 9 from Outer Space (US: DCA).

1960 – Alfred Hitchcock films Pyscho (US). Roger Corman, dir, The Fall of the House of Usher (US: AIP, starring Vincent Price). Michael Powell, dir, Peeping Tom. Georges Franju, dir, Les Yeux sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face, France). Mario Bava, dir, La Maschera del Demonio (The Mask of Satan, Spain; US title: Black Sunday).

1961 – Fisher, dir, The Curse of the Werewolf (Hammer: Oliver Reed). Corman, dir, The Pit and the Pendulum (US: AIP, Vincent Price). Jack Clayton, dir, The Innocents (from James’ The Turn of the Screw).

1962 – Herk Harvey, dir, Carnival of Souls (US). Robert Aldrich, dir, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (US: Warner/Seven Arts, from the 1960 novel by Henry Farrell). Bobby Boris Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, ‘The Monster Mash’ (US: Garpax Records). Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes (US). Karloff appears in Frankenstein make-up one last time in the Route 66 episode ‘Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing’ by Stirling Silliphant (Lon Chaney Jr and Peter Lorre also guest star).

1963 – Bava, I Tre volti della paura (Black Sabbath, Italy). Doctor Who first broadcast. ‘Ghoulardi’ (Ernie Anderson) begins presenting Shock Theater at WJW-TV Channel 8 in Cleveland, Ohio (US).

1964 – The Munsters begins its TV run, as does The Addams Family (both are cancelled in 1966; US).  Bava, dir, Blood and Black Lace (Italy). Fisher, dir, The Gorgon (Hammer: Christopher Lee). Corman, dir, The Masque of the Red Death; The Tomb of Ligeia (US: AIP, Vincent Price). Kaneto Shindo, dir, Onibaba (Japan). Masaki Kobayashi, dir, Kwaidan (Japan; Academy Award: Best Foreign Picture). Ubaldo Ragona, dir, The Last Man on Earth (US/Italy: Vincent Price stars in first adaptation of I Am Legend).

1965 – Fisher, dir, Dracula, Prince of Darkness (Hammer: Lee). Freddie Francis, dir, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (Amicus: Cushing and Lee). Shena Mackay, Music Upstairs. Ed Wood, dir, Orgy of the Dead (US: Crown International).

1966 – Dan Curtis’s Dark Shadows TV series begins on ABC (US). Gerald Thomas, dir, Carry on Screaming. Fisher, dir, Frankenstein Created Woman (Hammer: Cushing). John Gilling, dir, Plague of the Zombies; The Reptile (Hammer). James Hill, dir, A Study in Terror.

1967 – Peter Bogdanovich, dir, Targets (US: Boris Karloff’s last performance, effectively playing himself as Golden Age Hollywood horror icon ‘Byron Orlok’). Roman Polanski, dir, Dance of the Vampires (UK/US: MGM). Jules Bass, dir, Mad Monster Party (US: Rankin/Bass).

1968 – George A. Romero, dir, Night of the Living Dead (US). Polanski, dir, Rosemary’s Baby (US).  Hammer Films receive the Queen’s Award for Industry. Francis, dir, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (Hammer: Lee). Michael Reeves, dir, Witchfinder General (Tigon: Vincent Price). Jonathan Miller, dir, Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (BBC Omnibus; from the story by M.R. James).

1969 – Fisher, dir, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (Hammer: Cushing). Death of Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt, Camberwell, 1887). Angela Carter, Heroes and Villains; The Magic Toyshop. Hanna Barbera’s Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! – created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears –  premiers on CBS (US).

1970 – Jeff Rice, The Kolchak Papers (US). Roy Ward Baker, dir, Scars of Dracula (Hammer: Lee). Peter Sasdy, dir, Countess Dracula (Hammer, starring Ingrid Pitt). Fright Night commences its run on KHJ-TV: Los Angeles. Ward Baker, dir, The Vampire Lovers (Hammer: the first part of the so-called ‘Karnstein Trilogy’ loosely based on Le Fanu’s Carmilla.)

1971 – William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist (US). Daphne du Maurier, ‘Don’t Look Now.’ Ward Baker, dir, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (Hammer, starring Ralph Bates and Martine Beswick). Boris Sagal, director, The Omega Man (US: another film version of I Am Legend starring Charlton Heston). Robert Fuest, dir, The Abominable Dr Phibes (Anglo-EMI, Vincent Price stars). Jean Rollin, dir, Sex and the Vampire (France). Jimmy Sangster, dir, Lust for a Vampire (Hammer – the second ‘Karnstein’ film). Bava, Reazione a catena (Bay of Blood AKA Twitch of the Death Nerve, Italy). Matheson, Hell House (US). Lawrence Gordon Clark, dir, The Stalls of Barchester (The first BBC 1 ‘Ghost Story for Christmas’).

1972 – Wes Craven, dir, The Last House on the Left (US). Alan Gibson, dir, Dracula: AD 1972 (Hammer: Cushing and Lee). Fuest, dir, Dr Phibes Rises Again (Anglo-EMI: Vincent Price). Francis, dir, Tales From The Crypt (Amicus: stars Joan Collins and Peter Cushing; stories from EC horror Comics). Ward Baker, dir, Asylum (Amicus, an anthology of stories by Robert Bloch). John Boorman, Deliverance (US). John Hough, dir, Twins of Evil (Hammer: Cushing – the third part of the ‘Karnstein Trilogy’). Gary Sherman, dir, Death Line. Robert Young, dir, Vampire Circus (Hammer). Alan Gibson, dir, Dracula A.D. 1972 (Hammer, Cushing and Lee). Lawrence Gordon Clark, dir, A Warning to the Curious (BBC 1, Christmas).

1973 – Dan Curtis launches Kolchak: The Night Stalker on ABC (US). Robin Hardy, dir, The Wicker Man (British Lion). William Friedkin, dir, The Exorcist (US: Warner Brothers). Paul Morrissey, dir, Flesh for Frankenstein; Blood for Dracula (US, Andy Warhol produces). Dan Curtis, dir, Dracula (US TVM; Jack Palance stars). Gibson, dir, The Satanic Rites of Dracula (Hammer: Christopher Lee’s last performance as the Count). Douglas Hickox, dir, Theatre of Blood (United Artists; Vincent Price stars). Ward Baker, dir, The Vault of Horror (Amicus: more EC Comics stories). Jack Smight, dir, Frankenstein: The True Story (US TVM: Michael Sarrazin stars as the creature). Fisher, dir, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Hammer: Cushing). Rollin, dir, Requiem for a Vampire; A Virgin Among the Living Dead (France). Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show plays in the West End. Christopher Bond, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Nicolas Roeg, dir, Don’t Look Now (UK/Italy). Lawrence Gordon Clark, dir, Lost Hearts (BBC 1, Christmas).

1974 – Tobe Hooper, dir, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (US). Stephen King, Carrie (US). Jim Clarke, dir, Madhouse (Amicus/AIP: stars Peter Cushing and Vincent Price). Mel Brooks, dir, Young Frankenstein (US: 20^th Century Fox, Gene Wilder plays the Baron, Peter Boyle the creature). Rollin, dir, Curse of the Living Dead (France). Jorge Grau, dir, Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti (Do Not Profane the Sleep of the Dead AKA The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Italy/Spain). Kevin Connor, dir, From Beyond the Grave (Amicus: even more EC comic stories). Richard Brautigan, The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western (US). Lawrence Gordon Clark, dir, Treasure of Abbot Thomas (BBC1, Christmas).

1975 – Vincent Price guests on Alice Cooper’s album Welcome to my Nightmare (US: Atlantic). King, Salem’s Lot. Peter Straub, Julia (US). David Cronenberg, dir, Shivers (Canada). Launch of House of Hammer magazine.

1976 – Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire (US). David Lynch, dir, Eraserhead (US). Romero, dir, Martin. Richard Donner, dir, The Omen (UK/US: 20th Century Fox). Peter Sykes, dir, To The Devil A Daughter (UK/West Germany: Hammer).

1977 – Craven, dir, The Hills Have Eyes. King, The Shining (US). Carter, The Passion of New Eve. Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror: A True Story (US).

1978 – John Carpenter, dir, Halloween (US). Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden. Dario Argento, dir, Suspiria (Italy). Werner Herzog, dir, Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht (West Germany: Klaus Kinski stars).

1979 – Ridley Scott, dir, Alien (US; 20^th Century Fox). Bauhaus release ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ (Small Wonder Records). Carter, The Bloody Chamber; The Sadeian Woman. Romero, dir, Dawn of the Dead.  Straub, Ghost Story (US). Cronenberg, dir, The Brood (Canada). John Badham, dir, Dracula (US: Universal, Frank Langella stars). Launch of Fangoria magazine (US). Hooper, dir, Salem’s Lot (US TVM). Lucio Fulci, dir, Zombie Flesh-Eaters (Italy). Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A Musical Thriller. Lawrence Gordon Clark, dir, Casting the Runes (ITV Playhouse). Stephen King, The Dead Zone (US). Leslie Megahey, dir, Schalcken the Painter (BBC Omnibus ghost story for Christmas, from the story by Le Fanu).

1980 – Sean S. Cunningham, dir, Friday the 13^th (US). Lynch, dir, The Elephant Man (US/UK: Paramount/Universal). Stanley Kubrick, dir, The Shining (US: Warner Brothers). Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa (The Name of the Rose, Italy).

1981 – John Landis, dir, An American Werewolf in London (US/UK: Polygram/Universal). Fulci, dir, The Beyond; House by the Cemetery; The Black Cat (Italy). Elvira’s Movie Macabre begins syndication, hosted in character by Cassandra Peterson (US). Sam Raimi, dir, The Evil Dead (US).

1982 – Hooper, dir, Poltergeist (US: MGM) Argento, Tenebrae (Italy). The Batcave Club opens in Soho. Tim Burton, dir, Vincent (US: Disney). V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd begins serialisation in Warrior. Ridley Scott, dir, Bladerunner (US: Warner Brothers).

1983 – Conservative MP Graham Bright, supported by the Daily Mail and a coalition of moral interest groups, sponsors a private members bill to outlaw American horror videos. Landis, dir, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ (US: MJJ Productions; includes a spoken word performance by Vincent Price). Susan Hill, The Woman in Black. Alan Moore begins writing The Saga of the Swamp Thing for DC. Stephen King, Pet Cemetery (US). Richard Franklin, dir, Psycho II (US: Universal). Cronenberg, Videodrome (Canada). Tony Scott, dir, The Hunger (US: MGM).

1984 – Video Violence and Children report of the ‘Parliamentary Group Video Enquiry’ (an offshoot of the Order of Christian Unity). The UK Video Recordings Bill imposes heavy censorship on genre videos, placing many titles on the Obscene Publications List. Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory. Craven, dir, A Nightmare on Elm Street (US). Clive Barker, Books of Blood. Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus. Dan O’Bannon, dir, The Return of the Living Dead (US: Orion). Tim Burton, dir, Frankenweenie (US: Disney). Ivan Reitman, dir, Ghostbusters (US).

1985 – Patrick Süskind, Perfume (Germany). Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor. Romero, dir, Day of the Dead. Rice, The Vampire Lestat. Barker, The Damnation Game. Stuart Gordon, dir, Re-animator (US). Franc Roddam, dir, The Bride (US: Columbia).

1986 – Ken Russell, dir, Gothic (UK: Virgin Vision). Lynch, dir, Blue Velvet (US). John McNaughton, dir, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (US). Cronenberg, The Fly. Barker, The Hellbound Heart. Jean-Jacques Annaud, dir, The Name of the Rose (West Germany/Italy/France). The Phantom of the Opera opens in the West End, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart with Richard Stilgoe.

1987 – Toni Morrison, Beloved (US). Clive Barker, dir, Hellraiser. Raimi, dir, Evil Dead II (US). Argento, dir, Opera (Italy). Alan Parker, dir, Angel Heart (US). Ching Siu-tung, dir, A Chinese Ghost Story (Hong Kong). The Woman in Black, adapted by Stephen Mallatratt, first performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough (moves to the West End in 1989).

1988 – Rice, Queen of the Damned. Vertigo Comics launch Hellblazer. Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs (US). Augusto Caminito, dir, Nosferatu a Venezia (Vampire in Venice, Italy). Tim Burton, dir, Beetlejuice (US: Geffen). Neil Jordan, dir, High Spirits (UK/US/Ireland). James Signorelli, dir, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (US: New World). Cronenberg, Dead Ringers (US/Canada).

1989 – Tim Burton, dir, Batman (US). Neil Gaiman begins writing The Sandman (which runs to 10 volumes by its conclusion in 1996). HBO launches Tales From The Crypt (US). Patrick McGrath, The Grotesque. James O’Barr, The Crow (US). Grant Morrison and Dave McKean, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (US: DC).

1990 – David Lynch’s Twin Peaks commences its TV serial run (US). Lynch, dir, Wild at Heart (US). Vincent Price’s last on-screen appearance, as the creator of Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (US). Patrick McGrath, Spider. Brian Yuzna, dir, Bride of Re-Animator (US). The first Simpsons ‘Treehouse of Horror’ airs on Fox (US).

1991 – Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho (US). Jonathan Demme, dir, The Silence of the Lambs (US: Orion; Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Anthony Hopkins, Best Actress, Jodie Foster, and Best Adapted Screenplay, Ted Tally). Barry Sonnenfeld, dir, The Addams Family (US: Orion). Eerie, Indiana airs on NBC (US).

1992 – Burton, dir, Batman Returns (US). Francis Ford Coppola, dir, Bram Stoker’s Dracula (US, Gary Oldman stars). Peter Jackson, dir, Braindead (New Zealand). Id Software release Castle Wolfenstein 3-D for DOS (US). Poppy Z. Brite, Lost Souls (US). Raimi, Army of Darkness (US: Evil Dead III).

1993 – Chris Carter’s The X-Files begins its TV run on Fox (US). Doom released by id Software. Sonnenfeld, dir, Addams Family Values (US). Brite, Drawing Blood; Wormwood (US). Guillermo Del Toro, dir, Cronos (Spain). Tim Burton, dir, The Nightmare Before Christmas (US: Touchstone). Death of Vincent Price.

1994 – The (Professor Elizabeth) Newson Report on Video Violence published. Death of Peter Cushing. Martin Landau wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (US). Gaiman, Death: The High Cost of Living.

1994 – Kenneth Branagh, dir, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (US: Branagh plays the Baron, Robert De Niro the creature). Jordan, dir, Interview with the Vampire (US). Alex Proyas, dir, The Crow (US: Miramax). Michele Soavi, dir, Dellamorte Dellamore (AKA Cemetery Man, Italy/France/Germany).

1995 – Shaun Cassidy (creator)/Sam Raimi (producer), American Gothic (US: Renaissance Pictures and Universal Worldwide Television). Maggie Power, Porphyria’s Lover. David Fincher, dir, Seven (US: New Line). Vertigo launches The Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.

1996 – Craven, dir, Scream (US: Dimension). Resident Evil released on the Sony PlayStation (Japan). Brite, Exquisite Corpse (US). Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club (US).

1997 – Lynch, dir, Lost Highway (US).

1998 – Hideo Nakata, dir, Ringu (Japan). Stephen Norrington, dir, Blade (US: New Line).

1999 – Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, From Hell (UK/Australia). M. Night Shyamalan, dir, The Sixth Sense (US). Daniel Myrick and Eduado Sánchez, dirs, The Blair Witch Project (US).  Stephen Sommers, dir, The Mummy (US: Universal). Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Silent Hill released on the Sony PlayStation (Japan). Sarah Waters, Affinity. Tim Burton, dir, Sleepy Hollow (US: Paramount). Fincher, dir, Fight Club (US: Fox 2000). Jim Crace, Being Dead.

 

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: TRAVELS IN HYPER-REALITY

2000 – Robert Zemeckis, What Lies Beneath (US: DreamWorks). American McGee’s Alice released for PC (US). Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (US). E. Elias Merhige, dir, Shadow of the Bat (US/UK).

2001 – Alejandro Amenábar, dir, The Others (US). Patrick Lussier, dir, Dracula 2000 (US: Miramax; Gerard Butler played Dracula). Sommers, The Mummy Returns (US: Universal). The Hughes Brothers, dirs, From Hell (US). Del Toro, dir, The Devil’s Backbone (Spain). Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark (US: The first instalment of the ‘Southern Vampire Mysteries’). Lynch, dir, Mulholland Drive (US).

2002 – Danny Boyle, dir, 28 Days Later. Neil Marshall, dir, Dog Soldiers. Paul W.S. Anderson, dir, Resident Evil (US). Will Self, Dorian, an Imitation. Cronenberg, dir, Spider (UK/Canada). Pang Brothers, dirs, The Eye (Hong Kong).

2003 – Marcus Nispel, dir, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (US: New Line – re-make of original). Ronny Yu, dir, Jason Vs. Freddy (US). Len Wiseman, dir, Underworld (US). Stephen Norrington, dir, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (US). Evil Dead: The Musical (Canada). Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island (US). Alexandre Aja, dir, Haute Tension (France).

2004 – James Wan, dir, Saw (US). Edgar Wright, dir, Shaun of the Dead. Takashi Shimizu, dir, Ju-On: The Grudge (Japan). Zack Snyder, dir, Dawn of the Dead (US). Rob Zombie, dir, House of 1000 Corpses (US). Del Toro, dir, Hellboy (US). Sommers, dir, Van Helsing (US: Universal). Robert Kirkman commences his Walking Dead comics saga (US). Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, dirs, Shutter (Thailand). The launch of the Horror Channel (UK/Ireland/Italy).

2005 – Eli Roth, dir, Hostel (US). Francis Lawrence, dir, Constantine (US: the Hellblazer movie). Andrej Bartkowiak, dir, Doom (US). Christopher Smith, dir, Creep. Stephenie Meyer, Twilight (US). Tim Burton, dir, Corpse Bride (US: Warner Brothers). The BBC revive the Christmas ghost story with A View From a Hill by M.R. James (adapted by Peter Harness). Doctor Who returns to BBC 1.

2006 – Bill Eagles, dir, Dracula (BBC TV: Marc Warren plays Dracula). Christopher Gans, dir, Silent Hill (US). Del Toro, dir, El Labertino del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth, Spain). Meyer, New Moon (US). Number 13 (BBC TV, James again adapted by Harness). Alexandre Aja, The Hills Have Eyes (US: Fox Searchlight – re-make of original produced by Craven). Torchwood premiers on BBC Three. Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale.

2007 – Douglas MacKinnon, dir, Jekyll (BBC TV; James Nesbitt plays Jekyll). Francis Lawrence, dir, I Am Legend (US). Meyer, Eclipse (US). Oren Peli, dir, Paranormal Activity (US). Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (US: DreamWorks). Rob Zombie, dir, Halloween (US: Dimension).

2008 – Catherine Hardwicke, dir, Twilight (US: Summit Entertainment). Meyer, Breaking Dawn (US). True Blood (based on Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries) begins its run on HBO. Tomas Alfredson, Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in, Sweden). Pascal Laugier, dir, Martyrs (France). Christopher Nolan, dir, The Dark Knight (US). Damon Thomas, dir, Mark Gatiss, writer, Crooked House (BBC Four). Toby Whithouse’s Being Human airs on BBC Three.

2009 – Lars von Trier, dir, Antichrist (Denmark). Sam Raimi, dir, Drag Me To Hell (US uncredited re-working of James’ ‘Casting of the Runes’). Oliver Parker, dir, Dorian Gray. Tom Six, dir, The Human Centipede (First sequence) (Netherlands). Yoshihiro Nishimura and Naoyuki Tomomatsu, dirs, Kyūketsu Shōjo tai Shōjo Furanken (Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, Japan). Ruben Fleischer, dir, Zombieland. Chris Weitz, dir, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (US). Tommy Wirkola, dir, Dead Snow (Norway: Død snø).

2010 – James Wan, dir, Insidious (US). The Walking Dead begins its run on AMC (US). David Slade, dir, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (US). Seth Grahame-Smith, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (US). Joe Johnston, dir, The Wolf Man (US: Universal). Whistle and I’ll Come to You (BBC TV, adapted from the story by M.R. James by Neil Cross). Samuel Bayer, dir, A Nightmare on Elm Street (US: New Line – re-make of original). Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies (US). Gustavo Hernández, dir, La Casa Muda (The Silent House, Uruguay).

2011 – Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein at The National Theatre (written by Nick Dear); Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch alternated the roles of Frankenstein and the Creature. American Horror Story begins on FX (US). Bill Condon, dir, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (US). David Keating, dir, Wake Wood (UK/Ireland: Hammer). Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, dirs, Livide (France). E.L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey.

2012 – James Watkins, The Woman in Black (Hammer). Scott Derrickson, dir, Sinister (US). Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods (US: Lionsgate). Gravity Falls premiers on Disney Channel. Bill Condon, dir, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (US). Tim Burton, dir, Dark Shadows (Warner Brothers); Frankenweenie (Disney, US).

2013 – James Wan, dir, The Conjuring (US: New Line). In the Flesh airs on BBC Three. The Tractate Middoth (BBC TV, adapted by Mark Gatiss from the story by M.R. James). Fede Alvarez, dir, Evil Dead (US: TriStar – a ‘reboot’ of the series produced by the original team: Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert.). John Luessenhop, dir, Texas Chainsaw 3D (US: Lionsgate).

2014 – Penny Dreadful premiers on Showtime (US/UK). Stuart Beattie, dir, I, Frankenstein (US/Australia). Constantine airs on NBC (US). Tom Harper, dir, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (Hammer). Jennifer Kent, dir, The Babadook (Australia: Icon).

2015 – Paul McGuigan, dir, Victor Frankenstein (US: 20^th Century Fox). Charlie Higson’s Jekyll and Hyde (ITV). The Enfield Haunting, directed by Kristoffer Nyholm, broadcast on Sky Living. Constantine cancelled after one season. The Frankenstein Chronicles (ITV Encore). Fear the Walking Dead premiers on AMC (US). Christopher Lee dies at the age of 93. Ash vs. Evil Dead premiers on Starz network, groovy.

2016 – James Wan, dir, The Conjuring 2 (US: Warner Bros), which oddly places Ed and Lorraine Warren in the Enfield poltergeist investigation. Burr Steers, dir, Pride and Prejudice with Zombies (US/UK: Lionsgate/Screen Gems), from the Jane Austen mashup novel of the same name by Seth Graham-Smith (US, 2009). Osgood Perkins, dir, I Am The Pretty Thing that Lives in The House (Canada/US: Netflix). Adam Wingard, dir, Blair Witch (US: Lionsgate). The Walking Dead Season 7 (US: AMC). The Exorcist TV series premiers on Fox while HBO revives Westworld, focusing on Bladerunner-like metaphysics over Michael Crichton’s original precursor to Jurassic Park.

 

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