Halloween -- A History of Spooky

Photo of two people dressed like ghosts

What better way to celebrate October, of course, than focusing on the spine-tingling horror genre. Whether you are a fan of the dark & scary or if sweet witches and funny pumpkins are your jam, there’s no disputing horror books and movies have long held a special place in our theatres and our nightstands.

The first horror book was written in 1765 by Horace Walpole, whose book The Castle of Otranto is credited with creating the written horror genre.

And while book sales can be complicated, there’s no denying that, simply put, we have been reading about things going bump in the night for the past 250 years. Below are widely considered the top 10 horror books of all time:

  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - 40,000 copies/year - 1818 first print

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker - in print for over 120 years

  • Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice - 150 million copies

  • Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews - 40 million copies

  • Jaws by Peter Benchley - 20 million copies

  • The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - 13 million copies sold

  • The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris - 10 million copies

  • Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin - 4 million copies

  • Carrie by Stephen King - 4 million copies & The Stand - 4.5 million copies

  • Ring by Koji Suzuki - 2.8 million copies

And let’s not forget our favorite fear-inducing flicks! In 1896, French actor and filmmaker Georges Melies dropped a 3-minute film titled Le Manoir du Diable (The Haunted Castle) which is widely considered the first horror film. Nearly 100 years later we still have a desire to watch horrific acts unfold before our eyes – fictionally, of course. Here are the top 10 all-time grossing horror movies according to Forbes.com (price adjusted for inflation):

  • Jaws (1975) $1.15 billion

  • The Exorcist (1973) $996.5 million

  • Ghostbusters (1984) - 641.3 million

  • The Sixth Sense (1999) - $518.8 million

  • Gremlins (1984) - $409.8 million

  • It (2017) - $328.9 million

  • Jaws 2 (1978) - $312.8 million

  • The Amityville Horror (1979) - $310.3 million

  • Alien (1979) - $286.4 million

  • Scary Movie (2000) - $262.5 million

Happy Spooky Season!