In this section we will take a brief look at an icon of horror and his or its role in the history of the genre.
William Castle
Posted 05/25/2026
William Castle is the P.T. Barnum of films. He is famous for the showmanship and gimmicks he used to promote his films but should not be forgotten as the writer, director and producer of many great classic horror films as well.
Born as William Schloss Jr. he became an orphan at age 11 when his parents died. At 13 he saw the play Dracula and became transfixed. He returned multiple times and got to meet Bela Lugosi who was appearing in it. It was at that point he knew he wanted to be involved in horror. Lugosi helped him get a job at the theater and at 15 he dropped out of school to work there. He eventually cold called Orson Welles and convinced him to lease one of his theaters to him to run. He showcased his promotion skills by hiring a German actress during the war and claimed she had been a big star in Germany but had turned down a personal performance for Hitler. He then vandalized and painted swastikas on his theater claiming it was done by nazis in retaliation for hiring her. It ensured the success of his play.
Shortly after, he joined Columbia Pictures as a dialogue director where he learned the skills of film making. He soon gained a reputation for being able to make B-movies quickly and cost effectively. Many of these films were film noir mysteries
In 1958 he made his first self-financed, self-written and directed film by mortgaging his house. To promote it he gave each viewer a 1,000-life insurance policy to be used if they died from fright. From there on he continued
making his own movies. For them he wrote, directed and created promotional gimmicks, such as Emergo (a floating skeleton); Percepto (electrically charged seats); and many others. These gimmicks helped make his movies sell far better than a typical B movie would on its own merits. At the height of his popularity, Castle had a fan club with 250,000 members.
Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s persona, he created a silhouette of himself to use in marketing and made cameos in many of his own films.
Tired of making B pictures, Castle bought the rights to the Novel “Rosemary’s baby” using his house as collateral once again. The book had not even been published yet, but Castle intended to use this story to propel him to an A-list director status. Unfortunately, Paramount, who agreed to green-light the project refused to allow him to direct, instead hiring Roman Polanski. With his home and future tied up in the project, Castle had no choice but to agree.
Castle’s career in horror was short by many standards lasting only 17 years but his showmanship and gimmicks have made him famous and despite being “lesser” pictures made outside of the major studios; Castle made a legacy for himself, even inspiring Alfred Hitchcock to move into the horror realm with Psycho. He was friendly and well respected by Vincent Price and other actors who worked for him. He was caricaturized in the movie Matinee with John Goodman playing a character inspired by him. Probably his most beloved and well-known film is the House on Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price.
Born: 1914 Died: 1977 (Heart attack)
William Castle Horror filmography Also listed are the gimmicks used for the movie.
- Macabre(1958) (Free life insurance policy)
- House on Haunted Hill(1959) (Emergo- the floating skeleton)
- The Tingler(1959) (Seats rigged with electric shocks)
- 13 Ghosts(1960) (Ghost viewers to see the ghosts)
- Homicidal(1961) (fright break & coward’s corner)
- Sardonicus(1961) (Viewers voted on the fate of the villain)
- Zotz!(1962) (magic coin handout)
- The Old Dark House(1963)
- Strait-Jacket(1964) (cardboard axe handouts)
- The Night Walker(1964)
- I Saw What You Did(1965) (Plastic phones/ seat belts in seats)
- Let’s Kill Uncle(1966)
- The Spirit Is Willing(1967)
- Rosemary’s Baby-producer only(1968)
- Shanks (1974)
- Bug-producer only(1975) (a million-dollar life insurance policy for the film’s cockroach star)
Wes Craven
Posted 04/18/2026
Born in a suburb of Cleveland Ohio, Wes Craven grew up in a very religious family. His father left when he was young. But the family was looked after by the church community. Due to this strict environment, he did not see his first movie of any sort until college.
As a child he found solace in nature and was a birder, an avid reader, and writer of poetry. In high school he had a column in his school paper and found a talent and passion for writing. He went to a Christian college and was a large part of the literary circle and magazine. He began to question religion and nearly got expelled for being too much of a free thinker; exposing his doubts in his stories for the literary magazine. During this time, he also had a severe neurological disorder which left him paralyzed and bedridden for nearly a year.
Upon graduation he turned his back on religion. He eventually became a literary professor but decided he wanted to get into film. He was eventually given an opportunity to make a movie with the caveat that it had to be a horror film. Having never seen a horror film, he didn’t know how to proceed but was told just to make something about what he thought was scary. The movie he made was Last House on the Left. It reverberated among the horror community but made him a public pariah. What he intended to be a treatise on the ripple effects of violence and a statement on the Viet Nam War branded him vile and perverse by the country at large. Unable to get more work, he took an offer to make pornography films. In typical Craven style, he made a pornographic film, but with a deeper meaning and full of taboo subjects.
He eventually was given a chance to make another horror film, and made The Hills Have Eyes which improved his reputation. Although he longed to move into more serious film genres going forward, he was only offered work to direct horror.
Moving into more mainstream studio work Craven found his creativity stymied by studio heads and had more failures than successes. Eventually he hit again with Nightmare on Elm Street which was inspired by an event he had as a child. Late one night when looking out his window he saw a man creeping in the back alley. As he watched, the man stared back up at him. Terrified he had been spotted, he hid under the bed. He ended up designing Freddy Kreuger’s clothing to look exactly like the man that had terrified him.
Wes Craven continued making horror movies, TV shows, and loaning his names to other projects but had more failures than successes. He did manage to make one non-horror film; Music of the Heart; but immediately found himself stuck in horror films again. He regretted his input for further Nightmare projects was rejected and unwanted. Eventually when given the chance to be involved, he tried to undo the damage to his creation by making a darker, bleaker film, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.
He hit it big once again by directing the film Scream, written by another writer. Throughout his filmography, Craven used his movies to explore his philosophies on violence, to exorcise his continuous nightmares, and to explore the meaning of family, a subject that troubled his psyche since his father had left and he later abandoned his own family. Despite resisting it, he became a major name in Horror throughout his life.
Born: 1939 Died: 2015 from brain cancer.
Tom Savini
Posted 2/19/2026
There have always been men and women behind the scenes creating the monsters, make-up, and effects for horror movies. But it was Tom Savini who was the first to really bring the special effects maker to the forefront. He is an actor, stuntman, and director, but is most famous for his special effects work. He is even better known than many of the actors and directors of the films he worked on.
He was born in Pittsburgh PA to poor immigrant parents and was the youngest in a large family. He became fascinated with make-up effects after watching “Man of 1,000 faces:” a biopic on Lon Chaney. He soon began inviting the neighbor children over to dress them up as monsters. Some of which were not allowed to play with him again afterwards. Soon he began taking his made-up friends to the local horror host’s show and where they were invited on stage. Soon, he began appearing regularly both on the show and at its PR events.
He found himself married after graduating high school and joined the army to support his family. Assigned as a combat photographer in the Viet Nam war, he witnessed many gruesome scenes. He kept himself sane by closing off his emotions and imaging how he could replicate such gore on the screen.
After coming home from the service, he was traumatized and had PTSD. He recovered through theater when he found a local stage which he joined as both an actor and make-up specialist.
His first job working in a feature film came on the 1974 movie Deathdream, aka Dead of Night, where he did special effects, make-up and stunts. Simultaneously he worked on the movie Deranged. He got his big break when he went into George Romero’s office and used special effects to slit his arm open and bleed all over the floor. He was hired immediately to work on Martin as stunt coordinator, special effects and do make-up. He followed that up working again with Romero making Dawn of the Dead.
After Dawn, he went to make-up man Dick Smith to find a better formula for fake blood than the red “temper-paint” look that was being used in the business at that time. He tried out this formula during his Friday the 13th work and it created a much more realistic look. From that point on he was the most sought-after special effects man in the business and worked on a myriad of films and even appeared on David Letterman. Soon, he was given his first opportunity to make creatures, on the anthology Creepshow under George Romero.
As mentioned, Tom Savini has worked in cinema in many ways, but he will always be remembered for his work as a special effects maestro, creating believable effects on a shoestring budget. He is still considered the top (and most well-respected) special effects man in horror history.
Born: 1946 Died: Still alive
Barbara Steele
Posted 1/31/26
Barbara Steele is famous among horror fans, mostly for her work in Italian cinema in the 60s. Her unusual beauty, with her large eyes and high, sharp cheekbones gave her an exotic look and her overwhelming charisma and screen presence stole nearly every scene she appeared in. She specialized in playing cruel and malicious women but was just as adept when given the chance, to play more demure or sweet parts.
Born in England, she originally planned to become a painter but ended up instead as a model and then actress. Her first movie appearance was in a UK comedy, Bachelor of Hearts. Eventually she moved to Hollywood and was under contract to 20th Century Fox. She was unhappy with the expectations put upon her by the studios, such as how to dress and what to drive, so she left the US for Italy, which she found more to her liking.
Her first horror film was Black Sunday, which put her highly in demand for Italian horror. She followed this up with many other Italian gothic horror films which made the demand for her even greater. Simultaneously, she somehow found time to film The Pit and the Pendulum in the US with Vincent Price, as well as appearing in several US TV shows.
Over time, she grew tired of being pigeonholed and wished to leave horror films and star in other genres. She left Italy behind, which she says is her biggest regret.
Eventually she would get married and leave the industry for a short time, but would later return. Her days as a horror leading lady were behind her but she still appeared in several horror movies during the 70s in minor roles such as Shivers and Piranha. She also had some non-horror roles at that time as well.
She would eventually go on to be a film and television producer.
Barbara Steele did not make an overly large number of horror films but made a lasting impression in the ones she did make. She is often referred to “Queen of all scream queens” and “Britain’s first lady of Horror.”
Born 1937: Died: Still Living
Steele Horror Filmography
Black Sunday (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962)
The Ghost (1963)
Castle of Blood (1964)
The Long Hair of Death (1964)
Terror-Creatures from the Grave (1965)
Nightmare Castle (1965)
She Beast (1966)
An Angel for Satan (1966)
The Crimson Cult (1968)
Shivers (1975)
Piranha (1978)
Silent Scream (1979)
The Butterfly Room (2012)
George Méliès
Posted 1/21/26
George Méliès was a creative man and artist who eventually fell in love with magic. In 1888 he bought and ran a theater in Paris that specialized in magic and skits incorporating magic. He is responsible for developing 30 never-seen-before illusions.
Upon being invited to a demonstration of one of the first movie projectors, the cinematograph; he became infatuated with the idea of owning one. He eventually purchased one in England along with several films. He showed them at his theater and eventually modified the machine himself, allowing it to record as well as project so he could make and show his own movies.
He is credited with making over 500 films ranging from 1 to 40 minutes. Once, while filming, he had to stop the camera and then restart it again. When he watched his recording he was amazed to see at the point he stopped and restarted, a car in the background suddenly disappeared. This made him realize that filming could be “tampered with” to make special effects.
He began exploring other possible affects and created the first cases of double exposure, forced perspective, and other cinema “magic tricks.”
He mostly filmed horror and sci-fi films that focused more on illusion than any true plot. He is credited with making the first horror film. “Le Manoir du Diable/The House of the Devil” (1896). His most famous film is likely “A Trip to the moon” (1902). Any fan of film owes him a great debt.
Born: 1861 Died 1938.
H. P. Lovecraft
Posted 11/27/25
H.P. Lovecraft was a mostly unknown and unsuccessful author who lived in Rhode Island and died in near poverty in 1937. He was also a racist who looked down on nearly every nationality but his own. He is believed to be a full-blown xenophobe with a deep fear of all outsiders. There are questions of mental illness surrounding his life and odd behaviors.
Despite this, or more likely because of it, he created a mythos of eldritch gods and an entire genre of horror known commonly as cosmic horror that has grown in popularity over time.
He became especially sought out by horror fans after the 90s cult favorite Re-animator; which was based on one of his stories. Other movies followed and brought more attention to his works.
He has become well known over the years with even many non-horror fans. He is probably best known today for the creation of the Cuthullu mythos, although at the time it was not the organized pantheon it has morphed into today. The second thing he is known for is the creation in his works of a “Necronomicon”; a fictional book of dark lore later referenced by many other horror writers and movies.
As a writer, Lovecraft was obsessed with the idea of horrors so deep that if glimpsed or its secrets revealed it would drive a person insane. He championed the idea in horror that man is an insignificant part of the cosmos, easily swallowed up by much more powerful forces. Such concepts today are referred to as “Lovecraftian Horror.”
Born: 1890 Death: 1937
Horror Movies based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft
- Bleeders (1997)
- Castle Freak (1995)
- Castle Freak (2020)
- Color out of Space (2019)
- Cool Air (1999)
- Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)
- The Curse (1987)
- Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
- The Dunwich Horror (1970)
- From Beyond (1986)
- H.P. Lovecraft’s Witch House (2021)
- The Haunted Palace (1963)
- The Lurking Fear (1994)
- Necronomicon (1993)
- Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft (1998)
- Pulse Pounders (1988)
- Re-Animator
- The Resurrected (1991)
- Suitable Flesh (2023)
- The Unnamable (1988)
- The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1992)
- Venus (2022)
Paul Naschy
Posted 10/25/25
Born in Spain as Jacinto Molina Álvarez, Paul Naschy was a weightlifter winning the national championship for Spain in 1958.
Watching Frankenstein meets the Wolfman at the theater in his childhood gave him a great love for the Universal monsters. When he decided to get into acting, he wanted to star in gothic horror films. He was told that horror would not sell in Spain and was encouraged to drop the idea. Unable to find horror movies being made, he decided to write his own. He had hoped to get Lon Chaney Jr. to star in it as the werewolf character but Chaney’s age and declining health prevented it. His producer suggested he play the werewolf himself due to his stocky and well-built physique. Alvarez anglicized his name to Paul Naschy and took the role. From that point he became the first true Spanish horror star.
He wrote many of his first films and eventually directed several as well. He is considered by many to be the Lon Chaney of Spain as he has played all the standard monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, and Dracula, as well as many other monstrous creatures. He most famous role, however was his first; Waldermar Daninsky, a man cursed with lycanthropy. The character appeared in at least 11 movies, although there was no continuity between them, presenting new origins and history nearly every time.
Waldermar is a polish character as Spain’s government and film association would not allow monsters or anything of a negative nature to have a Spanish origin. The character is a reluctant monster, carrying on the tradition of Lon Chaney/Glen Talbot’s pathos; always looking for release from his curse. Naschy’s portrayal of a werewolf is more physical than Chaney’s; jumping and leaping constantly and slashing rather than strangling his victims. There is likewise more blood and violence shown
Naschy soon became a legend in Spain and the most prolific horror actor of his time, despite critical derision from most sources.
Working on a low budget and limited skills as a script writer, Naschy’s films are an acquired taste but his movies are rarely boring, taking their cues from the monster rallies of the later universal pictures and mixing as much as possible into one films. Danisky has fought; among other things, vampires, a yeti, samurais, and an actual tiger. Being of Spanish origins in the 70s, there is a great deal of machismo behind the characters in his films with a great deal of nudity and sexual content as Daninsky beds nearly every beautiful girl he encounters.
Towards the end of his career his movies began to decline in popularity and he began taking smaller roles in others movies. Still, he has many devoted fans and created a strong and lasting impression among Spanish horror cinema.
Born: 1934 Died: 2009 (pancreatic cancer)
Mario Bava
Posted Oct 9th 2025
Mario Bava was born in Italy and started his career as a cinematographer and special effects maestro in the 30s, but had a career arc change taking over the direction of I Vampiri (57) when the director walked out; and again in 58 on Caltiki – The Immortal Monster. It is believed by some that the director, who was a friend of Bava, walked out with the sole purpose of giving Bava a chance to direct.
Bava used his keen eye and cinematography skills to create visual masterpieces that used shadow, composition, and later, color; to create visual masterpieces of horror (as well as many other genres). He was adored by the studios for coming in on time and underbudget.
His first full directorial effort was Black Sunday with Barbara Steele which was a major success. Moving forward he directed many genres with the belief that he needed to keep working to earn a living. His levels of success varied from feature to feature and with his level of excitement towards the project. When finally given full control, he created the movie Lisa & the Devil with Elkie Summers and Telly Savalas. It was gutted by distributers and repackaged as The House of Exorcism. Many years later it was finally restored to Bava’s original vision but the experience frustrated Bava greatly.
Still, his horror output is admired and respected by the generations of directors that followed him. His use of color, for example, was a direct influence of Dario Argento on his masterpiece Suspiria and continues to inspire to this day and his legacy is carried on by his son Lamberta Bava
Born: 1914 Died 1980
Filmography as Director:
- I Vampiri
- Caltiki – The Immortal Monster
- Black Sunday
- Hercules in the Haunted World (61)
- Black Sabbath (63)
- The Whip and the Body (63)
- Blood & Black Lace (64)
- Planet of the Vampires (65)
- Kill Baby, Kill (66)
- Five Dolls for an August Moon (70)
- Hatchet for the Honeymoon (70)
- A Bay of Blood (71)
- Baron Blood (72)
- Lisa & the Devil (74)
- Shock (77)
Boris Karloff
Posted 12/30/25
William Henry Pratt was born to an Anglo-Indian who worked in the Indian civil service and a partially Indian mother. He had 8 siblings. When the family moved back from India to London, he was expected, like his brothers, to carry on his father’s tradition. But in an effort to emulate his favorite brother George, who had taken a shine to acting on the local stage, he headed to the theater.
Eventually he would head to Hollywood at the age of 21 to follow his dream of becoming a movie star. At first, he was mostly doing films for local theaters with the Jeanne Russell Players and not getting much exposure. Eventually he made his way to Universal Pictures and took the stage name Boris Karloff. He started as an extra but despite his dark skin and lisp (or perhaps because of it) he began to find work as a heavy and even had a few major villain roles, continuing in that vein for 10 years. Still, he remained mostly unknown. That would change when he was spotted by James Whale in the cafeteria of Universal studios.
Bela Lugosi had turned down the role of Frankenstein’s monster because it had no speaking lines and hid the actors face. James Whale was intrigued by the skeletal structure of Karloff’s face and invited him to test for the now vacated role. Karloff was not officially hired until Jack Peirce tried out the make-up on him. When they were happy with the results, Karloff was hired. To help facilitate the gaunt look of the monster, Karloff removed the bridge he had on one side of his mouth causing his cheek to sink in.
Karloff wasn’t even given billing on the movie posters, but the success of the film turned him into a horror star, and he would often be billed just as “Karloff” from then on, since he had become a household name. Boris continued to act as much as he could, knowing that if he stopped, he could lose momentum and money. He mostly did Horror but also did some other genres as well including some TV work as a detective. And of course, near the end of his career, he narrated the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Like most actors of the period when gothic horror movies went out of style, he struggled to find work and often played in poverty row pictures. His career and his spirit were rejuvenated by working with Val Lewton on 3 of his RKO horror films.
Karloff sustained an injury to his back that required surgery when director James Whale punished him for arguing with him, by making him carry Colin Clive multiple times for a background scene. This injury plagued him for the rest of his life, and he was bound to a wheelchair by the end of his career.
Karloff is a much better actor than many people give him credit for, seeing him mostly as a “horror” star. But watching his work closely in Frankenstein and the expressive nature as he works without dialogue proves otherwise, as does most of his other performances. In addition to his impressive work as an actor, he was one of the founding members of the screen actors’ guild; meeting in secret and risking his career, to ensure rights and fair practices for actors that still stand to this day.
Born: Nov. 23rd 1887 Died: Feb 2nd 1969.
Horror Filmography:
Frankenstein (31)
The Old Dark House (32)
The Mask of Fu Manchu (32)
The Mummy (32)
The Ghoul (33)
The Back Cat (34)
Bride of Frankenstein (35)
The Raven (35)
The Black Room (35)
The Invisible Ray (35)
The Walking Dead (36)
The Man who Lived Again (36)
Son of Frankenstein (39)
The Man They Could Not Hang (39)
Tower of London (39)
Black Friday (40)
The Man with Nine Lives (40)
Before I Hang (40)
The Ape (40)
You’ll Find Out (40)
The Devil Commands (41)
The Boogie Man Will Get You (42)
The Climax (44)
House of Frankenstein (44)
The Body Snatcher (45)
Isle of the Dead (45)
Bedlam (46)
The Strange Door (51)
The Black Castle (52)
Voodoo Island (57)
The Haunted Strangler (58)
Frankenstein 1970 (58)
Corridors of Blood (58)
The Raven (63)
The Terror (63)
Black Sabbath (63)
The Comedy of Terrors (63)
Die, Monster, Die!
The Sorcerers (67)
Targets (68)
The Crimson Cult (68)
House of Evil (68)
Cauldron of Blood (68)
Isle of the Snake People (71)
The Incredible Invasion (71)