The Horror genre has been growing in popularity with a mass audience since the 1970s. In 2021, it was marked the second most popular film genres by The Numbers after Action. Much of this can be attributed to the popularity of Stephen King. Another reason for Horror's popularity with today's audiences: A recent trend for horror movies according to Screenrant: setting films in the 1980s and adapting popular '80s films for a new audience. As a part of this growing popularity, it is addressing current issues like racism and sexism.
As the Horror genre grew in popularity in the past, it led to creators to adapt its stories and themes to other genres: Comedy (Ghostbusters), Science fiction (Alien), Romance (Warm Bodies), Animation (Scooby Doo, Where Are You?), and Televison (The Twilight Zone). This trend has continued in the twenty-first century with The Harry Potter novels and films, graphic novels (Shiver), video games (The Evil Within 2), television (Stranger Things) and the internet (Creepypasta).
Here are the sub-pages of "Horror Goes Mainstream":