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History of Horror: The Inner Sanctum

A cultural history.

The Inner Sanctum of Madness

Before Freud, there was Edgar Allan Poe. Poe probably has had the greatest influence on the creators of horror. Again and again, horror creators relate that it was Poe that first drew them to the genre. His stories and poems explore the human psyche in a variety of ways. Especially fear (and the fear of being buried alive), nightmares and insanity. "Madness is the dominant subject of one of the greatest of all horror writers in the work of Edgar Allan Poe" (Jones, p.82). Here you will find Poe stories in both the Psychological Horror and Sociopathic Terror sub-genres.

Psychological Horror

Psychological horror "focuses on the inner psychological states and experiences of character to generate horror, fear and dread" (Cardin, p.985). 

  • 1839. Story. "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1843. Story: "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1843. Story: "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1890. Story: "An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.
  • 1892. Story: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
  • 1915. Novella. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
  • 1932. Story: "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" by Conrad Aiken.
  • 1945. Film: Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound.
  • 1959. Novel: Psycho by Robert Bloch.
  • 1962. Film: Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.
  • 1978. Film: Magic (with Anthony Hopkins as a ventriloquist).
  • 1991. Film: The Silence of the Lambs.
  • 2010. Film: Shutter Island.
  • 2015. Novel: Girl On the Train by Paula Hawkins.
  • 2016. Story "The Doll Master" by Joyce Carol Oates.

Sociopathic Terror

Sociopathic terror focuses on an outer experience that generates horror, fear and dread. The experience is usually caused by a sociopath.

  • 1843. Story: "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1846. Story: "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • 1925. Film: Phantom of the Opera (starring Lon Chaney, "the man with a thousand faces).
  • 1955. Film: Night of the Hunter.
  • 1956. Film: The Bad Seed.
  • 1961. Film: The Children's Hour (an adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play).
  • 1961. Film: The Pit and the Pendulum (with Vincent Price).
  • 1967. Film: Wait Until Dark.
  • 1971. Novel: The Other by Tom Tryon
  • 1987. Film: Fatal Attraction.
  • 1988. Novel: The Fifth Child.
  • 1990. Film: Misery.
  • 1991. Novel: Sliver by Ira Levn.
  • 1999. Film: Double Jeopardy.

Additional References

Cardin, M. (2017). Horror literature through history an encyclopedia of the stories that speak to our deepest fears (Kindle) Greenwood.
Jones, D. (2021). Horror a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
King, S. (2010). Danse macabre. Gallery. 
Landis, J. (2016). Monsters in the movies: 100 Years of Cinematic nightmares. DK. 
Luckhurst, R. (2018). The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror. Flame Tree Publishing. 
Skal, D. J. (2020). Fright favourites: 31 movies to haunt your Halloween and beyond. Running Press. 
Turitz, N. and Zimmerman, B. (2020). Horror: An illustrated history of vampires, zombies, monsters & more. Centennial Books, an imprint of Centennial Media, LLC.