Scary Success: Horror Film Industry is Hitting Its Apex For Mainstream Popularity

Whether you call it a resurgence or a renaissance, something is up with Hollywood horror as the industry has witnessed the genre of film reach the apex of its popularity over the past few years.

And it looks like it is only going to continues to rise. 

In 2017, the horror film industry saw its best year ever at the box office grossing more than a billion dollars and taking 10% of the market share against mainstream films. 2018 was another banner year as horror collected close to 900 million at the box office. 

2018’s push to popularity was led by movies like Hereditary, a Bird Box, The Ritual, The Haunting of Hill House series and the big one, Halloween — which smashed box office records with 253 million, and saw the return of Jamie Lee Curtis and “The Shape”, Michael Meyers, played by James Jude Courtney. 

The last two years 2020 and 2021 saw horror movies grab 12.1 and 12.7 % of the market share, its highest ever.

For fans (and filmmakers) 2022 looks promising with four horror titles opening this summer, followed by Salem’s Lot reboot in September and the final installment of the Halloween franchise in October, with Halloween Ends.

Four other feature films, including an installment of Hellraiser, are slated to get release dates this year too. 

This surge in popularity can be attributed to several factors. There is certainly a lot of content being made and that’s being fueled by economics. Investors are putting money to fund projects that are seeing very good returns on the investment. The success of the films financially leads to more investors looking for more content. 

Another reason for the popularity growth is the birth of multiple platforms for the horror fans to get their fix. Successful horror series on Netflix and the other streaming services are drawing big crowds and now Shudder, a service devoted solely to Horror, has taken a big piece of that market, recently reaching 1 million subscribers and offers a smorgasbord of films for horror fans to feast upon. 

“This is a great time to be a horror filmmaker or a fan,” says Jeff Miller, an independent writer/filmmaker in Hollywood. “Horror fans have a lot of options now,” he said, “and it’s pushed the demand for more content.”

Miller’s project, Ouija Witch, is due out in 2023. He has generated fifteen films since 2018 and has thirty-five films to his credit. 

Aside from the obvious economic and demand impact, the social and psychological element has always played an influence in horror film interest. Horror fans get a psychological kick out of the fear generated. An article in Medical Daily cites these studies and summarizes the findings well. It says:

“People who enjoy horror films are also more responsive to dopamine, which is produced in high-intensity situations, and is released as a result of rewarding, and sometimes sinful experiences”

Why do they “get off” on fear from the movies when most humans try to avoid that emotion? 

“It’s safe,” so said Stephen King, the master of horror, in an interview with film director Eli Roth.  “It’s exhilarating and in a theatre or at home it’s experiencing that terror in safety. They aren’t in danger.” 

The collective impact of these influences – economic, content demand, and emotional rush, is that horror’ mainstream popularity is growing and creating new heights in the number of eyeballs seeing the films and the amount od money being spent at the box office. Look for this trend to continue throughout 2022 as the slate of new terrifying movies continue to roll out. 

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James Baxter is the author of Amazon best selling horror series Hauntings, a freelance journalist and blogger. USAF Veteran.

You can read more from James on his site, JamesBaxterInk.com.