Horror in Silent Films

Though the horror film was not officially born until Universal Pictures released Frankenstein in 1931, there were many silent films that contained terrifying scenes and horrific elements. Many of the early horror soundies drew much of their inspiration for visual design and thematic development from the silents. This filmography includes all silent films that were horrific in nature, containing one or more of the stock horror movie elements, e.g., haunted houses, ghosts, witches, monsters, the occult or hypnotism. Each entry includes release date, running time, cast and credit information, contemporary review quotes when available, and in the case of foreign films, the original title and country of origin.

Roy Kinnard is the author of many books on such topics as Flash Gordon, science fiction serials, Fay Wray, horror, silent films and Willis O’Brien. His essay on the Flash Gordon serials, written at the invitation of the Library of Congress, appears on the website of the National Film Registry. He lives in Chicago.

Roy Kinnard
Format: softcover (5.5 x 8.5)
Pages: 284
Bibliographic Info: 69 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 1999 [1995]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-0751-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0913-3
Imprint: McFarland

“an important book, highly recommended”—Choice; “[a] title of exceptional merit…[an] elaborate filmography…catalogues an important part of cinema history”—Film & History.“useful”—Psychotronic; “a very well researched look at silent films and how they came to create the horror genre…a great book”—The Digital Bits; “complete…illustrations are…extensive…valuable…[for] anyone interested in show biz”—Movie Collector’s World; “over 1,000 titles…fascinating”—Reference Reviews; “seems to have documented every film of the silent era…Most of these films are presumably lost, which makes the surviving information all the more valuable…very useful”—Past Times; “a must for horror film aficionados. Highly recommended”—The Silent Film Monthly; “an impressive film guide…a great collection of rare photos”—The Silents Majority; “a year-by-year listing of features and short subjects of all nationalities”—Classic Images; “a useful reference”—Interzone; “transports readers to the earliest days of motion pictures”—Burlington County Times; “Very complete.”—Neil Barron, Editor of Fantasy and Horror.