The Horror Film: An Introduction by Rick Worland is a comprehensive and academically grounded survey of horror cinema that traces the genre’s evolution from early silent classics to contemporary global iterations. Worland examines how horror reflects shifting cultural anxieties, industrial changes in filmmaking, and evolving audience expectations, moving through landmark films such as Nosferatu, Psycho, Night of the Living Dead, The Exorcist, and Halloween as well as broader movements in international horror. Written as an accessible yet scholarly introduction, the book balances close film analysis with historical context and theoretical frameworks drawn from film studies, making it a widely used text in academic courses. This 2007 Blackwell Publishing third printing trade paperback provides readers with a structured entry point into horror cinema as both entertainment and cultural expression, highlighting how the genre continually reinvents itself while remaining anchored in fear, mythology, and social commentary.
About the Author
Rick Worland is a film historian and scholar specializing in American cinema, genre studies, and popular film culture. His work often focuses on how Hollywood genres—particularly horror and science fiction—intersect with cultural history and ideological meaning. Worland has taught film studies at the university level and is known for producing clear, accessible academic texts that bridge introductory learning with more advanced theoretical approaches in cinema studies.
