Cover for The Horror Show
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The Horror Show
This bone-chilling publication explores all things horror, from the gothic of Nosferatu to slasher classics like Halloween, to psychological thrillers and beyond.
Edited with text by Jessica Niebel. Foreword by Amy Homma. Preface by Willem Dafoe. Text by Nicholas Barlow, Tananarive Due, Kier-La Janisse, Carmen Maria Machado, Rebekah McKendry, Lindsay Nelson, Angela M. Smith. Afterword by Osgood Perkins
Designed by Kimberly Varella/Content Object
Published 2026 | ISBN: 9781636812090

A spine-tingling tribute to horror’s enormous cultural impact and enduring popularity, The Horror Show celebrates the genre’s history, inextricably linked with the history of the moving image itself. With six themed sections—Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion and Ghosts—each chapter invites readers into its own peculiarly spooky setting, populated with the classic tropes characteristic of horror films. Packed with classic posters, behind-the-scenes snapshots, costume sketches, special effects designs, iconic props and much more, the book takes readers on a journey through a carnival of the creepy, curious, grotesque and gory. Including a preface by Academy Award–nominated actor Willem Dafoe and an afterword from Osgood Perkins, director of breakout horror hits Longlegs and The Monkey, The Horror Show drills into the mystery of horror’s enduring appeal across generations and cultures.

Films include: Alien, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Black Swan, Dracula, Frankenstein, Get Out, Halloween, Ju-on, Midsommar, Misery, Poltergeist, Ringu, Sinners, The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist, The Shining, The Silence of the Lambs, The Substance, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.