8 Classic Horror Movie Recommendations From Stephen King [Trailers]

haunted house Amityville Horror

Back in 1981 Stephen King published Danse Macabre, one of his very first works of non-fiction. The text covered the horror genre through the ages in fiction, television, radio, film and comics. King uses the book to reflect on modern (for the time) horror and how audiences perceive the genre.

Danse Macabre was also a meditation on the authors own horror influences and how a writer could, in turn, use the classics to help drive their own creative juices. While there are a countless interesting recommendations littered throughout the text, I have gone ahead and collected the classic film titles below.

King subcategorizes the horror films discussed in the book into “The Modern American Horror Movie” and “The Horror Movie As Junk Food”. Both compartments are treated with respect by King, who takes a generally unpretentious approach to the popular films he dissects.

Here are each of the films discssed by Stephen King in Danse Macabre:

The Thing From Another World (1951)

I Married A Monster From Outer Space (1958)

The Horror Of Party Beach (1964)

The Stepford Wives (1975)

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Tourist Trap (1979)

Prophecy (1979)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Have you had a chance to read Danse Macabre by Stephen King? It’s an excellent creative resource for horror creators from all mediums. I highly recommend checking it out.

Lastly, what did you think of the the horror titles discussed in the text? Have you seen any the earlier films? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always around to chat all things Stephen King!

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