Hey y'all let's see what's up today! It has been awhile since we've had a proper Horror Hub post and I won't lie I have absolutely been itching to get back to posting these on the regular! However, I have been dealing with a really bad sinus infection for the past couple of days so I did fall asleep before I was able to upload anything last night (so sorry). I also want to, before I continue with this, apologize for any mistakes that I may have made while formatting and editing this post, I did my best but I may have missed some things. While I was away, I got to thinking about the horror genre and how this year seems like one of the best for book releases, mini series, and films. 2025 was great as well, especially with horror or horror adjacent shows like Haunted Hotel coming to streaming services. I feel like this really begs the question, are we seeing a horror renaissance?
Depending on who you ask, horror kind of lost its charm after the early 2000s, maybe the early 2010s, when grindhouse horror and campy films reigned at the box office. There was a period where it felt like horror was either trying to shock you with gore, lean heavily into jump scares, or recreate something that had already worked before. Of course, there were still some incredible horror films being made during this time, but I think a lot of people started feeling like the genre had gotten a little... stale.
However, over the last several years, we've seen horror become increasingly experimental again. We've also seen the genre return to its roots of social commentary that preys on the anxiety of the public with films like Obsession, The Substance, and Leviticus. They are tackling concepts like the demonization of the LGBTQIA+ community, the very legitimate fears of women being pursued by predatory men, and the toxic beauty standards that are set for us that many fall into time and time again.
Some fans believe that horror is getting "too political", but the die hard fans know that horror has always and will always exist to challenge the system. As I've mentioned before, the very concept of horror villains are oppressive, undying forces that punish those that engage in behavior that society often deems taboo or "immoral" and our final girls have to adapt and take on those taboo and immoral traits in order to defeat that villain. Horror is a lesson against complicity when stripped to its bare bones.
For several years, horror simply fell flat in the areas that it usually used to make very interesting and valid points. The genre fell into a loop of cheap scares, remakes, and an inability to do something new. While entertaining, this loop is how genres become obscure and die out.
Within the past six years, this year especially, it truly feels like we are seeing horror return to its golden age not just at the box office but across several different types of media with new games, new books, and even shorts and stories beginning to circulate in online forums again.
What Does A 'Horror Renaissance' Actually Mean?
Much like the actual Renaissance, a renaissance in horror is a drastic change in the quality of the media that we are seeing come to our screens, to pages, and even our consoles. While not all of these changes are good, such as the use of generative AI being used in films like Ice Cream Man, directed by Eli Roth, some of these changes are actually pushing the genre forward.
The largest thing, as I mentioned before, is that horror is going back to its roots and providing social commentary. Films like Obsession and even books like Trad Wife are doing exactly what horror exists, as a genre, to do which is to make the anxieties of the public into a defeatable monster. This was something that we also saw in horror's past with pieces like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and The Crush. This doesn't mean that horror is getting "too political" or even that it's trying to push an agenda like so many modern viewers may believe. It simply means that horror is returning to more meaningful in-depth plotlines like it did when it first began to rise in popularity.
Alongside horror returning to its roots, we're seeing either remakes, pre-quels, sequels, or spin offs of some of horror's most iconic franchises and films suchs as the new Friday the 13th TV series that hit Peacock recently. While it may not seem like looking to the past is doing anything to help horror's future, these films are staples in the genre, beloved by fans, and will always be something in circulation even if people are not a fan of indie projects, which brings me into my next point.
We have seen such a rise in indie horror projects this year with films like Iron Lung, Backrooms, and Hokum doing insanely well at the box offices (even beating large corporations like Disney for the number one spot, as was the case for Markiplier's Iron Lung that released back in January). Indie projects are incredibly important for genres like horror because they bring something new to the table. These projects often introduce new concepts, new actors and actresses, and most importantly they bring in new fans. This is incredibly good for the horror scene because I feel like indie projects really give small creators like myself hope that we can also get to that point in our careers. New content is what keeps genres thriving after all. Which brings me to my next point:
Horror Isn't Just Hollywood Anymore
Horror has never been strictly Hollywood, I want to make that clear before I get into my next point; however, Hollywood is home to some of the most iconic faces in the genre and its what most people know. Folklore and horror novels existed long before the concept of film, and beyond that, the internet gave way to some of the most prominent franchises and independent projects of the 2010s such as Five Nights at Freddy's, Sally Face, and the ever popular Creepypasta stories that still circulate online. However, with the rise of internet culture becoming prominent in mainstream media, as we have seen with Five Night's at Freddy's and Kane Parson's Backrooms getting multiple films, and even video games like Iron Lung getting not only an insane amount of global recognition but also showing that indie projects are in demand.
What happens when we take a look away from the big screen though? You'll find even larger fandoms for even older horror projects. Analog horror series are extremely popular on YouTube right now with The Walten Files, The Mandala Catalog, Vita Carnis, and The Mystery Flesh Pit National Park having huge followings online. There are also the Slenderverse series Everyman Hybrid, Marble Hornets, The Arc and so many others that tie into Creepypasta series and are generally considered part of the Creepypasta canon (which is a bit hard to track, but the Wiki is really helpful for those curious).
Stepping away from film there are also several indie horror podcasts like Welcome to Nightvale, Alice Isn't Dead, The Magnus Archives, Old Gods of Appalachia, and Camp Here and There bringing in new listeners and introducing them to horror tropes through the podcasts. Most of these podcasts started in the early to mid 2010s, and are still vastly popular among their avid listeners. Welcome to Nightvale is also still an ongoing show with several novel tie-ins, live shows, and new content coming to listeners pretty regularly, it is generally speaking one of the oldest sci-fi horror storytelling podcasts to date and it is still incredibly relevant in the community despite being fourteen years old.
There's the Welcome Home ARG which looks very unassuming at first glance but encourages fans to dig deeper into the website for lore. There are so many other ARGs out there for the horror community, but this one is my favorite to discuss because the horror isn't very in your face and it is incredibly well made, it's one of the best horror ARGs in my personal opinion because it encourages media literacy and comprehension while also being cute and fun. I am still so upset that the fandom let this one fall in the cracks and disrespected the creator the way that they did.
Streaming Brought International Horror
With the rise of streaming services, we are not only getting more horror content in the modern era, but we are also getting a wider variety. This means that even niche horror is becoming more and more accessible and it allows us to watch foreign horror films in their original format without voice overs or English remakes. I think this is contributing quite a bit to the resurgence of horror because it keeps things from getting stale. We're getting new content, new storylines, new folklore and special effects from other countries in beautifully done films.
This is something that really aids in increasing the popularity of the genre, because it's bringing in new fans, it's allowing people to branch out into new subgenres, and it is giving space to more creators. This is something that we're also seeing in the indie horror scene, and the overall influx of content spanning a variety of subgenres, languages, and even how folklore is presented is something that I think gives the genre a much needed refresh.
Horror is Experimenting Again
This isn't entirely new, however something I've seen in recent years is horror really pushing the envelope for what it can get away with. Splatter horror films are some of my favorite to bring up with this talking point, because they already push the envelope for what even the most seasoned horror fans can handle. This type of horror was not very popular until SAW hit screens in
Damien Leone's Terrifier franchise in particular is one of my favorites to discuss when I mention this because I think people tend to miscategorize and even mischaracterize this series and this slasher more than others in the same genre. As much as I would love to dive deeper into this, I won't for the sake of this post (but if you guys would like to see a deep dive on Terrifier let me know!) but the general consensus is that people believe these films have no plot and they're just mindless violence against women. However, according to several interviews with Leone, he is just pushing the envelope with his own special effects skills. It also takes a simple Google search to discover that Art the Clown has canonically more male kills than female, but that's besides the point.
The Terrifier films rely almost solely on practical effects, which is very hard to come by in modern films, and if you have seen anything out of this franchise you know the effects are absolutely INSANE with the kill scenes being incredibly creative. This level of experimenting is exactly what I love to see in horror, and it's exactly what makes horror movies so unique compared to say a standard action film.
Are We Experiencing A Horror Renaissance?
With all of this being said, that leaves the big question, are we actually seeing another golden age of horror, or are we just seeing a period where there's more exciting content coming out? Personally, I think that we're experiencing another horror golden age. The films that are coming out now are, at their bare bones, going back to the roots of the genre. We're seeing social commentary, small creators, horror staples, experimenting, and most importantly we're seeing horror that is actually scary again.
Beyond the fact that the films are getting scarier, they're pushing boundaries, and they're preying on the fear of the public again, I think the audience of horror is also changing. We're now in another point in time where everything in the world feels so horrifying and we're looking to lose ourselves in these fictional worlds to escape our own monsters for a little bit.
Closing
That's all that I have for you guys right now, tell me what you think! Are we experiencing a horror renaissance or is are we just getting really lucky with what's coming out recently? Additionally, I am so so sorry this post took me two weeks to get published. Between the weather and me getting a nasty sinus infection it has just been crazy over here. I appreciate you guys so much for sticking with me during this unintentional hiatus. If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y’all take care, and thanks for stopping by!
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