When did it become "cool" to like Horror films?

Ok so I went through grade school and middle school in the late 80's to mid 90's. I was pretty much the only kid at my school that was into horror movies (besides a couple of friends), in fact I was considered a "psycho" (and simultaneously a "nerd"😉 for liking horror movies. I remember a time when it seemed that movies like the Evil Dead trilogy, Dawn of the Dead, Re-animator were still cult movies, now everybody knows about them. As a kid I was a big fan of horror comics like Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of fear, Creepy, Vampirilla - all those comics are part of mainstream culture now as well and it's trendy to like such things.

My point is given the massive popularity of horror films among the "deviants" (punks, rockabillies, metal heads) of today, it's astonishing to me that horror movies are so popular now. It seems that now even your average American is going to the latest (though usually shitty) horror film- by the millions. Maybe horror has always been "cool" ( "hip", "trendy", what-ever-the-f*ck you wanna call it) and it was just my shitty home town where horror movies were shunned-- and I seemed to be the only one found lurking the horror section at my local VHS rental place. Does anybody know how it became "cool" to like horror, what was the turning point. For any long-time horror fans out there (around the world) , I'd like to know your experience with being a seasoned Horror fan.

Ok so I went through grade school and middle school in the late 80's to mid 90's. I was pretty much the only kid at my school that was into horror movies (besides a couple of friends), in fact I was considered a "psycho" (and simultaneously a "nerd"😉 for liking horror movies.

It seemed only me and some friends at school liked Horror films too, that was through middle school, and high school. We all got excited when someone got hold of a horror film on video and we all borrowed it, especially knowing we shouldn't be watching whatever film.

Now, I know 11/12 year olds around where I live who openly talk and mention they have seen the likes of Saw, Friday the 13th remake and so on. That would have been rare when I was growing up.

People can view Horror thanks to downloading films on the internet now, so people will now be able to find any Horror film online and watch in the comfort of their bedroom.

A 11 year old who knows how to use the internet will have no problem finding the latest Saw film on the internet. Unlike when I was at school, it was either borrowing a horror film off someone who could get hold of it, seeing films at sleepovers where their parents had rented the horror film for them and so on.

Oh and more children have televisions in their bedroom now, so they can watch any horror film that is shown on television too.

I don't think it's a lot to do with trend/cool, it's just Horror is more avaliable, horror films advertised a lot more and so on.

Some of the buses that run through my village have the long strip poster for Saw VI on the sides, the one with the 'hand' on... very nice.

Yeah, well I suppose people (kids) watching horror movies on the Internet could account for SOME of the popularity of Horror movies recently. BUT it does not explain why people are showing up in massive amounts to go see the countless amounts of horror movies in the theaters.

Think of the popularity of JUST zombie films in the last few years -- Diary of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead remake, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, 28 ____ Later, Planet Terror. Then all the shitty ghost-type horror films (The Ring, The Grudge, White Noise), people eat that crap up like starving mutts. Don't even get me started on what a major success the Saw films were. The movie execs. know people wanna see Horror (hence all the remakes), ESPECIALLY Zombie flicks. These films are blockbusters.

Originally posted by MildPossession

I don't think it's a lot to do with trend/cool, it's just Horror is more avaliable, horror films advertised a lot more and so on.

Originally posted by MildPossession

Some of the buses that run through my village have the long strip poster for Saw VI on the sides, the one with the 'hand' on... very nice.

Hollywood makes alot of shitty movies.

Most new horror movies are shitty.

edit: I don't know what my point was.

Me either, but true nonetheless.

I think it has been trendy to like certain horror films, but to be a huge horror movie fan in general is not trendy IMO.

Originally posted by Myth
I think it has been trendy to like certain horror films, but to be a huge horror movie fan in general is not trendy IMO.

Well if it is trendy to like certain horror films, then zombie films definitely take home the Miss Congeniality award.

Agreed. In grade school I loved horror movies but was considered a potential serial killer by my friends for liking them.

I've not really seen horror films become more popular. It seems to me that they're roughly the same as always.

Some mainstream horror films do well, but they always have. The only thing that's changed is the extremity of these popular horror films, they've gotten much more gruesome, which in turn, I suppose, could go about getting more people interested in the other gruesome, underground horror films. Because now the separation of niche horror films and mainstream ones is smaller than ever before when it comes to content.

But I still don't run into tons of people who know what something like Cannibal Holocaust or something of the like, is.

I've seen a fair few people wearing Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre t-shirts but whom I to judge whether their wearing 'em for credibility or whether or not they generally appreciate the film?

People could say similar for me wearing a store brought Metallica t-shirt (although I do actually like them).

Originally posted by wicker_man
I've seen a fair few people wearing Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre t-shirts but whom I to judge whether their wearing 'em for credibility or whether or not they generally appreciate the film?

People could say similar for me wearing a store brought Metallica t-shirt (although I do actually like them).

Nah, I believe that they actually like the movies. I just mean that Horror seems to be more socially acceptable, more part of pop culture and more marketable.