Icons of Horror

John Carpenter Director of horror classics such as Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988) and Village of the Damned (1995)

Robert Englund Most famous for playing the serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. He also appeared in Wishmaster (1997), Urban Legend (1998), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), 2001 Maniacs (2005), Zombie Strippers (2008) and The Midnight Man (2016).

Jamie Lee Curtis Scream queen whose awesome debut in the 1978 hit Halloween led to leading roles including The Fog (1980), Terror Train (1980), and Prom Night (1980). She appeared in several of the sequels to Halloween and recently played Dean Cathy Munsch in the TV Series, Scream Queens.

Writer of many classic horror books which have subsequently been made into films. Some of my favourites include Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), Cujo (1983), The Dead Zone (1983), Christine (1983), Children of the Corn (1984), Pet Sematary (1989) and IT (1990).

The Sultan of Slash who brought us many memorable films including The Nightmare of Elm Street and Scream franchises, The Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), The People Under the Stairs (1991), Wishmaster (1997) and My Soul to Take (2010).

Actor who played The Monster in the 1930s Frankenstein films. He appeared in many other horror films over the decades including The Mummy (1932), The Body Snatcher (1945), Bedlam (1946), Corridors of Blood (1958), The Terror (1963), The Sorcerers (1967), and Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)

Actress who has appeared in several notable horror films including The Hills Have Eyes (1977), The Howling (1981), Cujo (1983), Critters (1986), Halloween (2007) and 3 from Hell (2019).

Created some great special effects in iconic films such as Dawn of the Dead (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), The Burning (1981) and Creepshow (1982). He has also appeared in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Planet Terror (2007).

My favourite Giallo director. Some of his greatest films include The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977), Phenomena (1985) and Opera (1987).

Hero of The Evil Dead Trilogy, he also appeared in Maniac Cop (1988), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) and The Woods (2006)

Modern day scream queen who has appeared in some recent horror films including The Ring 2 (2005), Final Destination 3 (2006), The Thing (2011) and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012).

Writer whose works include Hellraiser (1987), Candyman (1992), The Midnight Meat Train (2008) and Book of Blood (2009).

Godfather of the Dead whose film Night of the Living Dead (1968) created a whole new zombie subgenre. He also directed the excellent follow-ups in the series, Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of The Dead (1985). Other films he directed include The Crazies (1973) and Creepshow (1982).

Played Dr. Samuel Loomis in Halloween (1978) and also reprised that role in five of the sequels. His other films include Wake in Fright (1971), I Don't Want to Be Born (1975), Dracula (1979), Phenomena (1985) and Prince of Darkness (1987).

Actress wh has appeared in some of my favourite horror films of the last decade including Orphan (2008), The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Special effects and makeup artist. Films he has worked on include Evil Dead II (1981), Misery (1990), The People Under the Stairs (1991), New Nightmare (1994), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Scream (1996), Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) and It Follows (2014).

Japanese director of some extremely weird and violent horror films. Some of my favourites include Audition (1999), Ichi the Killer (2001), Visitor Q (2001), Gozu (2003), One Missed Call (2003), Lesson of the Evil (2012) and Yakuza Apocalypse (2015).

Played the titular character in The Candyman (1992) and its sequels. He has also appeared in Night of the Living Dead (1990), Wishmaster (1997), Final Destination (2000) and Hatchet (2006).

Actress who had minor roles in horror classics A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Critters (1986). Now one of the most recognizable faces in the horror genre her credits include 2001 Maniacs (2005), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Insidious (2010), and Ouija (2014).

One of the greatest make-up artists who worked on many horror films including: The Exorcist (1973), Altered States (1980), Scanners (1981), Poltergeist III (1988) and House on Haunted HIll (1999).

Has directed some of the best modern horror films inclduing Saw (2004), Dead Silence (2007), Insidious (2010), The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring Part 2 (2016).

Started his career in horror playing Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Other films include The Abdominable Snowman (1957), Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960) and Horror Express (1972)

Played the title role in Ginger Snaps (2000) and the sequels. Other credits include Bones (2001), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), American Mary (2012) and 13 Eerie (2013).

Writer who has worked with Wes Craven on several films. Credits include Scream (1996), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Scream 2 (1997), The Faculty (1998), Scream 3 (2000) and Cursed (2005).

Known for his work at Hammer Films where gothic horror was brought to the screens in colour. His notable credits include The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1965) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

Best known for his role as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky in Child's Play (1988) and its many sequels. Other notable films include Critters 4 (1992), Alien Resurrection (1997), Halloween (2007) and Priest (2011).

Diminutive actress who played the role of Michael Myer's niece Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 (1988) and Halloween 5 (1989). Other credits include Urban Legend (1998), Halloween (2007), Cyrus (2010), Stake Land (2010) and Victor Crowley (2017)

Writer and poet whose work has inspired many T.V. series, feature films and shorts including The Black Cat (1934), The Masque of Red Death (1964), Witchfinder General (1968), The Oblong Box (1969), Two Evil Eyes (1990), The Raven (2012) an Eliza Graves (2014).

Best known for his body horror films and psychological chillers. His films include Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Dead Zome (1983), The Fly (1986) and Dead Ringers (1988).

Imposing screen legend who gained recognition for appearing as Count Dracula in a sequence of Hammer Horror films. His many film credits include The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Horror Express (1972) and The Wicker Man (1973).

A relatively unknown actress until she played Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). She also appeared in the third film of the series, Dream Warriors (1987) and played a version of herself in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) as well as appearing in The Butterfly Room (2012).

"You'll never go in the water again." Writer of one of the most iconic films of all-time, Jaws (1975). Other movies based on his work include The Deep (1977), The Island (1980), The Beast (1996) and Creature (1998).

Director of some of the very first classic horror films: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and the Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Prolific actor who has appeared in many horror films. Some of his horror highlights include Omen II (1978), Near Dark (1987), Pumpkinhead (1988), Scream 3 (2000), Stung (2015) and Harbringer Down (2015).

Her most famous role was Ellen Ripley in the film Alien (1979) and the subsequent sequels. She also starred in The Cabin in the Woods (2011), Red Lights (2012) and Vamps (2012).

French writer and producer. Screenplays include Switchblade Romance (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), P2 (2007), Mirrors (2008) and Maniac (2012). He also produced Piranha 3D (2010) and Crawl (2019).

Spanish director whose horror films include Darkness (2002), Fragile (2005), To Let (2006), Rec (2007) and Rec2 (2009).

The Merchant of Menace who often portrayed the villain in the many horror films he appeared in. Credits include The Fly (1958), House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Bat (1959), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Witchfinder General (1968) and The Oblong Box (1969).

Another queen of scream who has appeared in many horror films. Her credits include Re-Animator (1985), Chopping Mall (1986), From Beyond (1986), You're Next (2011), We Are Still Here (2015), Road Games (2015) and Beyond the Gates (2016).

His work for The Thing (1982) was amazing. Other films he worked on include The Fury (1978), Piranha (1978), The Fog (1980), Maniac (1980) and The Howling (1983).

Member of the Splat Pack whose notable films include Cabin Fever (2002), Hostel (2005), Hostel: Part II (2007), The Green Inferno (2013) and Knock Knock (2015).

Played Captain Spaulding in House of a 1000 Corpses (2003), The Devil's Rejects (2005) and 3 from Hell (2019). Other credits include Galaxy of Terror (1981), Halloween (2007) and Bone Tomahawk (2015),

Australian actress whose horror highlights include Pitch Black (2000), Silent Hill (2006), Rogue (2007), The Crazies (2010), Sacrifice (2016) and The Darkness (2016).

His writings influenced the work of the later generations of people within the horror genre. Films based on his ideas include: Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), City of the Living Dead (1980), The House by the Cemetery (1981) and Re-Animator (1985).

Director of three great horror films so far: Get Out (2017), Us (2019) and Nope (2022). He was also writer and producer for Candyman (2021) and rumoured to be involved in the remake of Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs.

Played the lead role in the classic Dawn of the Dead (1978). He appeared in some other notable horror films including The Devil's Rejects (2005), Halloween (2007) and The Midnight Man (2017).

English actress who appeared in Italian gothic horror film Black Sunday (1960). Other notable credits include Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Shivers (1975), Piranha (1978) and The Butterfly Room (2012).

His special make-up effects appeared in films such as Squirm (1976), The Fury (1978), The Howling (1981), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Videodrome (1983), The Ring (2002) and The Wolfman (2010).

Director of some of the most original and clever plots in horror. His credits include The Visit (2015), Split (2016), Glass (2019) and Old (2021).

Versatile German actor who has appeared in many horror films. Credits include Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), Suspiria (1977), Blade (1998), End of Days (1999), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Feardotcom (2002) and Halloween (2007).

Probably best known for her role as Lori Grimes in The Walking Dead. She has appeared in a number of horror films including: Faces in the Crowd (2011), Pay the Ghost (2015) and The Other Side of the Door (2016).

Special effects artist who has worked on many films and TV series. His work includes Evil Dead II (1987), Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), From Dusk to Dawn (1996), Scream (1996), The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Drag Me to Hell (2009).

Horror credits include Saw II (2007), Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), Mother' Day (2010), Abattoir (2016), St Agatha (2018) and Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)

Best remembered for playing Count Dracula in the classis Dracula (1931). Some of his other films include The Black Cat (1934), The Invisible Ray (1936), The Wolf Man (1941), The Bodysnatcher (1945) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957).

Rising star whose appearance include A Cure for Wellness (2016), The Secret of Marrowbone (2017), Suspiria (2018), X (2022) and Pearl (2022).

Writer whose works have influenced the following films: Die, Monster, Die! (1965), Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968, The Dunwich Horror (1970), The Beyond (1981) and Re-Animator (1985).