What is “Black Horror”? Why Should We Care?

If horror is a literature of emotion (specifically, fear) then what is this new thing called “Black Horror”? The why and the when of it is important to consider.

“Black Horror” might be defined as “horror literature and film specifically related to the children of the African Diaspora.” Originally these might be films dealing with or infected by racist tropes. “Birth of a Nation” very clearly deals with black people…as monsters. As do movies like “I Walked With A Zombie.”

Some would suggest that “King Kong” is more than flirting with racist imagery, certainly supposed black fascination with blond white women, but possibly the entire mythology of Kong himself (there is an hysterical scene in Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” that deals with this.)

And there were early “coloured” movies like “Son of Ingagi,” made by black people, which were horror films (inspiring fear and awe) but set in relatively middle-class black society.

But it is arguable that the first REAL piece of black horror as we currently consider it is “Night of the Living Dead.” The story is that Duane Jones, playing “Ben,” the protagonist, was cast race neutral (as Sennia Nanua was cast in “The Girl With All The Gifts”). Whatever the truth, what is true is that it was released in 1968, just three years after the Voting Rights Act finally made black Americans full citizens. This was a time of serious upheaval, fear, anti-black violence, and soul searching for an entire nation.