The Cropsey Maniac: The Forgotten Origins

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Featured Horror Mystery and Lore

It’s not difficult to find sources about the Cropsey Maniac—that is if you’re looking for what has overwhelmingly taken the place of the original urban legend. Finding an article that doesn’t devolve into a true crime tell-all about Andre Rand and the serial kidnappings and assumed murders of disabled children from Staten Island is difficult, if not outright impossible. In fact, we’ve even addressed the true crime events here, but only in juxtaposition to the original, forgotten origins of the Cropsey Maniac urban legend.

The Origin of Cropsey

In 1977 the New York Folklore Society published an article that detailed some of the varied accounts of the Cropsey legend, from a survey of eleven New York City informants which Breslerman conducted in the fall of 1966 (Haring 16). What Breslerman found in his survey was, was that while all of the accounts varied on specific details, all of the significant plot events went relatively unchanged.

Watch Puzzle Box Horror’s Cropsey Urban Legend Video

As a time-honored tradition of summer camps in New York and some surrounding regions, children would attend bonfires to hear the story of the Cropsey Maniac. Once a well-respected member of the community, the accidental death of a loved one sparks a homicidal madness in him and drives him to stalk and kill children who stray off the grounds of the camp. Below is one of the accounts in full, from Peter Sherman, who was identified as a former camper and counselor at Camp Lakota on Masten Lake in Wurtsboro, New York.

George Cropsey was a judge. He had a wife and two children, all of whom he loved very much. He owned a small summer cottage along the shores of Masten Lake. His wife and children would go there for the summer months, and he would come up to visit with them on the weekends… One night two campers snuck away from the camp’s secluded evening activity and went down to the lake to roast some marshmallows. The fire they built went out of control and there was a big fire on the lake. George Cropsey’s family was burnt to death. When Cropsey read the report in the newspaper, it is said he became completely white and disappeared from his home. Two weeks later one of the campers from Lakota was found near the lake chopped to death wtih an ax. There was talk of closing the camp for the remained of the summer but they didn’t.

The camp owners insisted upon constant supervision of the campers, there were state troopers posted in the area, and each counselor slept with either a knife, an ax, or a rifle. One night at about three in the morning, one of the counselors was awakened by the screams of one of his campers. He put a flashlight in the direction of the screams and saw his camper bleeding to death, and, standing over him, a man with chalk-white hair, red, bloodshot eyes, and swinging a long, bloody ax. When the maniac saw the light, he ran from the bunk, but the counselor chopped at his leg with the hatchet he was armed with. The man got away but left a trail of blood into the woods. The state troopers were called, and followed the trail into the woods. They called to Cropsey to surrender, but all they heard was crazed laughter. They determined his position, and when he would not give himself up, they built a circle of fire around him. When the fire had subsided, they searched the woods for his remains but could find nothing. The police closed the file on Georg Cropsey, assuming him to be dead…

It is said that on the evening of the anniversary of the death of Judge Cropsey’s family, you can see the shadow of a man limping along the shores of Masten Lake.

(Haring 15-16)

Significant variations of the Cropsey Legend

Summer camps weren’t the only locations where these stories were told. Boy Scout circles, summer jobs, middle schools, high schools, and even universities were hot spots for spooky storytelling. Regardless of where the informant heard the story, their version was always localized to their respective camp or school.

Cropsey urban legend map of incidents
Mapped Locations from stories collected by Lee Haring and Mark Breslerman

Whether George Cropsey was the owner of a hardware store, a member of the city council, a county judge, or a retired businessman, he always seemed to be one of the best-liked men in town. In each story, he has a wife and at least one child who suffers an accidental death. Of course, it’s a tragedy and Mrs. Cropsey suffers immense sorrow—in most if not all cases, she dies from her grief not too long after her child.

In some instances, Cropsey’s wife and child(ren) die together in a fire or some other inexplicable accident. George Cropsey goes silently mad, disappears and that’s when campers start to go missing or turn up dead. When the police got involved, they would sometimes involve local residents organized into search parties. They would comb forests and even drag the nearest lake in an attempt to locate the missing children.

The terror continues as more campers and counselors go missing, or camp dorms go up in flames—Cropsey takes his revenge upon the innocent souls he deemed responsible for the misfortune that befell his family. The authorities realize that it is George Cropsey perpetrating all of these heinous acts against the youth and a manhunt begins.

In most stories, Cropsey is somehow cornered—whether by a fire in the forest, by bullet holes penetrating the boat he’s escaping in, or by chance of him plunging to his death off of a cliff. It is believed that he died, although there was no indisputable evidence, or body found to conclude that he was, in fact, dead. In every story, after his supposed death there is still a lingering suspicion that he is still out there, waiting to continue his murderous rampage. Overall the endings of each of the versions Breslerman acquired, the motif of the death of children as punishment remains the same.

This background story shows campers that an average person, who would usually be trusted in a city setting, may not be trusted in unfamiliar places. This shows the uncertainty of what might lurk in nature and serves as a warning away from the unknown.

(Vale 3)

Cropsey Pop Culture Parallels

When The Burning came out in 1981 it wasn’t particularly well received—especially not in comparison to the other slashers of the time, but it has since become something of a cult classic. Never mind the period-appropriate stunts, special effects, and over-the-top acting, this movie was loosely based on the original New York urban legend.

The film follows Cropsey, the abusive alcoholic caretaker of Camp Blackfoot; the counselors decide that pranking him will be the sweetest revenge. When their plan goes more terribly than they could have possibly expected, it ends with Cropsey being engulfed in flame, recovering in the burn unit of the hospital, and Camp Blackfoot being shut down.

The ill-fated prank spurs the beginning of a hunt for revenge, years later, against the counselors and campers of the local Camp Stonewater. Like other slashers of the time, the killings primarily surround the horniest of teenagers, leaving everyone else as victims of circumstance and convenience. Not precisely a blow-for-blow telling of the original legend, but it ultimately pays homage to it in ways that count.

Where the Cropsey Urban Legend Meets Reality: An Evolution to a Chilling True Crime Story

Cultures around the world have practiced the tradition of oral storytelling, mainly as fables and folklore for younger generations to learn an important lesson. This tradition would relate chilling tales to children about what could happen if they didn’t listen to their elders.

The community of Staten Island was no different in the mid to late twentieth century. When they would tell the story of the Cropsey maniac it was meant to warn them about the hidden dangers of the world and a feeble attempt to keep teenagers from misbehaving.

After all, Staten Island may have turned into a suburban community, but it was originally established as a dumping ground—not only for local garbage, but was also rumored to be a hot spot for mob body dumps.

My search for source material on this legend was originally quite thin; I was searching for the legend, the myth, and the fiction. My misfortune was that I consistently hit the same wall—with stories about the “real” Cropsey, which is what Staten Island locals dubbed Andre Rand, a convicted kidnapper, and suspected serial killer.

For the kids in our neighborhood, Cropsey was an escaped mental patient who lived in the tunnels beneath the old, abandoned Willowbrook mental institution. Who would come out late at night and snatch children off the streets.

Joshua Zeman, Cropsey (2009)

The origin story of Cropsey is often confused with the real-life tragedy that befell the Staten Island community in that surrounded the Willowbrook State School grounds. It’s not surprising that the story of Cropsey was linked to a devastating series kidnappings and subsequent killings. Afterall, there were striking similarities between the spooky story told over a summer camp bonfire and the man who later embodied the legend.

… as teenagers we assumed Cropsey was just an urban legend. A cautionary tale used to keep us out of those buildings and to stop us from doing all those things that teenagers like to do, but all that changed the summer little Jennifer disappeared. That was the summer all the kids from Staten Island discovered that their urban legend was real.

Joshua Zeman, Cropsey (2009)

Andre Rand became the boogeyman of Staten Island, but he allegedly started out as an employee of Willowbrook State School. In some instances, he’s said to have been an orderly and in others a lowly janitor—these two accounts don’t seem to line up at all and we found no sources to cite in this instance.

After his brief two years of employment at the Willowbrook State School, Rand didn’t leave the area, instead, he set up his own private shantytown and remained on the grounds of the school. Rand was allegedly seen with several of the victims before their disappearances which ultimately made him a suspect.

One of the girls was found buried in a shallow grave between 150-200 yards from where Rand’s campsite was located. There was a trial, but Rand was only able to be convicted on one charge of first-degree kidnapping, but the jury was unable to convict him of the murder charge, despite his proximity to her grave. Rand, who is currently serving two 25-years to life sentences will be eligible for parole in 2037.

Did you know all of this about the Cropsey Maniac? If not, what did you know about the legend? Where were you when you heard it and what age were you? Let us know in the comments below!

Sources

Cropsey. Directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio. Breaking Glass Pictures, 2009.
Haring, Lee and Mark Breslerman. The Cropsey Maniac. New York Folklore 3. 1977 Pp 15-27.
The Burning. Directed by Tony Maylam, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1981.Vale, Meredith. The Cropsey Maniac. Artifacts Journal 11. 2014 Pp 1-5.

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The Decadence of Dawn of the Dead 1978

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Featured Scary Movies and Series

In modern usage, the word decadence is usually associated with luxury. A fancy dessert may be decadent, as may a gown encrusted with diamonds. More specifically, though, the term denotes a period of moral decline and extravagance prior to the collapse of a once-great civilization. Think of the orgies of the late Roman Empire, or the glamorous parties of the Roaring 20s. It also shares its root with another, less attractive word: decay. A society entering its decadent phase is one that has already died, and indeed has begun to rot. Party-goers and merry-makers may attempt to distract themselves from this, but eventually the stench will become unbearable. So hows does that relate to Dawn of the Dead 1978?

1978’s Dawn of the Dead is a movie about decadence in every sense of the word. Faced with the threat of human extinction, the film’s heroes barricade themselves inside a shopping mall, living out a consumerist utopia while zombies run rampant outside. The more they lose themselves in material pleasures and hedonism, the more obvious it becomes that the world as they know it has ended. This horror classic from George Romero is a scathing indictment of a civilization in decline, a chronicle of American decadence in all of its glitz, glamor, and gore.

Dawn of the Dead 1978 horror movie image of survivors in the mall

Initially, the social commentary in Dawn of the Dead may seem a touch on-the-nose. Watching zombies stagger around the mall, the characters comment how their behavior is not so different from before. They return to the mall due to “some kind of instinct,” says Stephen (David Emge), “a memory of what they used to do.” Horrified by the almost-human behavior of the shopping dead, Francine (Gaylen Ross) asks: “What are they?” Peter (Ken Foree) responds: “They’re us, that’s all.” There is little difference, Romero implies, between the mindless consumerism of 1970s America and the shambling of an undead horde.

Direct equivalence between mall-goers and zombies, though, is a more simplistic reading than Dawn of the Dead deserves. A richer meaning can be found by moving beyond simple metaphors and thoughtfully examining the dynamics between human beings and their environment. What this cinematic “dissection” reveals is a recurrent motif of decadence. Throughout the film, there is a consistent mismatch between living, flourishing tissue on the outside, and stagnation and decay beneath the surface. The characters who are unwilling to recognize the ugliness beneath a thin veneer of decadence are doomed; the only hope for survival is to stop living in denial and face the grim, unavoidable truth.

Dawn of the Dead 1978 Original Trailer

This mismatch is present from the very beginning of the film, and harkens back to Romero’s original Night of the Living Dead. In Night, the news was a source of security — TV anchors gave advice to survivors throughout the film, even directing them to evacuation sites. In the first moments of Dawn, however, we are taken behind the scenes at a news station where it is clear that nobody knows what they are doing. The studio is in chaos, with half of the staff yelling over one another, and the other half abandoning their posts. Even the list of evacuation sites from Night is revealed to be out-of-date — although this last detail does not stop an executive from insisting that the studio continue to broadcast the list. What’s sending a few survivors to their deaths, after all, as long as viewership remains high?

Right after this introduction comes another crucial sequence, in which a unit of the National Guard invades a public housing complex whose tenants have refused to give up their dead. By clinging to old rituals and refusing to accept their new reality, these tenement-dwellers have locked themselves in with a horde of zombies. More depraved, though, is the behavior of the National Guard toward these (mostly black and latinx) civilians; they fire machine guns indiscriminately, causing more deaths than the zombies themselves. Hidden beneath a thin layer of government-sanctioned authority, the moral decay of these unhinged, bigoted soldiers is apparent. Once again a curtain is whipped aside, revealing the ugly truth of a society hopelessly in decline.

These two introductory sequences expose how central institutions of modern America — media and law enforcement — are thin bandages over seeping wounds. The rest of the film, set almost entirely in the shopping mall, doubles down on this theme. Even after our heroes establish a secure base camp with enough supplies to last a lifetime, there is little comfort to be found. The novelty of an unlimited shopping spree wears off quickly, and it is soon clear that they are merely going through the motions of decadence. The more they distract themselves with lavish outfits and expensive toys, the more their consumerist paradise resembles a slaughterhouse.

dawn of the dead 1978 horror movie still image of zombies

Eventually the contradictions between outer decadence and internal decay become impossible to reconcile. After one of the four is killed securing the perimeter of the mall, the others decide they would rather face an uncertain future than die inside a prison of their own making. This about-face comes too late, though, as their attempts to flee attract the attention of a roving gang of bikers. The sinister delight with which the bikers descend on the mall may seem a bit over the top, but that is the point. Other than their lack of restraint, there is no substantial difference between these cackling Mad Max rejects and our own heroes. If the world as they know it has died, then what is really more depraved: basking in decadence, or stripping it for parts?
As the ending credits play over a cheerful montage of zombies romping through the mall, the film’s message stays with the viewer like a bad taste.

If Night of the Living Dead showed America as a powder keg ready to burst, then 1978’s Dawn of the Dead makes the claim that it has been dead for years already; we are simply living our last, decadent years inside its rotting corpse. What better way to illustrate this than to juxtapose the literal walking dead next to the rituals of modern consumerism? George Romero proved with his followup to Night that he could go bigger, bloodier, and more ambitious. But more than forty years later, it is the powerful social message of this horror classic that stands out the most.

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The Demon Dog of Valle Crucis, North Carolina an Urban Legend

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Featured Haunted Places Horror Mystery and Lore

My day job is working as a pest control technician for an awesome company here in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Come to find out, I have a haunted site on my route. (Yeah, I know. What are the odds that the horror author gets the route with a haunted place or even better a place haunted by a demon dog?) I have included pictures in this article that I took the last time I was in this area. This local legend of the demon dog of Valle Crucis has been around since the late 1800s.

The story was birthed at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Valle Crucis, North Carolina around 1860. A few people were found dead in the nearby woods by an apparent animal attack. Instead of looking for a rational explanation of what happened, the local minister claimed he saw a “demon dog” kill these people. I’m not bashing ministers or any religion or denomination, for I myself an am ordained minister, but given the time period should we be surprised?

This urban legend has gone on for several generations, but the most popular story has to do with two young men who were students at App State. They were traveling down the road next to the church one moonlit autumn night. A large, shadowy figure leaped our from behind one of the tombstones from the church’s graveyard and appeared in front of their vehicle. The driver swerved to the side of the road to avoid slamming into whatever had stepped in front of them. According to witnesses, he slammed on the breaks and eased his vehicle to the shoulder.

Cemetery in Valle Crucis at St. John's Episcopal Church
St. John's Episcopal Church and gravestones

The two friends peered out the window into the darkness. The figure took shape under the moonlight and they were shocked at what they saw. A massive dog, the size of a full grown man, stood in the road staring at them. it was covered in shimmering black fur and had large, yellow teeth. It’s eyes were glowing red and did not reflect back the light like a dog or cat’s eyes will sometimes do at night. One of the young men turned to the other and said, “Do you see that?” His friend replied, “No, and neither do you.”

Sign in front of tombs at St. John's Episcopal Church

The dog eased towards the vehicle and growled. The driver took his foot off the braked and slammed on the gas. The vehicle sped down the dark, mountain road, hugging the curves as hard as it could without flipping. Sixty miles and hour…Seventy miles an hour…the driver did his best to keep the car under control. He glanced in his rear view mirror and had the shock of his life. The demon dog was keeping us with the car. No, it was gaining on them.

The driver mashed the accelerator even harder. The car sped over a the bridge where the streams in Valle Crucis meet to form a cross (the name in Latin means Vale of the Cross). The dog stopped following them and then vanished.

St. John's Episcopal Church sign established in 1862

The frightened friends drove into Boone and stopped at a local diner, which was the only place open late at night. They tried to let their nerves settle down but it wasn’t happening. They knew neither of them were going to get to sleep for a while. They also knew they had experienced something terrifying and supernatural. The two men shared their story and the urban legend of the Demon Dog of Valle Crucis was cemented into North Carolina folklore forever.

There are other stories surrounding this quaint little cemetery at St. John’s. Some have reported seeing the apparition of a woman wondering around the graves. Others have reported sounds of gunshots and a weeping female, all of which cannot be connected to any known event.

Is the legend of the Demon Dog true? Is this a case of lycanthropy maybe?

When I was out there, I called and whistled for the demon dog several times. I walked among the graves and tried to see if I could get him to come out. He was either napping or had better things to do. I got back in my truck and drove away. I looked in my review, and to my disappointment, there was no demon dog chasing me.

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The Devil’s In The Details – History of the Devil in Mexican Art

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Featured Horror Mystery and Lore

Across the spectrum of classically inspired national and regional local art, from paintings to sculpture, and masks, there is a long and still very active history of the presence of the demonic.

Why? Is this art religious? How did something with such strong stigma in the West become so ubiquitous here? To answer these questions, you have to look at both Mexican art history and the cultures of the country’s many regions.  

The presence of the devil in traditionally Mexican-made masks is far from traditional to Mexico, and actually came about as a result of Mexico’s conquest. The Spanish were able to completely change the economic structure of Mexico, slaughtering livestock and stealing land, but they weren’t able to eradicate the native practices completely. When the indigenous dances they tried to eradicate continued, the Spanish changed course and decided instead to co-opt the traditions, applying Catholic figures to the masks that once portrayed native gods. The devil, who sometimes appears painted black and red as inspired by a night god called Tezcatlipoca, was one of them.

The use of natural clay for these masks as well as diablitos, sculptures made popular in Michoacan by a sort of outlaw artist figure by the name of Marcelino Vicente, was a natural choice for an economically depleted country with plenty of clay available as a free and natural resource. Natural clays continue to be used, and molds are used instead of pottery wheels, just as they were 500 years ago. 

Despite the longstanding traditional methods used for making these sculptures, the story of the diablito figurines and tableaus, which can still be found today, depicting flesh-eating devils as well as symbols of current events, is a much more modern one. 

In the town of Ocumicho, in Michoacan, these sculpted scenes that have been said to resemble the nightmare scenes painted by Hieronymus Bosch began to appear in the 1960s. While now embraced, it wasn’t until Vicente took them to neighboring towns to sell that they began to draw positive attention and buyers at the open-air markets that became common as people looked for new ways to sustain themselves after the Mexican Revolution.

Back in Michoacan, his lifestyle was uncommon, his subject matter was unwelcome, but thanks to appreciators of his new style – specifically people like Francisco Mendoza of Fonart, a  government folk-art agency that gave Vicente his first major gallery show, he was able to pioneer and establish an art form in a short five-year span, prior to being beaten to death at a bar the weekend before Dia de lo Muertos

The artisan groups that he formed, men and women who worked together despite strict social rules that only allowed socialization between men and women related by blood or through godparents, meant that people directly trained by Vicente would be able to continue to craft his diablitos and teach the next generation to do it as well. Today you can find work in this style at Mexican markets, souvenir shops, and even galleries in and beyond Michoacan, and in places such as San Antonio in the US!

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The Diverse History of Survival Horror

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We’ve all been in these survival horror scenarios before.

You find yourself in the middle of a dark and creepy abandoned hospital, your only source of light a flickering flashlight. You’re searching for your missing daughter, and you have a gut feeling that she’s somewhere in this building. As you move deeper into the hospital, you start to feel like something is following you, and every shadow seems to hold a new threat. Suddenly, you hear a sound coming from one of the rooms and it sends shivers down your spine. You slowly push open the door and find yourself face to face with a horde of twisted and deformed creatures, their eyes glowing in the dark. They let out a blood-curdling roar, and you realize that you’re low on ammo.

Classic.

What is Survival Horror?

“Survival horror” is a subgenre of the horror genre that focuses on a character or characters attempting to survive against some form of deadly threat, often in a situation where they are helpless or poorly equipped. This genre typically involves a combination of horror and action elements, as the characters must not only evade or hide from the danger, but also actively fight back against it.

Survival horror scenario abandoned hallway

In survival horror games and movies, the protagonist is often portrayed as vulnerable and in a disadvantageous position, such as being stranded in an isolated location or being pursued by a powerful and deadly monster. The goal of the protagonist is to survive by using limited resources, solving puzzles, and making strategic decisions.

The genre is characterized by its emphasis on suspense, tension, and fear. The atmosphere is often creepy and foreboding, with a focus on creating a sense of dread and unease for the player or viewer. The genre often incorporates elements of science fiction horror, with storylines that involve the supernatural, mutants, or viral outbreaks. It’s challenging to effectively trace the history of survival history because it overlaps with so many other genres. Instead we will just give a brief overview as it relates to video games, movies, and books.

Survival Horror in Games

The survival horror genre is most commonly associated with video games, and here its roots go back to the late 1970s through 1980s, with the release of horror-themed cartridge games like Haunted House (1972) and Sweet Home (1989). These early games established the basic formula of a character navigating through a dangerous environment while facing off against frightening creatures.

The survival horror genre came into its own in the 1990s with the release of Alone in the Dark (1992) on the PC and Resident Evil (1996) on the PlayStation console. These games popularized the genre with their combination of survival mechanics, such as resource management and puzzle-solving, with intense action and horror elements. The success of Resident Evil in particular paved the way for other successful survival horror franchises like Clock Tower (1996) and Silent Hill (1999), and it was Capcom who first coined the term “survival horror”..

Logo for Resident Evil survival horror video game

In the 2000s, the genre experienced a resurgence in popularity with the advent of new gaming technologies and a greater focus on creating immersive and atmospheric experiences. The release of games like Dead Space (2008), Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010) and the Outlast series brought a new level of intensity to the genre, emphasizing psychological horror and creating more intense, frightening experiences for players.

In recent years, the survival horror genre has continued to evolve, incorporating new technologies and gameplay mechanics to create more immersive and terrifying experiences. For example, Until Dawn (2015) allows players to control multiple characters and the game changes based on decisions made, while Dead by Daylight (2016) features one versus four gameplay where one player is the killer and the other four attempt to survive. As virtual reality games become more popular, survival horror will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the world of horror gaming.

Other popular survival horror video games include: Fatal Frame (2001), Resident Evil 4 (2005), The Last of Us (2013), and The Evil Within (2014). The Last of Us also being a fan favorite tv show.

Poster for The Last of Us survival horror video game

Survival Horror in Movies

Much like in gaming, the history of survival horror in movies can also be traced back to the 1970s and 1980s, with early films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978) setting the groundwork for the genre, and later being followed by movies such as The Thing (1982) and Predator (1987). These films established the basic formula of characters facing off against dangerous and terrifying threats, often with limited resources and weapons. 

The 1990s saw survival horror being blended with other subgenres, such as “body horror”, with films like Candyman (1992) and Event Horizon (1997) bringing a new level of intensity and gore to the survival horror genre. These films expanded on the core formula of survival horror, incorporating elements of science fiction and supernatural horror to create even more frightening and suspenseful experiences for audiences.

Shot from Candyman survival horror movie

In the 2000s, the survival horror genre experienced a resurgence in popularity with the release of successful films like The Ring (2002) and Saw (2004). These films brought a new level of psychological horror to the genre, exploring the dark and twisted thoughts and motivations of the characters in a way that was both terrifying and thought-provoking. Other great movies from the era include 28 Days Later (2002), The Descent (2005), The Mist (2007), Eden Lake (2008) and The Ruins (2008).

More recently, the survival horror genre has continued to evolve and expand, with newer films bringing an increased level of realism and immediacy to the genre, creating more anxiety-inducing and unnerving experiences for audiences. You can find survival horror happening in the woods with The Ritual (2017), in the snow with Frozen (2012), in a alligator-filled hurricane with Crawl (2019), on a deserted island with Sweetheart (2019), and under the water with movies like 47 Meters Down (2017) and Underwater (2020) 

Other popular survival horror movies include: Buried (2010), The Shallows (2016), A Quiet Place (2018), and Alone (2020).

Scary island in survival horror

Survival Horror in Literature

The history of survival horror in books and comics can be traced back to the Gothic novels of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). These early works established many of the core themes and motifs that would come to define the survival horror genre, including the use of suspense, tension, and fear to create a sense of danger and unease. A lot of the genre owes thanks to the works of Lovecraft as well, which often feature investigative narratives and characters struggling to survive insurmountable odds.

In the 20th century, the survival horror genre continued to evolve and expand in the world of literature with the publication of books like Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (1975), Scott Smith’s The Ruins (2006), and Comac McCarthy’s The Road (2006), along with the creation of popular comic book series like The Walking Dead (2003). These works brought a new level of intensity and realism to the genre, exploring the fear and desperation of characters facing off against dangerous and unpredictable threats.

Moving into the 21st century, the genre has continued to thrive in the world of books and comics, with the publication of works like Josh Malerman’s Bird Box (2014) and of graphic novels such as Grant Morrison’s Nameless (2017). These works bring a new level of sophistication and complexity to the genre, exploring the psychological and emotional aspects of survival in the face of horror and danger.

Other popular survival horror books/comics include: 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles (2002), The Last One by Alexandra Oliva (2017), The Hunger by Alma Katsu (2018), The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling (2019), Below by Laurel Hightower (2022), and The Deep (2015) and The Troop (2016) both by Nick Cutter.

Final Thoughts

Today, the survival horror genre remains one of the most popular and enduring and diverse subgenres of horror, attracting fans with its multitudes of settings and its combination of suspense, tension, and fear. The genre continues to evolve and expand, with new games, movies, and other forms of media that explore new and exciting directions for survival horror.

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