In this Subgenre Spotlight, we open the creaking door to one of horror cinema’s most enduring obsessions: the haunted house. From Méliès’ whimsical trick films to the grief-laden echoes of today, haunted homes have evolved into complex metaphors for trauma, memory, repression, and loss. We trace their journey through gothic grandeur, suburban rot, found-footage terror, and even horror-comedy and explore how each haunted space reflects the fears of its time. Why do we return to these crumbling corridors and whispering attics? Because the house remembers. And so do we.
FILMS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
The Haunted Castle (1897), The House of Ghosts (1906), The Haunted House (1921), The Uninvited (1944), House on Haunted Hill (1959), 13 Ghosts (1960), The Innocents (1961), The Haunting (1963), Burnt Offerings (1976), The Amityville Horror (1979), The Changeling (1980), Poltergeist (1982), House (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), The People Under the Stairs (1991), Casper (1995), The Haunting (1999), House on Haunted Hill (1999), Thirteen Ghosts (2001), The Haunted Mansion (2003), The Amityville Horror (2005) Paranormal Activity (2007), Lake Mungo (2008), Grave Encounters (2011), The Conjuring (2013), 21 Days (2014), Hell House LLC (2015), We Are Still Here (2015), His House (2020), The Night House (2020), The Haunted Mansion (2023)
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Music:
Twisting, Half Mystery, Exit The Premises
By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0
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