Black horror

Black horror (also known as racial horror and horror noir) is a horror subgenre that focuses on African-American characters and narratives. It often involves the use of social and political commentary to compare themes of racism and other lived experiences of Black Americans to common horror themes and tropes. Early entries in the genre include the Spencer Williams Jr. film Son of Ingagi (1940), and George A. Romero's film Night of the Living Dead (1968), which is considered one of the first Black horror films because its lead role is played by a Black actor, Duane Jones. Blaxploitation horror films of the 1970s, namely Blacula (1972) and the vampire film Ganja & Hess (1973), became prominent examples of the genre. Other examples appeared during the 1990s, including the Bernard Rose film Candyman (1992) and Tales from the Hood (1995), an anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff which has been described as the "godfather of Black horror".

Black horror became especially popular after Get Out, a horror film about racism and the 2017 directorial debut of comedian Jordan Peele, became an international box office success, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Peele went on to direct the Black horror films Us (2019) and Nope (2022). He also produced the HBO Black horror television series Lovecraft Country (2021), and the film Candyman (2021) directed by Nia DaCosta, a sequel to the 1992 film of the same name. Some critics argued that, by 2020, Black horror had entered its Golden Age, while others criticized many of the Black horror projects that followed Get Out—including Lovecraft Country, the Amazon series Them (2021), and the film Antebellum (2020)—as unsubtle and exploitative of Black trauma.

Black horror novels include Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (1998), Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (2005), The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (1991), and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle (2016).