10 Essential: Black Horror Films

Black horror films may amount to only a few among many, but there’s more than enough to look into as a legit subgenre. 

They are commonly executed with similar themes and arguably firm objectives, including Black community issues and Black character subjectivity. It’s perhaps more fitting to reference Horror Noire author Dr. Robin Means Coleman’s definition that I detail in a previous essay (Black Horror Films vs. Blacks in Horror Films). Black Horror films see filmmakers of color with an investment in narratives that centralize Black characters in extreme circumstances predicated on fear, alongside sociopolitical themes that disproportionately impact the Black community. Both entertaining and introspective, Black Horror films serve dual objectives as they often find unique ways of telling familiar stories.

Below are ten Black Horror films vital to anyone’s introduction to the branch on this old, weathered Gothic tree of a genre. 


Ashlee Blackwell is the founder and managing editor of Graveyard Shift Sisters, an engaging celebration of Black women in the horror and science fiction genres. She currently resides in Philadelphia.

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