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Don’t I Know You…? Black Horror Character Actors

Laz Alonso
These actors and actresses aren't usually the leads in horror movies, but they keep busy in supporting roles as the best friends, the partners, the safari guides and other assorted capacities that probably ensure death. You know their faces, but you don't know their names or even where you know them from. Before you walk up and ask them, "Do...

The 40 Best Horror Movies Starring Black Actors and Actresses

Duane Jones in Night of the Living Dead
It goes without saying that over the years, Hollywood has had some issues with adequate racial representation in starring roles, and horror is certainly not immune to that problem. However, that doesn't mean there haven't been some excellent "mainstream" (for lack of a better word) fright flicks starring black folk. For this list, I'm excluding all-black films (e.g., Blaxploitation, "urban,"...

Most Valuable Victims: Black Actors Who’ve Died the Most in Horror Movies

Actor Tony Todd
Most confirmed horror deaths by black actors. R.I.P., brothers and sisters, R.I.P. Tony Todd (15) Are You Scared 2 Candyman Candyman 2 Candyman 3 The Crow The Eden Formula Minotaur Murder-Set-Pieces Night of the Living Dead Nite Tales Scarecrow Slayer Shadow: Dead Riot Shadow Puppets The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Wishmaster Pam Grier (6) Bones Class...

Bad Boys (and Girls): Black Horror’s Most Wanted Villains

William Marshall as Blacula
Black people originated the slang of bad meaning good, but that doesn't mean they can't also be bad meaning bad. They've played some of the more memorable baddies in horror history. Here are some of the baddest black villains to grace a horror movie screen. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? Blacula, Blacula and Scream, Blacula, Scream The poster child...

Best Black Horror Movies of 2023

Best Black Horror Movies of 2023
Cinema in 2023 boasted a slew of surprise hits and surprise flops, but one constant was the Black presence in horror. Not necessarily a year of earth-shattering accomplishments, 2023 was for Black horror more about consistency and variety, broadening the typical Black roles into period pieces, ghost stories, mad scientist tales, horror-comedies, and family-friendly fare. As with last year,...

Types of Black Horror Movie Characters

Mario Van Peebles in Jaws: The Revenge
Be they stereotypes or monotypes, they're the "types" that most black characters in horror films inevitably fall into... The Spook As the name implies, the spook is spooked by all things spooky. Typically the comic sidekick, he's often spared from death by his ability to make people laugh. The "classic spook" (most widely represented by Mantan Moreland and the catchphrase often...

Best Black Horror Movies of 2022

Best Black Horror Movies of 2022
There was a time not too long ago that it would be difficult to create a “best of” list of horror movies featuring black leads in any given year, since there were so few of them, and the ones that did exist were of such dubious quality. But thankfully, things have changed in both quantity and quality over the...

Scary Sistas: A Brief History of Black Women in Horror Films

Scary Sistas: A Brief History of Black Women in Horror Films
Originally posted on Pretty-Scary.net Black women in cinematic history have long faced the double-barreled Hollywood stigma of race and gender "otherness," their fleeting moment of glory coming in the '90s when "You go, girl!" was introduced into the popular lexicon. On the more formal level of Oscar recognition, meanwhile, the black female images thus far celebrated by the Academy of...

22 “Heroic Deaths” by Black Characters in Horror Movies

Charles Dutton in Mimic
Everyone knows that the "black guy" (or gal) usually dies in horror movies -- so much so, in some instances, the characters themselves seem to be aware of their inevitable fate. Thus, we have the phenomenon of black "heroic death," in which black characters (usually peripheral) voluntarily sacrifice themselves -- or at least, volunteer for tasks that mean certain...

The Black Death: A Brief History of Black People Dying in Horror Movies

Black Death: A Brief History of Black People Dying in Horror Movies
"No way. I've seen this movie. The black dude dies first." - Professor Harry Phineas Block (Orlando Jones), Evolution "Ooh, I'm done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this!" - Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J), Deep Blue Sea "Did you know that the black guy doesn't always die first?" - sinister email, The Mangler 2 "Everybody knows black guys get it...