Years of Fear is a horror history podcast that explores the movies that shaped horror, the people that made them, and the culture that made them possible. Each episode centers on the most important horror films of every year, beginning in 1960 with the first true Slasher film and all the way through the modern era.
There are few things more immediately associated with horror cinema than gruesome images of blood and gore. But it wasn't always like this. For the first 60 years of the film genre, there was very little gore to be found on screen at all. But this all changed in 1963 with a movie that painted the genre blood red forever, Blood Feast!
In this episode of Years of Fear, we are exploring the relationship of gore and horror going all the way back to the late 19th century in France, the movie that introduced the idea of gore to cinema, and the man who had only previously directed sleazy sexploitation films who changed horror forever.
If you want to get in touch with us, you can email the show at yearsoffearpodcast@gmail.com, or on Instagram at @Yearsoffear
4 Dec 2025
1962: Carnival of Souls
Its a familiar story for anyone who is fan of horror cinema: the story of a young director, with no film experience, no money, and no industry know-how, who wrangles up some friends, a camera, and some borrowed money from his community, and goes out and makes a cult classic film that catapults them to a successful career in the larger film world. But for every Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson or Tobe Hooper, there are the directors who went out and made a movie, but it ultimately led them no where. Well, sometimes those movies have a life that these filmmakers never could have imagined. In this episode, we explore the 1962 cult classic film Carnival of Souls, a gorgeously shot and eerie masterpiece, and the bright eyed director who had only previously made educational films. This movie went on to inspire everything from Night of the Living Dead, Eraserhead, and so much more, but not without first experiencing an unforseen rise to cult classic status.
If you want to get in touch with us, you can email the show at yearsoffearpodcast@gmail.com, or on Instagram at @Yearsoffear
13 Nov 2025
1961: The Pit and the Pendulum
In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho introduced the world to the future of my horror. But before the genre would embrace it, it would first confront it's very origins with a boom of Gothic Horror films that would make icons out of people like Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, and Christopher Lee. Perhaps no one would have a greater impact on this era of the macabre than Roger Corman, the b-movie king whose adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's classic works changed horror forever. Perhaps nonemoreso than his 1961 classic The Pit and the Pendulum. This week on Years of Fear, we explore the legacy of Corman, Poe, Vincent Price, and the gothic horror films of the early 1960s.
If you want to get in touch with the show, you can reach us at yearsoffearpodcast@gmail.com
Contact Years of Fear: A History of Horror
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Years of Fear: A History of Horror?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
