In human history, fear kept us safe. It helped us flee from predators. Anxiety made us wary of potential dangers — like venturing into a known lion-infested area. But what happens when these feelings ...

History is rarely kind to the horror genre. For every work that manages to worm its way into the cultural unconscious — for every “Alien,” “Exorcist” or “Shining,” say — there is a heap of films and ...