Has Horror had a Rebrand?

Cheap to make, exploitative, and a genre that critics dismissed and awards shows ignored. But what was once disreputable has become cool, and that shift isn’t just thanks to the films themselves; it’s because horror has had a makeover.

The genre is thriving. Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines, and 28 Years Later have already topped £41.3 million in the UK, outpacing 2024’s entire top nine horror releases combined. And with the hugely popular Weapons and The Conjuring 4 releasing recently, and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 still to come, horror is dominating like never before.

Moviegoers are more selective now, with economic uncertainty, paying for a cinema ticket is something people might avoid, when streaming services showcase the film a few months later. Around 70% of people have access to at least one streaming service, which means they’ll only go to cinemas for big events or trends (looking at you, The Mincecraft Movie).

They want to listen to what their favourite influencers or authorities feel about a topic, because they have a shared sense of what they like. I’m far more likely to see a movie if a huge horror fan says it’s amazing, versus a random critic from the New York Times who consistently hates my favourite horror flicks.

Horror marketing has always been inventive. The Blair Witch Project used fake missing posters and early internet forums to convince audiences its footage was real. Psycho leaned into the “based on a true story” angle.

Where old campaigns thrived on mystery, new ones thrive on momentum. 

This could be because they use single locations or fewer actors and crew. The Blair Witch Project cost $60,000 to make and earned almost $250M at the box office worldwide. Horror has always been great at selling fear in its marketing strategies, but the HOW has been revamped. 

Curiosity. It’s something that doesn’t just work when marketing horror films. Building up the intrigue in wondering what it’s all about, the suspense of what’s going to happen next. 

Paranormal Activity aced this. Their trailers showed little from the film, but a lot from the cinema screens. They zoomed in on viewers at key jumpscare moments, with a collage of clips where people are screaming, jumping, and spilling popcorn – enticing people to want to see the film, and know what the fuss is all about. 

We’ve all seen a horror film that’s mentioned ‘based on a true story’ in its marketing. It was used prominently in films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity, and Psycho. 

Marketing for earlier horror films often tried to trick audiences. It was about building intrigue through ideas like this, and blurring the lines with ‘lost footage’ or the filming made to look like CCTV, so people would find it more believable. The audience was a target of deception, and that worked very well when information was scarce, which brings me to the marketing campaign for ‘Psycho.’

An iconic film. How they handled the release was different from usual releases at the time. 

But now, everyone’s online, and nothing stays mysterious for too long, so how has horror redefined its marketing in the wake of multi-platform content strategies?

Past campaigns were themed around secrecy and intrigue to capture attention, but today’s horror campaigns want your participation. Fans aren’t passive viewers anymore; they help create the buzz through sharing, reacting, and amplifying elements of the story across social media platforms. From viral stunts to interactive websites and experiences, the genre has transformed its marketing into a multi-platform strategy.

One way to create that buzz is marketing stunts that get audiences talking through public moments that are shareable across social media.

Some film marketers’ campaigns spanned further to extend the storyline, with secret websites, cryptic emails, and interactive clues that fans explore and share. 

Longlegs. The film everyone was talking about on social media. The slow-burning horror starring Nicolas Cage that proved that secrecy alongside digital immersion works. 

There was a cryptic ad in The Seattle Times that led people to discover the website thebirthdaymurders.net, which detailed the victims of the serial killer and secrets, clues, and faux crime scene photos.

They also had OOH ads, which had a phone number that had voicemails from Nicolas Cage’s character. Terrifier 3 (which we will get onto later) did the same, but took it a step further, and the main character, ‘Art the Clown,’ actually Venmoed people small amounts of money after they called the line.

It gets better. They even had an influencer strategy. Horror creators and critics received some brilliant PR, with a burn-away cake that revealed the message ‘my Maxine,’ a card saying ‘happy birthday little angel,’ some creepy codes, and more.  This amplified the campaign’s voice with videos unboxing the packages. 

With an under $20M movie and marketing cost, they surpassed that at the box office. The combination of these strategies meant that Longlegs became the most successful indie horror film of the last 10 years.

They don’t rely on prestige or critical acclaim. They know their audience: online and obsessed with being the first to experience something shocking.

Strangely, even videos of people complaining about the gore on the likes of TikTok only further drove awareness of the film. 

The list goes on and on, and there’s certainly a trend amongst lesser-known horror movies that become far more well-known than expected due to a unique or viral marketing trend.

We’ve been through a lot, and there’ve been some amazing horror films that didn’t make the blog, but the marketing principles for your brand, your products, and your services remain the same. 

Particularly in social media, there’s been a massive prominence on building loyalty and connection between brands and services, in the form of Instagram community channels, YouTube’s ‘Community’ feature for polls, posts, and images, and the popularity of employee-generated content across all channels. 

Bring elements that your community can discuss and try to decipher, keep in contact with them throughout your campaigns, be personable, and the community will follow.

The best horrors don’t just make you jump, they make you feel something, whether it’s fear, tension, excitement, disbelief, or curiosity – that response is the hook that keeps audiences invested. 

Brands can use this same principle. Your products need to connect with your audience to convert – the same way a film needs to interest someone enough for them to buy a ticket. Make sure your campaign taps into the customers’ emotions in a way that keeps your brand in their memory.

Avoid campaigns that have one single height of interest that drops off because you’ve given them all the information they need. Nurture the interest you have and curate a multi-faceted relationship to deepen the loyalty within your communities over time.  

Remember, people don’t want to be sold to, so doing this type of campaign means you can drop hints and create more interactive experiences through polls, filters, challenges, or live activations that make people want to keep informed.

Brands often chase mass appeal, but horror studios like A24 and Blumhouse understand the power of knowing their audience and owning a niche.  By speaking directly to passionate subcultures and giving them a voice, they’ve built loyalty that lasts for more than one film. For brands, that means focusing less on reach and more on resonance within your community.

Horror doesn’t beg critics to like it. It trusts its fans to love it. That authenticity has made it one of the most self-aware, culturally confident genres today. Don’t smooth out the edges that make your brand interesting.

Has Horror had a rebrand? I mean, yes…but not quite? 

It hasn’t completely reinvented itself and shied away from the films that made the genre so popular. The shock, tension, and curiosity at the core of horror films remain the same. 

What’s changed is how it resonates with audiences. The genre has adapted to the digital age by amplifying its voice across social channels, encouraging audience participation, and, most importantly, building powerful online communities that live outside of the cinema screen.