I can remember the first time I picked up Horror Noire. It was the spring of 2013, and I was close to graduating in Pittsburgh, PA. My favorite place in the whole city was a particular nook in the Carnegie Libary of Pittsburgh, that houses the books on cinema and overlooks the dinosaur fossil exhibit of the Natural History Museum. I would get a stack of books and just hide there, nap there and eat Quiznos sandwhiches there, it was my favorite place in the world. I was getting more into horror movies and came across the one book I could find on black culture and horror films. Robin R. Means-Coleman’s Horror Noire. It was eye-opening for me. It showed me that despite what my professors told me, there was a place in film for me. I felt seen, or maybe I felt like I could finally see, other films, other filmmakers, writers and creators. I held the book much longer that I should have, and I think I might still have an overdue fine with the CLP.
Coming out this month, the Netflix of horror, Shudder is premiering their first original documentary based on Robin R Means-Coleman’s book, along with several live screenings and panels. This is an ambitious venture for Shudder, bringing together the underappeciated but close-knit community of actors, writers, filmmakers and creators for a documentary like this. I only started to see black people on horror panels after Get Out, then (most of them my own) a number of horror panels had POC talking about POC issues, and POC issues only. It was nice to be included but it was also limiting, many of us want to talk about more things than how good Get Out was and how there needs to be more representation in horror. Hopefully this doc will be the official word on the topic, for many people to use as a reference for how they want to discuss the topic going forward.
I can’t wait to watch it and hopefully I can have a premeir party of my own in Seattle soon!
Live Releases
Friday, February 1, 2019
7:30pm
Los Angeles: Egyptian Theatre
Discussion following with Rachel True (actor, THE CRAFT), Ashlee Blackwell (co-writer/producer), Xavier Burgin (director), Tananarive Due (executive producer), Tony Todd (actor, CANDYMAN), William Crain (director, BLACULA), Ken Foree (actor, DAWN OF THE DEAD), Keith David (actor, THE THING).
Moderated by Lisa Bolekaja.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
7:30pm
Los Angeles: Egyptian Theatre
Co-presented by Beyond Fest and Shudder
Monday, February 4, 2019
7:00pm
New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music
Double feature: Horror Noire/Tales from the Hood
Exhumed Films and Fangoria are proudly teaming up to present the Philadelphia premiere of an exciting new genre documentary! Produced here in the Philadelphia area and soon to debut on AMC’s streaming service Shudder, HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR takes a critical look at a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and embraced both black filmmakers and black audiences.
The Philadelphia premiere will also feature an introduction and discussion with HORROR NOIRE producers/co-writers Ashlee Blackwell (creator of GraveyardShiftSisters.com) and Danielle Burrows (freelance writer/producer, A&E, WHYY, Arcadia Publishing, Weird NJ), and executive producers Phil Nobile Jr. (editor-in-chief of Fangoria Magazine) and Kelly Ryan (partner, Stage 3 Productions).
Special thanks to Fangoria, Shudder, and Stage 3 Productions for their sponsorship and support in presenting this screening.
7:30pm
Toronto: TIFF Bell Lightbox
Ashlee Blackwell and Tananarive Due on Horror Noire + Screening
Co-writer and producer Ashlee Blackwell and author, executive producer, and educator Tananarive Due — who created a university course inspired by Jordan Peele’s Get Out — join us for a special screening of this Shudder Original documentary about the history of Blackness in horror cinema, followed by an extended onstage conversation.
Nocturnal Emissions 