I often think about how Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and Vincent Price often served as unofficial ambassadors for the horror genre when I was a child. Those guys were everywhere. They’d be on everything from the Tonight Show, to Sesame Street… or even The Muppet Show. And every time they made an appearance they would represent horror in a way that made it feel accessible—even to children. Sure, many times they were plugging a movie or an appearance, but they also brought a love for suspense, terror, and surprise that came through during the interviews.

I don’t know that anyone has ever studied this, but it would be interesting to figure out if their work along these lines in the 70s is part of the reason we had a horror boom in the 80s with all of the franchise slasher flicks that came out during that decade. These guys aren’t the main cause, but I do believe they did contribute to it becaue they primed all of the 7 and 8 year olds who would be buying movie tickets a few years later to meet individuals like Freddy Krueger.