Slider - Natural History of Horror

Dracula the vampire leans over a woman sleeping in a bed

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

The vampire legend might have started as a way to explain the spread of disease. The myth took flight in the 1931 film Dracula.

A wrapped mummy lies in a coffin with arms crossed

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

The 1932 film The Mummy was inspired by the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

A prop case from the horror movie The Mummy

An uncommon prop vase from 1932's The Mummy was directly inspired by one found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon, a fish like man, reached with his outstretched webbed fingers.

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

The fishy fiend from 1954 film The Creature From The Black Lagoon was modeled after a Brazilian myth of a half-man, half-fish creature living in the Amazon River and the discovery of a live coelacanth in 1938 (it was thought to be extinct for more than 65 million years).

Frankenstein stares off into the distance

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to life in the 1931 film. The shocking science in the story was inspired by the work of Luigi Galvani—a real 19th-century scientist who studied “animal electricity.”

1 of 1

The vampire legend might have started as a way to explain the spread of disease. The myth took flight in the 1931 film Dracula.

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

The 1932 film The Mummy was inspired by the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

An uncommon prop vase from 1932's The Mummy was directly inspired by one found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

The fishy fiend from 1954 film The Creature From The Black Lagoon was modeled after a Brazilian myth of a half-man, half-fish creature living in the Amazon River and the discovery of a live coelacanth in 1938 (it was thought to be extinct for more than 65 million years).

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to life in the 1931 film. The shocking science in the story was inspired by the work of Luigi Galvani—a real 19th-century scientist who studied “animal electricity.”

Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC.