"In compiling a list of the genre's highest achievements, we considered it all, from highbrow to lo-fi, pure schlock to Hitchcock (whose "Psycho" topped our "Greatest Films" list, but not this one), reaching back to the advent of cinema. Well, maybe not quite the beginning. According to legend, 1895 audiences recoiled in fear when they saw the train pull into La Ciotat station in the Lumière brothers' early actuality film. We don't count that as horror, though it certainly demonstrated the medium's capacity to startle people.
The question "What is horror?" echoed at the center of every discussion, with long hours spent arguing over where the boundaries lie for a genre that has launched many a career. How often has one of these waking nightmares upset you enough to resurface in your dreams? If we've done our job, you'll want to join the debate."
