The Reflection of Society's Fears in Horror Films Throughout history, horror stories have existed to scare people. Over time, the stories changed to reflect what society was afraid of at that time. This continued from the silent film era to the era of computer-generated images, or CGI. The fundamental root of any good horror film is targeting a fear already present in the audience's mind. Over the past century, horror films have reflected society's fears of nuclear radiation, communism, war and AIDS. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first example of fear depicted in horror films is that of nuclear radiation. When the United States bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, both countries were greatly affected. In Japan, the aftermath of the bomb devastated the country. A few years after the two bombings, a group of Japanese filmmakers created Godzilla, a film about radiation following an atomic bomb attack causing the mutation of a lizard that attacked Tokyo (Koyama, 1954). Back in America, the fear only increased with films like Beginning of The End and Them! (Swain, 2013). In one of the most famous horror films of all time, Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), the apocalypse began with nuclear radiation. These films allowed the public's imagination to delve further into the mystery of what the consequences of an atomic bomb might be. After America's radiation scare, attention then shifted to the fear of communism, or McCarthyism. During the Cold War, Americans feared the spread of communism from Russia or Cuba to the continental United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy only compounded this fear in his hunt for communists in government and the public, causing widespread hysteria and finger-pointing. McCarthyism essentially led to a fear of things that appeared human but were actually evil, as seen in films such as Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). In the film, a stereotypically American small town is slowly overrun by a mysterious group of humanoid lifeforms who take over the bodies of American citizens. Unlike normal Americans, these so-called body snatchers were only interested in taking over society, causing the two main characters, the only humans left, to attempt to flee to save both their life and their individuality. The body snatchers represent the communists because although they looked like Americans, they were actually sinister beings whose main goals were to build their community and create a world without diversity among people. Both main characters reacted in much the same way as McCarthy: panicking and trying to find help, only to find that everyone had already gone to the side you were trying to avoid. In the 1960s, the Vietnam War broke out and transformed society's primary fear into war and the slaughter of the many young Americans sent into combat. This was essentially the first war in which visual combat was shown to the American public via television. The real-life horror that could be seen by simply turning on the news then led to an increase in the amount of gore shown in films. Before this time, horror films were more.