Horror History: Friday, December 7, 1945: House of Dracula was released in theaters

Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) & Dracula (John Carradine) beg Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens) to cure them of their killing instincts but Dracula schemes to seduce the doctor’s nurse.

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Horror History: Saturday, September 1, 1945: Isle of the Dead was released in theaters

Boris Karloff stars in this classic horror film about a group of people who seek refuge from the plague on a Baltic Island only to fear that one of their number is a vampire.

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Horror History: Friday, December 22, 1944: The Mummy’s Curse was released in theaters

In his last appearance, Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as one of the screen’s most memorable movie monsters: the mummy Kharis from Egypt, who is tormented by his forbidden love for Princess Ananka.

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Horror History: Friday, December 1, 1944: House of Frankenstein was released in theaters

A scientist (Boris Karloff) escapes from prison and revives Dracula (John Carradine), Frankenstein (Glenn Strange), & Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) to get revenge on his behalf.

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Horror History: Friday, July 7, 1944: The Mummy’s Ghost was released in theaters

Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) is given a sacred potion that grants him eternal life to search for his lost love, Princess Ananka, despite the unending curse that haunts them.

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Horror History: Wednesday, March 1, 1944: Weird Woman was released in theaters

Weird Woman is probably the best of the bunch, an adaptation of Fritz Leiber’s novel Conjure Wife (later filmed as Burn, Witch, Burn!). Chaney is an expert on superstition who marries a voodoo-obsessed woman, whose spells might be responsible for his rapid professional rise. The influence of Cat People is as strong as the source novel. Calling Dr. Death, the first in the series, is duller, with a hypnotism-minded Chaney bedeviled by a wanton wife who conveniently dies under mysterious circumstances. Dead Man’s Eyes and the amazingly-titled Pillow of Death are more fun, the former a variation on the old eye-transplant story and the latter a whodunit with lawyer Chaney accused of his wife’s murder.

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Horror History: Thursday, November 11, 1943: The Return of the Vampire was released in theaters

Matt Willis stalks the streets of World War II London when German bombing releases vampire Armand Tesla (Lugosi) from his grave Aided by a werewolf named Andreas (Matt Willis) and opposed by Lady Jane (Frieda Inescort), who operates an asylum, Tesla goes in search of young ladies to supply him with blood. Also starring Miles Mander, Roland Varno and Academy Award-nominee, Nina Foch.

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Horror History: Friday, November 5, 1943: Son of Dracula was released in theaters

Count Alucard, the son of Dracula, (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Katherine, now a disciple of the evil Count, set out to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for human blood.

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Horror History: Friday, August 27, 1943: Phantom of the Opera was released in theaters

A crazed composer (Claude Rains) transforms into a masked phantom who schemes to make a young soprano the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.

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Horror History: Friday, March 5, 1943: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was released in theaters

Hollywood’s best-known monsters–the resurrected Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Frankenstein’s inhuman creation (Bela Lugosi)–collide in a fight for the ages in this chilling horror film.

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Horror History: Friday, October 23, 1942: The Mummy’s Tomb was released in theaters

Ancient Egyptian Mummy, Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) and High Priest Mehemet (Turhan Bey) wreak vengeance on the family who defiled the sacred tomb of his beloved Princess Ananka.

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Horror History: Friday, March 13, 1942: The Ghost of Frankenstein was released in theaters

Dr. Frankenstein’s (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) plans to replace the brain of his monster (Lon Chaney Jr.) are hijacked by his scheming and malevolent assistant Ygor (Bela Lugosi).

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Horror History: Friday, December 12, 1941: The Wolf Man was released in theaters

Lon Chaney Jr. stars in this horror masterpiece– featuring elaborate settings and a chilling score– about a man who is attacked by a werewolf and then becomes one himself at each full moon.

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Horror History: Tuesday, August 12, 1941: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was released in theaters

Spencer Tracy stars in this Robert Louis Stevenson classic about 19th century medical doctor whose experiments into the nature of good and evil transform him into the violent Mr. Hyde.

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Horror History: Friday, May 2, 1941: The Black Cat was released in theaters

Set in the old dark Winslow house, The Black Cat is a frightening mystery thriller starring Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi and Alan Ladd. A wealthy but embittered matriarch makes a deathbed recovery only to be murdered by someone in the greedy clan gathered for the reading of her will. The family is frustrated to learn that nobody receives a penny until the very last of the old lady’s multitude of beloved cats perish. Along with the family and servants, an eager real estate agent and a single-minded antique dealer have arrived to pounce on what seemed to be a sure-fire, moneymaking opportunity. Trapped in the mansion by a raging storm, one by one, people and cats turn up dead. The only thing that remains more mysterious than the revolving doors and passageways scattered throughout the grand estate, is the identity of the murderer.

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Horror History: Friday, September 20, 1940: The Mummy’s Hand was released in theaters

In this frightening chiller masterpiece, an expedition of American archaeologists travels to Egypt in search of the undiscovered tomb of Princess Ananka.

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Horror History: Friday, January 13, 1939: Son of Frankenstein was released in theaters

Set 25 years after the explosive death of Frankenstein, this critically acclaimed sequel to the original horror classic stars screen legends Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.

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Horror History: Monday, May 11, 1936: Dracula’s Daughter was released in theaters

When Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) appears in London, mysterious events occur leading Dr. Von Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) to believe the Countess must be a vampire.

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