Like all supposedly new genres, the "horror comedy" does have historical
antecedents. It possibly extends back to the 40s and beyond. Relevant titles
include the Bob Hope vehicles, THE GHOST BREAKERS (1940), the Hope version of
THE CAT AND THE CANARY (40s), ABBOT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948?).
Parody and horror comedy treatments usually affect any long-standing genre.
Think of the Roger Corman vehicle THE RAVEN with Vincent Price, Boris
Karloff, and Peter Lorre acting outrageously in a send-up of the Poe series
of the 60s. Even before THE RAVEN, TALES OF TERROR contained a comedy treatment
of THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO/ THE BLACK CAT(with Price and Lorre)as a light
interval (think of the porter scene in MACBETH) between MORELLA and THE
STRANGE CASE OF MR. VALDEMAR.
   I'm sure other examples appear in early sound cinema as well as the silent
era. Perhaps defining films as involving the major emphasis on horror/comedyas
opposed to brief switches in mood to relieve tensions (e.g. the slapstick
custard pie sequence in DAWN OF THE DEAD). Again, this may involve another
example where generic boundaries are more diffuse than rigid.
 Tony Williams
 
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