March is Women's History Month, which also means it's Women in Horror Month, an annual chance to celebrate and elevate the women who make the genre so vibrant. In the horror community we get celebrations of this occasion every year ranging from interview series to film lists to glowing tributes. In 2026, though, we got something else: A new documentary that's essential for any fan of the horror genre.
Directed by Donna Davies and written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (based on her book of the same name), 1000 Women in Horror is a soaring overview of the many ways women have contributed to the horror genre, produced some of its most enduring works, and made their own fears, joys, and battles a key part of the horror space not just now, but for all time.
Rather than take a strict linear history approach, the film divides itself into segments built on the life cycle of a woman, from girlhood to pubescence to old age and everything in between. It is the first of many choices which make the film distinct, giving it a tone that feels less like a survey course and more like an intimate peek into the imaginations and hearts of the women who shape the horror genre.
Which women? Well, Heller-Nicholas herself, one of the best horror scholars in the game, is a prominent contributor, as are multi-hyphenate talents like Akela Cooper (M3GAN), Kate Siegel (Hush), Brea Grant (Lucky), Kier-La Janisse (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched), Toby Poser (Mother of Flies) and many more. In each case, we get not just their perspectives on women in the genre at large, but personal stories from their time working in horror, what they've had to endure as women in the film industry, how their own storytelling has been shaped by their experiences, and much, much more. Davies' direction and superb pacing gives the whole thing the feeling that these women are reaching through the screen to hold your hand, to grab you and shake you, to slap you in the face and wake you from your stupor. They take, and hold, your attention, and what they have to offer is indispensable precisely because it's also personal.
Along the way, you also get an expansive and impressive list of horror films created by women, from classics to rising indie favorites to more obscure pieces that'll have even rabid horrorhounds digging around the internet for a chance to see them. It is a remarkably erudite, ambitious, and detailed piece of documentary filmmaking, and it does all of this in less than two hours.
If I had my way, 1000 Women in Horror would be only the beginning of a series of films chronicling the genre from this perspective. I'd love to see it grow into something like In Search of Darkness, becoming an archive of an entire corner of this genre I love so much. As it is, though, even if we never get another one of these, this film deserves to stand as an essential of the genre for any fan hoping to learn more, gain perspective, or just hear a group of badass women tell their stories.
1000 Women in Horror is now streaming on Shudder.
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