On This Day in Horror History: We Celebrated ‘Day Of The Dead’ in ’85 and ‘The Frighteners’ in ‘96

This is an important day for those of us who call horror home. In 1985, the late, great George Romero’s Day of the Day hit theaters, while 11 years later, in 1996, Peter Jackson’s superb supernatural slasher, The Frighteners quietly crept on the scene.

Day of the Dead was treated to a very limited release, but still managed to exit theaters with a $5 million take. It would eventually become one of Romero’s most appreciated films, and one of the high points in the Dead franchise.

The Frighteners didn’t exactly wow at the box office, either, though it did see a larger theatrical release. The film opened in the number five position and eventually went on to earn $16 million domestically with another $12 million picked up in international markets.

To this day, both films are home video success stories, and both are superb and hold up surprisingly well. They’re wildly different flicks, but they’ve both got very loyal fanbases… who apparently have awesome taste in film!