How Steve Barton Helped Build Modern Horror

About this episode

Steve Barton discusses his journey in modern horror media and the impact of Dread Central.

In this episode of ClassHorrorCast, I’m joined by Steve Barton! One of the true pioneers of modern online horror media and co-founder of Dread Central. We dive deep into Steve’s early beginnings as a horror fan, his days posting on the legendary Fangoria message boards, and the completely random encounter with Tony Timpone that ultimately changed the course of his life forever. From there, Steve takes us through the creation of Dread Central and the challenges, sacrifices, and triumphs that came with building one of the most important horror outlets in internet history during a time when online horror journalism was still the wild west. Throughout the conversation, Steve reflects on the relationships he built with legendary figures including George A. Romero and Sid Haig, sharing incredible stories from decades spent inside the horror industry and convention scene. We also discuss Steve’s pivotal involvement in the rise of Terrifier and the Art the Clown phenomenon, his role in helping bring attention to the franchise, and the difficult fallout that eventually led to his firing from the production. It’s an honest and deeply personal discussion about passion, loyalty, success…

People in this episode

Host: Aran Doyle

Guest: Steve Barton

Topics covered

• modern horror media
• Dread Central
• horror industry
• Art the Clown
• personal struggles
• horror culture

Keywords

• horror
• Dread Central
• Steve Barton
• Art the Clown
• horror journalism
• Fangoria
• Terrifier
• autobiography

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dread Central

Books & works: Terrifier

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