The horror genre is not and never has been a boys’ club, and there’s no better time than Women’s History Month (and Women in Horror Month) to emphasize that, according to Shudder, the genre streaming platform.

It’s been argued that women were instrumental in creating and popularizing the genre. Ann Radcliffe was an early pioneer, publishing The Mysteries of Udolpho in 1794, and Mary Shelley’s sci-fi horror tale Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, came out in 1818, around 20 years before Edgar Allan Poe began publishing his tales of terror.

Starting March 20th, the streamer will unleash 1000 Women in Horror, a collection of tributes to female genre pioneers, directors, writers and actors that celebrates the best villainesses, distaff monsters, scream queens and final girls in our libraries and on our screens.

Directed by Donna Davies (Nightmare Factory), 1000 Women in Horror is taken from the 2020 compendium 1000 Women in Horror 1895 – 2018, written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

The brief trailer shows clips from iconic, mostly female-dominated films like The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wasp Woman, Revenge, Midsommar, Alien, Jennifer’s Body, The Descent, M3GAN, and The Babadook.

The multi-episode documentary will feature interviews with genre stars and auteurs like Felissa Rose, Kate Siegal,  Roxanne Benjamin, Akela Cooper, Mattie Do, Brea Grant, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Mary Harron, Heller-Nicholas, Cerise Howard, Kier-La Janisse, Nikyatu Jusu, Natasha Kermani, Roseanne Liang, Annalise Lockhart, Toby Poser, Sara Risher, Lin Shaye, Kate Siegel, Chelsea Stardust, Jenn Wexler and April Wolfe.

Heller-Nicholas said in a statement issued by Shudder, “Like so many women and femme-identifying horror fans, horror is in my blood: I live and breathe it, and it has helped me navigate the real-life horrors of the world more times than I can count. Having dedicated my career as an author and a film critic to the genre, watching my 2020 book, 1000 Women in Horror, come to life on screen has been a dream. This has been rendered even more magical not just through our collaborations with the horror royalty interviewed on screen, but the unwaveringly supportive Shudder team themselves, without whom this film literally would not exist!”

Davies said in her own statement, “In my films, I like to rip back the curtain and expose the raw underbelly of stories that obsess me. I love horror because it drags our deepest, darkest fears out into the light. Women have been shaping this genre from day one, but the industry has too often ignored or erased their contribution. This film finally sets the record straight, and Shudder is the perfect place for horror fans to discover the voices and films that have too often been overlooked,”