Blood Feast premieres in Peoria, Ill. in 1963. Herschell Gordon Lewis makes the first splatter slasher film about a killer using female body parts to revive an Egyptian goddess. Made for just $25,000, it earns $4 million at the box office despite critical derision and being banned in the UK. Though Stephen King declares it the worst horror movie he’s ever seen, the film retains a cult following.
This Day in Halloween: Herschell Gordon Lewis' first splatter slasher film "Blood Feast" premieres in Peoria, Ill. in 1963. / Illustration by Deanna Lim