The Phantasmagoria

Near the beginning of motion pictures, there was a device known as a magic lantern. A magic lantern was a device that would shine a light through a painted piece pf glass, showing a drawn picture on a screen or wall. This was the beginning of what people came to be known as a Phantasmagoria. This was a special stage where people saw eerie things such as skeletons and ghosts on the wall. In these shows they promoted to resurrect the dead and bring demons into the world of the living. At the time, the world was very centered on the belief of demons and the afterlife, making the shows all the more creepy. The Phantasmagoria was the beginning of a huge genre, the horror film.