Reign of the Scream Queens: Barbara Steele

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There was absolutely no way that I could make this year’s Thirty-One Days O’Horror Reign of the Scream Queens list and not include Britain’s First Lady of Horror, Barbara Steele. Her first credited role was on a television show called Dial 999. After a few other small roles in films she was cast as Princess Asa Vajda and Katia Vajda in 1960’s Black Sunday. From there, Steele took on horror role after horror role with occasional comedy and drama roles thrown in for good measure.

Steele featured primarily in Italian films during the 60’s. Some of her most notable appearances were in films like The Pit And The Pendulum (1961) starring opposite Vincent Price, Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968) with Boris Karloff, and the necrophilia horror film The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962). She became tired of being typecast in horror films by the early 1970’s but returned to the genre three times during that decade with Shivers (1975), the cult classic Piranha (1978), and Silent Scream (1979). Once the 1980’s came along, she began taking fewer roles, appearing in miniseries such as War and Remembrance (1988). She had only three credited roles in the 1990’s but eventually returned to acting in the 2000’s, racking up nine acting credits including a voice performance in 2020’s Castlevania and portraying Grandma in 2014’s Lost River.

Steele was born in 1937…..at least that is what most believe, as she has never given a true birth date to anyone. The one thing that is definitely true is that she is a Scream Queen Icon. She has been referred to as the Queen of the Scream Queens over the years and she definitely has the roles to prove it.

I recommend The Pit And The Pendulum, The Silent Scream, and Curse of the Crimson Altar if you haven’t seen any of Ms. Steele’s performances. While she appeared in a ton of horror films, most of them were of less than impressive production. She had a very unique look about her that was too dark and wicked for Hollywood but almost too pretty to be the bad girl in the Italian horror films. To me, she’s just perfect.

Thanks for reading today’s post. I’ll see you again tomorrow!