Depictions of race in horror films have been the subject of commentary by fans and academics. Critics have discussed the representation of race in horror films in relation to the presence of racist ideas, stereotypes, and tropes within them. The horror genre has conversely also been used to explore social issues, including race, particularly following the popularization of social thrillers in the 2010s.

Throughout the history of the horror film genre, especially in American-produced horror films, racial minorities have not received as much representation as white people, often being relegated to lesser roles. Often the people of color who get the least representation are Latin Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Asian people, with even less representation being given to female racial minorities. For most of the 20th century, minorities were often subject to tokenism, being frequently cast as supporting characters or villains. The representation of race in horror films has undergone a significant transformation over the past century. Early examples, such as Son of Ingagi (1940), one of the first horror films to feature an all-Black cast, challenged the genre’s exclusionary norms and offered a rare space for Black storytelling. In the 1970s, films such as Blacula (1972) and Sugar Hill (1974) blended horror with Blaxploitation, presenting Black protagonists who subverted traditional monster tropes while reflecting the sociopolitical tensions of the era. The 1990s introduced more nuanced racial themes into mainstream horror, notably with Candyman (1992), which explored urban legends and racial trauma. These films laid the groundwork for the emergence of Black horror as a distinct subgenre, paving the way for contemporary works that center race as a core thematic element.

"The Brother Always Dies First," coined by film critic Roger Ebert, references the popular misconception that black characters are the first victims in horror films. While it is not true that minority characters are always the first victims, black characters have a significantly high mortality rate in horror films. This includes minor, non-speaking, sometimes nameless roles that might not warrant death within the narrative. In an informal study of nearly one thousand horror movies with at least fifteen hundred appearances of black characters, scholar Robin R. Means Coleman and author Mark H. Harris found the mortality rate was around 45%.

In this, Jurassic Park (1993) may be the most remarkable example, killing off an unnamed Black guard within mere minutes.

This perceived phenomenon is satirized in the 2022 horror-comedy The Blackening, in which a group of black characters attempt to be the least-black to avoid death.

The consistent killing of black characters was, in part, popularized by a lack of significant roles in early horror films, making them easier to kill in comparison to their white counterparts. Black characters were relegated to the status of largely undeveloped expendable victims. For example, Mantan Moreland's unnamed character in Spider Baby (1967) is killed-off for shock and comedic effect.

Interestingly, one of the greatest of classic horror films, "The Night of the Living Dead" (1968) defies this trend with the sole Black character being the last man standing. The film ends with the character dying not to zombies, but a gunshot to the head by authorities, and is then burned in a pile of corpses.

Much of the attention that minorities get within horror films is through the use of their culture as plot devices and structures to scare or trigger guilt among the white protagonists.^{[unreliable source?]} References to such things as the "Indian burial ground" or the "medicine man" are commonly used in the horror genre to create a stereotype of "the other" and frighten white audiences. Many of the themes and plots relate to forcefully taking land from aboriginal peoples and the horrific outcomes that follow.