Graveyard Shift Sisters interviews Dr. Robin Means Coleman about her book Horror Noire, that’s right the very book that was adapted into the swell documentary, Horror Noire. “Horror Noire was born out of a truly very simple question: “Does the Black guy really always die first in horror movies.” [Spoiler alert:  According to Horror Noire, the answer is a resounding “no!”]  Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) got me thinking about the function of Blacks’ demise in horror. The star of the film, Ben, dies last and he dies needlessly—that is what makes the film so horrifically powerful. So, I started to think about the full history of horror films in which Blacks appear, and wondered what purpose their character, and their subsequent death, served.”