Horror is good business — not just during Halloween

Horror isn’t just for Halloween anymore. Streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime are betting on horror movies. Games like Resident Evil are incredibly popular. The horror-comedy TV show “Widow’s Bay” broke records during awards season.

Andrew Webster is entertainment editor at The Verge. He recently explored why horror is such good business right now, and why it’s gotten so big lately.

“As things have just gotten so much more expensive in games and film” Webster said, “making a movie that costs $10 million — like ‘Backrooms’ — and has the potential to make half a billion dollars, is a much better bet than throwing a couple hundred million dollars at Steven Spielberg.”

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Webster about his reporting.

Click the audio player above to hear their conversation.