--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like…" description: "\"Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. They, like I, went for the French description: 'the theatre of the fantastique'.\" — Christo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/christopher-lee-9093_description_lon-chaney-and-boris-karloff-didn-t-like_1623502.jpg" --- # Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word… ![“Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. They, like I, went for the French description: 'the theatre of the fantastique'.” quote by Christopher Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/christopher-lee-9093_description_lon-chaney-and-boris-karloff-didn-t-like_1623502.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/christopher-lee-9093_description_lon-chaney-and-boris-karloff-didn-t-like_1623502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f0/christopher-lee-9093_description_lon-chaney-and-boris-karloff-didn-t-like_1623502.jpg) > “Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. They, like I, went for the French description: 'the theatre of the fantastique'.” [Christopher Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes that classic horror actors preferred the term “theatre of the fantastique” over “horror,” emphasizing artistic nuance. **In simple terms:** Prefer “fantastique” to “horror.” Key Takeaway Embrace artistic terminology. Themes film genre language Mood analytical historical Type cinematic literary When to use this quote - movie criticism - screenwriting - film studies Key Concepts aesthetic theory genre evolution Questions to Reflect On - Why does naming affect genre perception? - How does language shape artistic identity? A Different Perspective Changing terminology may not change audience perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boris Karloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boris-karloff-304483/) [Description](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Karloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karloff-304484/) [Karloff Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karloff-didn-304486/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Theatre Fantastique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre-fantastique-304482/) [Word Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-horror-304485/) ## Related quotes > [I made three films with Boris Karloff. 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I always wanted to be Boris Karloff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-simmons/i-was-never-interested-in-being-a-rock-star-i-always-wanted-to-be/) [Gene Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-simmons/) > [I think the big thing is that Stephen King is just a phenomenon, and when he came along, for the first time horror was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-think-the-big-thing-is-that-stephen-king-is-just-a-phenomenon-and/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [“It’s horrible," she said. He looked at her in surprise. Horrible? Wasn’t that odd? He hadn’t thought that for years. 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People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Selfish hedonism is not a pejorative. It is a description - an exactly accurate description of what is involved in homosexual relations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-keyes/selfish-hedonism-is-not-a-pejorative-it-is-a-description-an-exactly/) [Alan Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-keyes/) > [Part of my plan was not only to introduce all useful animals that I possibly could into this part of Australia, but also the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grey/part-of-my-plan-was-not-only-to-introduce-all-useful-animals-that-i/) [George Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grey/) > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [The word actress has always seemed less a job description to me than a title](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tierney/the-word-actress-has-always-seemed-less-a-job-description-to-me-than/) [Gene Tierney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tierney/) > [My Calvinism persuades me that we are open to God, in the sense that we are not delimited, not organisms with fixed attributes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-calvinism-persuades-me-that-we-are-open-to-god-in-the-sense-that/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Christianity also stands in opposition to intellectual, as well as physical, health. 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Somerset Maugham in about 5th grade. Didn't understand the plots, but loved the descriptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-p-kinsella/discovered-w-somerset-maugham-in-about-5th-grade-didn-t-understand/) [W. P. Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-p-kinsella/) [Browse all 1,075 Description quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/description/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. 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