--- description: Which comes as no surprise to fans of the genre title: White Females at Highest Risk In Horror Films image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c077fe38534bea/6987634f8e06015fa1457f8d/jlc-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # White Females at Highest Risk In Horror Films by [Tim Newcomb](/author/tim-newcomb/) ## Tim Newcomb Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2013 1:00 PM CUT  Compass International Pictures by [Tim Newcomb](/author/tim-newcomb/) ## Tim Newcomb Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2013 1:00 PM CUT That white females, usually young, are the victims of choice among the killers and monsters that stalk the innocent in horror movies should come as absolutely no surprise to fans of the genre. In fact, it’s been confirmed in data compiled in an [conducted by the _Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/horror-film-deaths%5Fn%5F4178359.html?utm%5Fhp%5Fref=entertainment "undefined"). By looking at a random sampling of 25 horror films — including the _Scream_ movies, _I Know What You Did Last Summer,_ _Jaws_, _Friday The 13th_, and _The Exorcist_, but not _Halloween_ — we now know that in 52 percent of on-screen slayings, it’s a white female who dies first. That’s just over half the total body count. After white female, expect a white male to meet an untimely end, at least 24 percent of the time. Black males (12 percent) and black females (8 percent) hung around a bit longer. But remember. Just because [“the black dude dies first” rule](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlackDudeDiesFirst "undefined") hasn’t proven true, it doesn’t mean the black guy still doesn’t die. Just as any good psychology professor will tell you, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you. Horror films included. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3547214/horror-films-who-dies-first/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3547214/horror-films-who-dies-first/"},"headline":"White Females at Highest Risk In Horror Films","datePublished":"2013-11-01T13:00:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:06:25.316Z","description":"...Which comes as no surprise to fans of the genre","url":"https://time.com/3547214/horror-films-who-dies-first/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c077fe38534bea/6987634f8e06015fa1457f8d/jlc-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tim Newcomb","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tim-newcomb/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5c077fe38534bea/6987634f8e06015fa1457f8d/jlc-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween","caption":"Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween","creditText":"Compass International Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3547214/horror-films-who-dies-first/","name":"White Females at Highest Risk In Horror Films"}}]}] ```