One might assume that a director like Alfred Hitchcock was fearless. Hitchcock created films like Psycho (1960) and Rear Window (1954), instilling a generation of filmgoers with anxieties that would follow them into adulthood. The reality was that Alfred Hitchcock had such a firm grasp on the concept of fear because he frequently found himself terrified. “Everything frightens me,” said Hitchcock during an interview with the Washington Post.

Of course, Hitchcock was able to take those fears and analyze them from an entirely new perspective, allowing for a fresh take on horror.

“Conventional chills up the spine bore me,” Hitchcock said during an interview with The Brattleboro Reformer. “You’ve got to put something in those square frames to keep them looking.”

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“Basically, suspense creates anxiety in a mass audience - and a feeling of fear,” the director said during an interview with The Daily Press. Sometimes people create their own anxiety, as they would by riding a rollercoaster. Sometimes it’s given to them in television and in movies; they become anxious for another person with whom they have vicariously identified themselves.”

To further pursue relatability, Hitchcock frequently looked to both fiction and real life when searching for plots for his television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

“The hour show gives time for a full story,” said the director. “The stories often come from full-length novels...Nobody can say there’s a shortage of stories. When you walk along the street, there’s a story in everyone. Sometimes writers have to look for it. Look at the number of writers who draw on their own experience.”