African-Americans' history in horror films has been horrible, some say.

Blacks often are the first to die in horror movies, a concept played out in "Scream 2" (1997). And there's the feeling blacks are only peripheral characters or best friends.

Out of that grew what is planned as an annual Thrillerfest: St. Louis Horror Film Festival, taking place this weekend in Grand Center.

"Black actors in horror films never had any depth or real contribution to the plot," says filmmaker Edmund Darris, founder of the festival.

And what about blacks getting killed first?

"That's the truth," he says. "That's why I made 'Return of the Mack.' The guy gets killed and comes back and never dies."

Darris, who says the '70s blaxploitation classic "Blacula" is "a great movie with a lot of great things to it," directed and produced five of the seven movies featured in this weekend's festival:

"Evil Eva the Fiery Diva": A dead actress haunts a house being used by teens for a weekend party.

"Friends": Two long-lost friends reconnect, and one turns out to be a serial killer on the run.

"The Return of the Mack": A wife catches her husband cheating and plots with a friend to kill him and collect the insurance money. Then they have to deal with his ghost.

"Who's Gonna Watch the Kids?": A wife arranges a car accident for her unsupportive husband, not knowing their children are in the car, too. The children's ghosts return.

"Cyber Luvers": A woman plans to kill her husband, with the help of a man she met on the Internet.

The plots of Darris' films feature relationships gone terribly wrong.

"A lot of the films produced by Hollywood never really depict the relationship between black males and females," he says. "But anyone who has had a bad relationship knows it can be like a horror film."

The festival also will screen "A Body of Work," directed by Alex Braum, and "Dead on Sight," directed by Scott Barker. Both are horror movies, but neither is directed by African-Americans.

"I don't have qualms about putting good movies into the festival," he says.