This horror documentary is not the same as the 1986 TV special Stephen King's World of Horror nor the 1988 VHS release of the same name, which runs 45 minutes, was distributed by Front Row Entertainment and is about King himself. Instead, This Is Horror (copyright 1989) was a TV special which ran in four 60 minute increments. This new special used some framing footage from the original 'World of Horror' but is primarily newer interviews and behind-the-scenes footage about what was hot in horror in the late 80s. Here in the U.S., a condensed 90-minute version made its way onto video courtesy of Goodtimes in 1990. Elsewhere, the entire special was released as 2 different tapes running 90 minutes apiece. In the UK these were titled This is Horror: A Video Encyclopedia of Horror (Volumes 1 and 2) and in Germany they were called Best of Stephen King's World of Horror (Parts 1 & 2).

Quand Stephen KING, le maître de l’horreur, le romancier le plus lu au monde actuellement, ouvre grandes les portes de sa vidéothèque, cela donne THIS IS HORROR une anthologie unique des grandes scènes du cinéma fantastique, présentée par le King himself, entouré de personnalités telles que Wes Craven (Les griffes de la nuit), Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator 2). Deux cassettes où l’on se fait peur, où l’on s’amuse, et où l’on s’amuse à se faire peur.