45. Hideo Nakata
I will say right up front that I agree with many of you that this list is far too lean on the Japanese front. There are so many Masters of Fear in the Far East that deserve to be on this list that they may even (under the direction of another writer) take up all 50 spots. I, however, am not as well-versed in Japanese horror as others. But I do know a Master when I see one, and Hideo Nakata is certainly that. Hideo Nakata is the director of Ringu, the movie that provided the blueprint for the American version, The Ring. He also directed a Japanese sequel to the flick and was then invited over to the states (and rightfully so) to direct the English sequel, aptly (if not boringly) titled The Ring Two. He's also the visionary behind the transpacific flick Dark Water and the forthcoming The Ring 3D (which, from the sound of it, has the all-too-real possibility of knocking him back a peg or two on this list€)
44. Steven Spielberg
Yes. That's right. Steven Spielberg. The name might draw up images of loveable heroes cracking bull-whips, loveable aliens eating Reese's Pieces, and loveable Daniel Day-Lewises wearing tall black hats, but you can't deny that Spielberg knows a thing or two (or three or more) about Fear. The evidence? Killer velociraptors, killer Nazis, killer poltergeists, killer sharks, killers trucks, killer robots, and just plain killers. He's a genius at his craft, whether he's behind the camera or behind the guy/gal behind the camera, and when he wants you to squirm in your seat, you, my friend, will have no choice but to do just that.
43. Peter Benchley
With Jaws, Steven Spielberg may have made swimming at New England beaches a thing worthy of a second thought, but without the source material of the novel written by author Peter Benchley, he wouldn't have known how. But Benchley isn't just on this list for the Jaws novel; he also wrote the terrifying Beast, The Deep, The Island, and more. He's a wordsmith of terror and a true Master of Fear.
42. Joe Hill
We know Joe Hill's storytelling legacy now--he's one of Stephen King's writing offspring--but even before the prestigious pedigree was widely announced, Joe Hill was terrifying us with the short stories in his excellent collection 20th Century Ghosts. He's proven time and again that a name is just a name, but true talent is something individual with his still-growing bibliography which includes the wonderful novels Heart-Shaped Box and Horns and his excellent comic book series Locke & Key. Look for his next book NOS4A2 to provide further proof of his Master-dom. Joe Hill may be Stephen King's son, but he's well on his way to showing the world that he's second to no-one.
41. James Wan
The Saw franchise may be old hat by now, doing more eyebrow-raising than goosebump-raising, but it's easy to forget that when the first entry came out in 2004 (directed and co-written by Wan), it was something new and horrifying. Wan went on to produce the rest of the series' flicks, but turned his directorial attentions to new horrors like Dead Silence and 2010's excellently scary story Insidious. He has a captivating visual style, a fresh take on old stories, and a future that's as dark and inviting as any scary-story director out there. Look for The Conjuring and Insidious Chapter 2, both coming soon, to make you jump and choke on your popcorn some more.