Dating back to the 1910's, the genre of comedy horrors derived from stage performances rather than literature--the first cited comedy horror being 'The Ghost breaker' (1914), based on the 1909 play of the same name; audiences reacting more positively toward the horror rather than the humour. However, following WWI, audiences needed their horror to be tempered with comedy as a coping mechanism for the trauma that was just universally experienced.
Written, directed and produced by D.W.Griffith, 'One Exciting night' (1922) was the "pioneering" comedy horror; because it was an early film experiment, the various genres were not well balanced with horror and comedy, later films improving the balance and taking more sophisticated approaches. Identified by Charles Bramesco of Vulture.com, 'Abbott and Castello Meet Frankenstein' (1948) is said to the first commercially successful comedy horror; its success legitimising the genre and establishing it as commercially viable.
The most common conventions found in the comedy horror genre are; ordinary characters everyday routines being interrupted by unexpected challenges they must rise up to, a source of fear to align with the horror side of the hybrid genre--but also comedic attitudes and responses from the characters to align with the comedy part, an example of this being Brenda fighting the ring once it crawls out of the TV set in scary movie 3 because she first thinks her friend is pulling a prank on her.
The decade experiencing an increase in satanism hysteria--mostly linked to suburban parents needing something to blame on the increased teen suicide rates--resulted in comedy horrors of the 80's almost mocking demons and the occult. Like in the 1910's (over WWI), horror comedies were the best form of expression where people could find a way to laugh at their fears. A specific example of this being found throughout Tim Burton's 'Beetle Juice' (1988), the family's Gothic daughter bringing the evil spirit Betelgeuse (a demon) into the real world perfectly mirroring this ideology of the 80's.
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