I just recently found a 1946 HOLLYWOOD REPORTER article saying that horror movies were currently taking a big step-up in class (budget- and shooting schedule-wise), that adults were now enjoying them as much as kids, that exhibitors were "high" on them, and kinda predicting a long life for the genre, with lots of current and in-the-works releases cited (BEDLAM, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, some Universals, BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, etc.). And studios had lots more on the drawing boards, according to this article -- including six(!) from Columbia.

Then, pfffffffffffffffffft, overnight, there was nuthin', as though this friggin' article put the whammy on the whole genre!