Horror genres in literature, film, TV, and other media often overlap and incite feelings of dread, fear, or anxiety. Common types include monster/supernatural, gothic, psychological, body/gore/splatter, extraterrestrial, and survival horror. Many are named after popular authors like Clive Barker or Edgar Allen Poe.
There are certain horror genres that can be found in literature, film, television, poetry, and other forms of entertainment or media. Many of these genres overlap in certain ways, often dealing with similar themes or using similar elements to address different horrific concepts. Some of the more common types of horror are monster or supernatural stories, gothic horror, and psychological horror. Other common horror genres include body horror, gore or splatter horror, and extraterrestrial horror.
Because horror itself is a genre of literature or storytelling, many horror genres can be viewed as different sub-genres or aspects of the general genre of horror itself. In general, horror stories are meant to incite a feeling of dread, disgust, fear, or anxiety in the audience. This is usually accomplished by confronting the viewer or reader with scenes, characters, and ideas that most people find disturbing or representative of topics and concepts that people typically don’t want to address or consider. Many horror genres are ultimately ways in which the unknown is used to induce fear or panic in the audience.
One of the most common horror genres is a monster or supernatural story. These stories often use supernatural or impossible creatures such as vampires, werewolves, ghouls, zombies, and other beings from folklore or legend to incite fear in the audience. Gothic horror is a form of horror storytelling in which the setting and setting are an important feature within the story, often using the setting to create an overall sense of dread or foreboding. Psychological horror is a type of horror in which the action or concepts that are unpleasant within the story are largely psychological in nature, often dealing with insanity and fears common among people.
There are also some horror genres that are much more physiological in nature. Body horror is a genre where the human body itself is used as the primary tool by which audiences are confronted with the horrific. These stories may include the transformation or mutilation of the body as a way to reflect an innate fear of death or loss of control. Gore or splatter horror is somewhat similar, though it often focuses on gruesome details that many people find revolting or uncomfortable.
In contrast to these, extraterrestrial horror typically uses elements far outside humanity to introduce horrific concepts, often reflecting humanity’s insignificant role within the larger cosmos. Survival horror is a relatively new form of horror, or at least the name is fairly new. In this type of horror, the struggle to survive in a hostile environment is often the backdrop against which the line between human and inhuman action is drawn, using dire situations to reflect on the nature of the human race and what people are capable of to survive.
Many horror genres are named after or associated with popular authors who wrote or created stories of that particular type. Clive Barker, for example, often uses body or horror splatter with supernatural elements to make the reader face the horrific; many people would describe similar works by comparing them to Barker. Edgar Allen Poe is known as a master of gothic horror, often with supernatural themes as well, and a story with similar subject matter could be described by comparing him to Poe. “Lovecraftian” horror, modeled on the works of HP Lovecraft, often deals with the supernatural and the extraterrestrial, using these elements to tell psychological stories in which people often lose their sanity when confronted with unfathomable and unknowable beings from beyond our reality.
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