In this multi-post series, we hope to answer some of your questions about different genre of fiction—this week, horror. Throughout GENRE FICTION 101, you’ll learn about different genres and their place in the publishing world. We’ll discuss popularity, profits, typical tropes, controversies, and more. Read the intro installment here.

Despite every good reason to avoid things that frighten us, humankind decided a long time ago that it loves reading horror. From the creepy and macabre, to the gothic and gory, the horror literary genre is full of dark and twisted stories to keep a reader up at night. We love them—and we’re here to get to the nitty-gritty bones of this classic genre.

What is the Horror Genre?

The biggest indicator of whether a story belongs in the horror genre is the intention behind it. While a romance’s intention is to give you fuzzy feelings of hope, the horror genre’s intention is to elicit reactions of shock, fear, or disgust. Horror stories stimulate the reader, both physically and psychologically, with situations that horrify them.

To be a horror story, the antagonist of the story can’t just be a “bad guy.” According to Darrell Schweitzer, literary historian, “the true horror story requires a sense of evil, not in necessarily in a theological sense; but the menaces must be truly menacing, life-destroying, and antithetical to happiness.” In a horror book, a villain’s motive is never justifiable—they are simply evil.

Top Sub-genres of Horror

Gothic

These novels are going to focus on death. There very well may be some kind of romance angle as well. The stories take place in gloomy settings, like old mansions. There will probably be some variation of a damsel in distress, much like the classic image of the screaming Victorian woman. Dracula is the most common example of this genre.

Supernatural/Paranormal

This definition is pretty straight-forward. Think ghosts, monsters, unexplainable phenomenon. The evil in these stories will not be within the context of proven science.

Non-supernatural

These horror stories take place in the real world. This is the sub-genre for the serial killers.

Occult

Occult horror will focus more specifically on dark ritual aspects. You’ll see a lot of witchcraft and satanism here. This sub-genre is outside the bounds of most religions.

Survival

These stories revolve around a character who is trying to get to the other side of the story alive. Think I Am Legend—there’s a zombie/vampire apocalypse and our main character has to fight through it to survive.

Science Fiction Horror

Here, you’ll find stories of mad scientists and alien invasions—these stories must have a scientific element to them. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the beginning to this sub-genre.

The Evolution of Horror

The earliest examples of the horror literary genre date back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Here, horror was based more in theology and the fear of the unknown. That became a theme throughout horror, since the thing man is frightened of most is what he does not understand. In Greece and Rome, these spooky stories revolved around the afterlife, particularly the idea of supernatural beings like demons that drag you down to misery and/or eternal damnation. It’s these early stories that inspired the genre—the Greek tragedy of Hippolytus inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Ironically, though a lot of these stories had religious roots, the European civilization started gaining an interest in the darker topics.

Around the world, folklore in every culture is filled with elements of horror. Horror stories have changed their purpose though—no longer are they a method of warnings, but now, they are a source of entertainment. Stories of demons and ghosts, vampires and werewolves, are commonly told around campfires for fun instead of told in an attempt to warn against mortal dangers.

From religiously themed horror, the genre evolved over time to embrace the occult. Gothic fiction became popular as Mary Shelley was closely followed by Bram Stoker and his iconic Dracula. Though by today’s standards, the polite, blood-sucking Count is far from terrifying, in the Victorian world, the idea of a monster masquerading as a gentleman was about as scary as you could get.

The genre continued to change over the years as new subcategories continued to grow in popularity. The stories kept getting darker, and the subject matter more shocking in an attempt to maintain the intention of horror in an ever-more-desensitized audience. At the origin of the genre, in Ancient Greece, the “evil” in the story was more commonly a moral or spiritual corruption, like in Plutarch’s depiction of the moral failures of man in Parallel Lives. Now, in today’s popular horror fiction, the evil is overall more present, more terrifying, and typically more physically up in your face. Slasher stories are a dime a dozen, and serial killers are read about with keen interest. Stephen King, the modern master of horror, has written nearly 100 books filled with every spooky plot imaginable. It’s safe to say: the modern world enjoys being scared.

Why do people love Horror?

The fascination of the macabre has grown steadily since the beginning of spooky literature. Even though frightening stories remind us of the evil in the world and that our grasp for control is merely illusion, people still happily snap up Dean Koontz’s latest book. So why do readers love disturbing, chilling tales?

• We love the adrenaline that comes from being terrified. It’s the same reasons behind why people go into haunted houses at Halloween. We know we’re about to be scared, but we like the thrill of it all!
• There’s a community that comes with the genre. The fandom of horror is a vast one, full of a diverse group of people. Given that every culture in the world has its share of spooky stories, there is always new material to read and share.

But Shirley Jackson, the infamous American horror writer, may have said it the best when it comes to a reason why people love the horror genre: “I delight in what I fear.”