Horror Sub-Genres

Basic history:

Horror is a genre of literature, art, and film that intends to do that which it's name entails--to frighten, disgust, shock, or horrify its reader or viewer. These feelings, however, are linked to pleasure on some level (or people would not read/watch it). The pleasure might relate to any number of attendant feelings: catharsis, schadenfraude, stimulation where we may have felt under stimulated (after all, we no longer live in the wilderness, experiencing fight or flight on a daily basis), shocking us out of complacency about issues we might normally not want to face. Horror has its roots in mythology and folklore, like fairy tales, as well as religious traditions with stories of devils and hell and other terrors. More contemporary horror can be traced to the the gothic literature tradition that arose in the 18th century, and incorporated the supernatural into works of fiction. In the 19th century, horror as the genre we know it today really took off, with works like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (still the most assigned school book in the US) and Edgar Allen Poe's short stories taking off.

In this class, you are receiving a toolkit on how to dissect and understand horror as an aesthetic  category, and to understand it as a metaphor for a society's condition, a window into the human mind (and soul, if you prefer). 

Today, horror is arguably the most popular form of entertainment in the world, raking in boatloads of cash on video games, movies, and books. It's not always taken seriously by critics, but it should be, because it tells us a lot about what we fear, both individually and collectively. It can also be a lot of fun to read and watch.

Sub-genres:

Here are some horror sub-genres from Professor D's studies. You might be able to recognize works that fit into these categories, and new sub-genres are sure to arise!

These genres are not clear-cut, and often overlap with one another. Don't stress yourself out trying to figure out the best genre for a work; instead figure out which ones make the most sense to you.

Also, these aren't in any fancy type of order and are focused on contemporary horror sub-genres, since that is the focus of our class.


Techno-Horror
Often dealing with issues of surveillance, technology, the Internet, and sometimes evil governments and corporations, techno-horror often blends with science fiction to reveal the horrors embedded in our tech devices.

Examples: TV show Black Mirror, The Cabin in the Woods, Ring

Horror-Comedy
Walking the uneasy line between scary and funny, horror comedy is often raunchy, campy, and totally inappropriate. Frequently overlaps with meta-horror.

Examples: Scream, The Cabin in the Woods, Jennifer's Body, Evil Dead II, Scary Movie

Eco-Horror
Horror that deals with natural disasters, climate change, pollution, and other ecological problems. Can blend with other genres such as Illness or Survival or Creature Features. For example, the Korean film The Host is about American army officials dumping toxic chemicals in the Han River in Korea, which creates a hybrid fish-monster that terrorizes the city.

Examples: The Host, I Am Legend, The Bay

Survival Horror
Often cross-pollinates with Eco-Horror, Illness Horror, and sometimes with zombies and other Creature Features. Sometimes post-apocalyptic. Horror that deals with trying to survive in the wake of a disaster, in hostile natural environments, or after an accident. Of course, you can look at this term more broadly and see many horror narratives where someone is trying to survive a killer as also being Survival Horror. Gets at our primal flight or fight impulses like nothing else.

Examples:The Walking Dead, Open Water, I Am Legend, JAWS

Horror Romance
Often having to do with the story of misfits (who may very likely be monsters), horror romances bring together unlikely pairs for kinship.

Examples: Let Me In, Only Lovers Left Alive

Slasher Horror/Serial Killers
While you can have a slasher horror work without it being about a serial killer, you rarely have a serial killer work without it being a slasher narrative. These often cross-pollinate with Exploitation Horror, but not always. A sub-genre of this genre that perhaps should have its own category is Home Invasion horror, which deals with psychopaths breaking into ones home and trying to kill the residents (perhaps this sub-genre is a response to the housing market crash?).

Examples: American Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Purge, Hush

Exploitation Horror/Gore
AKA "Torture Porn"
You have to have a strong stomach for Exploitation Horror, which is filled with so much blood, sex, and guts that some people consider it exploitative. Franchises like SAW, or films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre fit into this category. These films are aimed at creating an intense repulsion in viewers. It's harder to create this effect in a novel or short story, but not impossible.

Examples: Human Centipede, I Spit on Your Grave, SAW, Battle Royale

Psychological Horror
Dealing with mass hysteria, madness, and sometimes physical isolation, psychological horror can often be combined with other genres to detail what happens to the mind in extreme circumstances. This is the genre most likely to create a scenario where the reader or viewer cannot tell what horrors are real and which are "imagined"--until it is too late.

Examples: The VVitch, The Shining

True Crime
Some people don't categorize True Crime as horror because it supposedly isn't as "scary," but I think the categories often blend. After all, it's about real life horrors, like serial killers and murderous cult leaders.

Examples: In Cold Blood, Helter Skelter, The Stranger Beside Me

Revenge Horror
One of the more satisfying genres of horror to watch if you've ever been wronged, Revenge Horror deals with (often brutally) killing those who have done one wrong (whether it's justified or not, is up to the viewer).

Examples: I Spit on Your Grave

Meta-Horror
A lot of horror gets meta here and there, especially with so many sequels, but truly meta-horror works reference many other horror narratives self-consciously within the narrative. Most meta-horror is also comical, making fun of the genre and it's excesses, even  as it is celebrating it.

Examples: The Cabin in the Woods, Scream, Scary Movie

Illness Horror/Body Horror
These could really be two different categories, but illness horror often deals with mass epidemics (and therefore is often combined with zombie narratives). Body horror can frequently overlap with supernatural horror that deals with things like possession and creepy pregnancies. What the two have in common, of course, are ones own body turning against one.

Examples: 28 Days Later, Rosemary's Baby, The Brood

Sci Fi Horror
Sometimes the sci-fi and horror genres blend, particularly (but not always) in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Technology and an imagined, dsytopian future come into play.

Examples: Alien, I Am Legend, Frankenstein

Monsters/Creature Features
We could create a whole host of of sub-genres within this category! From vampires to werewolves to zombies, to monsters like Bigfoot and Lochess Monster (who could possibly have their own sub-genre within this sub-genre, as they are legends believed to be real), monsters have intrigued humans for centuries. After all, as Jeffrey Jerome Cohen says, they are our children.

Examples: Dracula, Willow Creek, An American Werewolf in Paris, Night of the Living Dead

The Supernatural/Gothic
The supernatural has been a key player in horror for a long time, with its roots in the gothic literature tradition. It deals with "evil forces" and things that go bump in the dark. Common tropes include: haunted houses, possession narratives, devil/demon stories, witches, ghosts, haunted dolls and toys.

Examples: The Haunting of Hill House, The Exorcist, The VVitch, The Shining, Child's Play

The Sequel (and Sequel and Sequel and Sequel)
While not a genre unto itself, horror movies are known for their sequels which spawn further sequels which spawn even more sequels. Just like a human centipede!

Examples: Human Centipede, The Living Dead series, The Evil Dead series, Nightmare on Elm Street series, etc. etc. etc.

The Mash-Up
There are different kinds of mash-ups in the horror genre, whether it's a mash up like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies that combines something normally not considered horrifying with something horrifying, thereby tainting it, or Freddy vs. Jason or Alien vs. Predator which combines two horror fan favorite monsters into one film. Horror is not a "pure" genre (no genre really is), and it doesn't mind that! The fear can creep in anywhere.

Found Footage
While not a genre unto itself, it is worth mentioning as the premiere method of framing a horror narrative in the 21st century. With the success of The Blair Witch project in the 90s, which relied on found footage "discovered" from a missing documentary team, and then with the massive success of Paranormal Activity, which relied on the trope of home surveillance, found footage makes a lot of sense in our increasingly "surveilled" world of cell phone cameras and government surveillance. It also gives the viewer a clear sense that what they are watching is, in fact, filmed--and implicates them as voyeurs and viewers. 

Examples: VHS, The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity