Schlafterroren

Schlafterroren is a term used in German-language literary and film criticism to describe a recurring motif in horror and crime narratives that centers on fear linked to slaughter or slaughterhouses. The concept is not widely standardized and appears primarily in niche analyses and fan discussions, rather than as a formal genre classification.

Etymology: The compound combines Schlacht or Schlachten (slaughter) with Terror (terror). The suffix -en marks a plural or collective concept in German. The term figuratively conveys a mode of terror anchored in industrial or ritual contexts of killing, rather than mere violence.

Typical features include a focus on spaces associated with killing, such as abattoirs or meat-processing facilities, but also on observers who experience moral discomfort, guilt, or cognitive dissonance. The narratives often employ sensory cues—sound, shrouding smells, cold lighting—to heighten unease and foreground the dehumanizing aspects of violence. Thematically, Schlafterroren can explore power, surveillance, complicity, and the rupture between appearance and reality in modern society.

Schlafterroren is used more as a descriptive label than a formally defined genre. Critics debate its usefulness, with some viewing it as a helpful lens for analyzing atmosphere and ethics in horror, while others insist that it can be too opaque or overlapping with existing categories such as psychological horror or industrial horror. It is most commonly encountered in German-language discourse and has varied reception in international contexts.