horror

Horror is a genre of fiction and media intended to provoke fear, dread, or revulsion in audiences. It typically centers on threats to safety, identity, or sanity, often exploring mortality, the unknown, and the grotesque. Horror can arise from the supernatural, the psychological, or the monstrous, and it frequently uses atmosphere and implication as tools of fear.

Etymology and history: The term derives from the Latin horrere, meaning to shudder. In English, horror took hold as a category in the 18th and 19th centuries, with Gothic fiction establishing conventions of haunted estates, moral tension, and forbidden knowledge. The 20th century expanded the field into diverse subgenres and media.

Subgenres and forms: Gothic horror emphasizes mood and setting; psychological horror foregrounds perception and fear, rather than visible threats; supernatural horror invokes phenomena beyond natural law; cosmic horror (notably by H. P. Lovecraft) contends with indifferent or incomprehensible universes; body horror focuses on physical transformation; slasher and survival horror stress threat and action; monster horror centers on beasts or aberrant beings.

Mediums and techniques: Horror appears in literature, film, television, and video games, as well as stage and art. Scare tactics include suspense, gore, sound design, imagery, and pacing. Works may rely on jump scares, dread of the unseen, or confrontation with taboo subjects to provoke emotional or cognitive response.

Cultural context and reception: Horror reflects social anxieties and moral questions, while offering a space for processing fear and trauma. It has a global presence with distinct traditions, and it remains popular in seasonal media cycles, festivals, and fan communities.

Notable examples and figures: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), Dracula (Bram Stoker), The Shining (Stephen King), The Call of Cthulhu (H. P. Lovecraft), Psycho (film, Alfred Hitchcock), The Ring (film and novel).