Horror

Horror is a genre of literature and film, named after the emotion it is intended to evoke in the audience.

Definition

As a genre, horror refers more to the mode of writing than to the setting or world-building. Consequently, works of horror can be science fictional, fantastic, or realistic. The commonest mode is probably fantastic, with inclusion of supernatural or fantastic elements.

Strictly realistic or naturalistic horror is probably somewhat less common, although psychological horror is a well-recognzied subgenre and crime/mystery/serial killer stories often include significant horror elements. "Millennium" often included serial killer stories with little or no supernatural elements, and numerous other works that focus on the horror that humanity can bring to bear raise no supernatural or fantastic elements. However, such psychological and human horror stories often include an element of ambiguity, or suggest the supernatural. For instance, Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" is a classic example of the ambiguously supernatural horror, and The X-Files episode "Grotesque" is an example of the supernatural lead that turns out to be, after all, human or psychological horror.

Science fictional horror is probably the least common setting/mode for horror works, although it is certainly well-recognized; "Alien" and sequels are an example of science fiction horror. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a work of horror as much as it is of science fiction.

As a mode, as well, horror has often been tied with other modes, including humor (black comedy), camp, thriller, mystery,

Critical analysis

As a film genre, horror films have included many classic "monster movies" as well as the "slasher film" genre. The latter has been the subject of significant feminist analysis, as it classically portrayed young people, especially young women, in peril, and tied their survival to their sexual virtue. The slasher film thus extended the classic trope of the beautiful (blonde) girl in peril to an extreme, a trope that was central to Joss Whedon's creation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- which attempted to turn the horror and slasher film genres on their head.

References

Where to begin? so many