# Horror — Genre

> Films designed to frighten. Dread, fear, terror as primary emotions.

## Defining elements

- Designed to frighten audience
- Threat (supernatural or human)
- Vulnerability of protagonist
- Dread building
- Catharsis through fear

## Sub-genres

| Sub-genre | Example | Style |
|-----------|---------|-------|
| Supernatural | The Exorcist | Otherworldly threat |
| Slasher | Halloween | Killer + victims |
| Psychological | Hereditary | Mind unravels |
| Folk horror | Midsommar | Cult/ritual |
| Body horror | The Fly | Physical transformation |
| Found footage | Paranormal Activity | First-person POV |
| Creature feature | Alien | Monster threat |
| Home invasion | The Strangers | Domestic terror |
| Cosmic horror | The Lighthouse | Existential dread |
| Religious horror | The Witch | Faith corrupted |
| Zombie | 28 Days Later | Apocalyptic |

## Structural conventions

### Dread accumulation
- Tension builds slowly
- Discomfort accumulates
- Pay off in moments

### Scare beats / set pieces
- Major scares spaced through runtime
- Build to bigger ones
- Mix types (jump, atmospheric, gore)

### Vulnerable protagonist
- Often isolated
- Limited resources
- Audience identifies fear

### Resolution
- Survival (final girl)
- Tragic (everyone dies)
- Pyrrhic (survives but changed)
- Sequel hook (threat returns)

## Voice / Style

### Pacing
- Slow build acceptable
- Quiet before storm
- Tension ratchets
- Release moments brief

### Visual
- Darkness used well
- What's NOT shown often scarier
- Negative space
- Reveal management

### Sound design
- Critical genre
- Silence terrifying
- Strings, drones
- Sudden loud effective (used sparingly)

### Dialogue
- Less than other genres
- Reaction over discussion
- Whispers
- Screams (earned)

## Horror mechanics

### Suspense
- Audience knows danger
- Character doesn't (yet)
- Tension from anticipation

### Dread
- Wrongness in the world
- Atmosphere off
- Building unease

### Jump scare
- Misdirection + sudden
- Use sparingly
- Earned by buildup

### Body horror
- Transformation visible
- Discomfort visceral
- Implies fragility

### Psychological
- Reality questioned
- Sanity slippage
- Trust broken

## Sample horror scene

```
INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT

ELDAR (35) walks slowly down the hallway. He doesn't remember
turning off the lights. The bedroom door is ajar — he closed it.

A soft sound from inside. Something between breathing and whispering.

He stops. Listens.

The sound stops.

Long beat. He almost turns to leave. Then —

The bedroom door opens an inch wider. By itself. No wind.

CLOSE ON ELDAR — frozen, eyes wide. He cannot move.

The whispering starts again, louder now. From inside the room.
It's saying his name.

ELDAR (voice trembling)
Hello?

The whispering stops. The hallway is silent.

Beat. He takes a tentative step forward.

THE BEDROOM LIGHT FLICKS ON BY ITSELF.

He sees a SHAPE in the room. Not human. Not quite.

SMASH CUT TO BLACK.
```

This works through:
- Slow build of wrongness
- Sound design implied
- What's NOT shown
- Audience IDs with fear
- Cliffhanger reveal

## Common mistakes

- Over-reliance on jump scares
- Showing monster too early
- Generic protagonist
- No emotional core
- Stupid character decisions ("don't go in there!")
- Resolution that explains away
- Cheap gore without impact

## Best horror films reference

- Hereditary (psychological)
- The Witch (folk)
- Get Out (social)
- Midsommar (folk daylight)
- A Quiet Place (sound)
- The Babadook (grief)
- It Follows (sexual metaphor)
- Talk to Me (modern)

## Sound design centrality

Horror is 50% sound:
- Score (often atonal strings)
- Diegetic (creaks, breaths)
- Silence (terrifying)
- Sudden contrast (jump effective)

## When to write horror

- Genre-loving audience
- Lower budget viable (great horror often cheap)
- Festival circuit
- Streaming success (Netflix loves horror)
- Holiday timing (October release)

## Combination with other genres

- Horror + Comedy (Scream, Cabin in the Woods)
- Horror + Drama (Hereditary)
- Horror + Sci-fi (Alien)
- Horror + Romance (rare, gothic)

## Horror sub-elements that work

- Children acting wrong
- Animals knowing
- Mirrors / reflections
- Hidden compartments / spaces
- Family secrets
- Religious imagery
- Isolation (cabin, snow, rural)
- Unreliable senses
