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Q&A What are the Criteria that Distinguish a Thriller from Horror?

The criteria that come to mind are not exclusive to horror novels, so I'm a little confused and annoyed (annoyed because I find horror novels scary, and yet just cannot define it logically when I t...

3 answers  ·  posted 10y ago by user3422153‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:26:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/10555
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar user3422153‭ · 2019-12-08T03:26:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
The criteria that come to mind are not exclusive to horror novels, so I'm a little confused and annoyed (annoyed because I find horror novels scary, and yet just cannot define it logically when I try to distill the reasons in words). Some of the criteria that come to mind are:

Blood and gore (also found in war novels)

Death and destruction (war novels)

Fear of the unknown (Crew of a nuclear submarine)

The Supernatural (Beautiful Creatures)

Monsters (Twilight, Warm Bodies).

The powerlessness of the protagonists (crew of a nuclear submarine)

Isolation and loneliness (Count of Monte Christo)

Protagonists who die along the way

Societal chaos and disorder (novels set in a post-apocalyptic world)

Does anyone have any criteria or books to suggest?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2014-03-20T11:10:54Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 2