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

(This is better now that it's been edited...) It may sound odd, but I think the main criterion is how the story treats death. If death is one possible threat among many (being captured, being tor...

posted 10y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:22Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10562
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T03:26:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10562
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T03:26:13Z (almost 5 years ago)
(This is better now that it's been edited...)

It may sound odd, but I think the main criterion is how the story treats _death._

If death is one possible threat among many (being captured, being tortured, the macguffin falling to the enemy, blackmail, heartbreak, public exposure, humiliation, political scandal, strategic losses, military losses, code being broken, plague being released), I'd call it a thriller.

If death or near-fatal injury is the main threat (nurse threatening to chop off feet, having to cut off your hand to get out of a bear trap, running through the woods to get away from chainsaw-wielding maniac, serial killer, rabid dog trying to break into car, psychotic supernatural clown drowning you in sewer), I'd call it horror.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2014-03-21T13:12:18Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 3