horror subgenre glossary (so i can stop saying 'scary stuff')

one defining film per term

Never miss an update

This list changes over time. Get a short email when it does.

At most one short email a week. Unfollow in one click.

folk horror

rural setting, old traditions, nature or the old gods win. the wicker man (1973) or the witch (2015) if you want it newer

slow burn

almost nothing happens for an hour and then everything happens. hereditary is the whole argument for this one

found footage

[rec] (2007) still does it best - someone's camera is the whole reason you're watching this at all

giallo

argento practically owns this one, deep red (1975) is the real deal - a killer's gloved pov, a whodunit, gorgeous even when it's grim

body horror

your body turns against you here, mutates, comes apart. cronenberg owns this one but the fly (1986) is the easiest way in

slasher

halloween (1978) wrote the rulebook everyone's still copying: a killer, a body count, a final girl

supernatural horror

new french extremity

violence used to actually argue something, not just shock. martyrs (2008). genuinely not for everyone

psychological horror

it's the mind you can't trust here, not the house. the babadook, no contest

cosmic horror

nothing out there cares if you exist, and that's the whole scare. the thing (1982) leans this way even as a creature feature

creature feature

home invasion

just a guy, except he's already inside. you're next (2011)

Or start a list of your own. Free, it takes a minute.

Related lists