Techno-horror is a subgenre of

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

that focuses on concerns and fears of

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. The stories are often cautionary tales created during periods of rapid technological advancement expressing concerns about privacy, freedom, individuality, and wealth disparity. These stories often include

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n settings.

Criteria

Techno-horror focuses on how technology is either a direct force of evil, indirectly causes bad things to happen, or how it can be manipulated by people in positions of power to do evil things. Techno-horror relies heavily on elements of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

, which set it apart from the techno-thriller genre.

Examples

The overthrow or destruction of the human race by AI is a classic example. Others include radiation based terror where toxic waste from technology or radio-waves create mutants and monsters out of humans, or in the case of the 1968 film ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

'', radiation from a stray nuclear experiment causes the dead to rise. Another prominent example, sourced especially from J-horror, involves classical terrors (such as ghosts, spirits, curses, etc.) propagating, traveling, or communicating via hi-tech media: computer networks, cell phones, cameras etc. Here, modern technology is not a threat on its own, but rather a new conduit for various dark forces. The subgenre is notably most popular in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, with little prominence elsewhere.

Tony Magistrale Anthony Samuel Magistrale is a professor in English at the University of Vermont since 1983. He received a Bachelor of Arts, B.A. in 1974 from Allegheny College, and from the University of Pittsburgh an Master of Arts, M.A. in 1976 and a PhD in 19 ...

, ''Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film'', 200
p. 82
/ref> This sub-genre of Techno-horror was likely influenced by stories of EVPs.

Films

*''

The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Renn ...

'' (1951) and ''

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

'' (1956) are some of the earliest known of this genre. *''

Midnight Lace ''Midnight Lace'' is a 1960 American neo noir mystery thriller film directed by David Miller and starring Doris Day, Rex Harrison, and John Gavin. The plot centers on a woman who is threatened by an anonymous stalker but has a hard time convi ...

'' (1960) *''

'' (1968) *'' Colossus: The Forbin Project'' (1970) *''

The Stepford Wives ''The Stepford Wives'' is a 1972 satirical "feminist horror" novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife and young mother who suspects that something in Stepford's environment is changing the wives fr ...

'' (1975) *''

Scanners ''Scanners'' is a 1981 Canadian science fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Stephen Lack, Jennifer O'Neill, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan. In the film, "scanners" are psychics with unusual telepathic ...

'' (1981) *''

Poltergeist In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...

'' (1982) *'' Videodrome'' (1983) *''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...

'' (1984) *''

C.H.U.D. ''C.H.U.D.'' is a 1984 American science fiction horror film directed by Douglas Cheek, produced by Andrew Bonime, and starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, and Christopher Curry in his film debut. The plot concerns a New York City police officer a ...

'' (1984) *''

Deadly Friend ''Deadly Friend'' is a 1986 American science fiction horror film directed by Wes Craven, and starring Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, and Anne Ramsey. Its plot follows a teenage computer prodi ...

'' (1986) *''

Chopping Mall ''Chopping Mall'' is a 1986 American techno-horror film co-written and directed by Jim Wynorski, produced by Julie Corman, and starring Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, and Barbara Crampton. It f ...

'' (1986) *'' The Fly'' (1986) *''

Robocop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...

'' (1987) *'' Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989) *''

The Lawnmower Man "The Lawnmower Man" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the May 1975 issue of ''Cavalier'' and later included in King's 1978 collection '' Night Shift''. Plot summary Harold Parkette is in need of a new lawn mowing service. The ...

'' (1992) *'' Ringu'' (1998) *'' Existenz'' (1999) *'' The Matrix'' (1999) *'' Pulse'' (2001) *'' The Ring'' (2002) *'' Shutter'' (2004) *''

White Noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...

'' (2005) *'' Prometheus'' (2012) *''

Elysium Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

'' (2013) *'' Ex Machina'' (2014) *''

Unfriended ''Unfriended'' is a 2014 computer screen supernatural horror film directed by Levan Gabriadze and produced by Timur Bekmambetov. The first feature film to be entirely set on a computer screen, it is produced in the so-called Screenlife format. T ...

'' (2015) *''

Host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

'' (2020) Sources:Top ten techno horror films , Dazed
/ref>

Video games

*''

System Shock ''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game is set aboard a space s ...

'' (1994) *''

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of '' IF: Worlds of Science Fiction''. It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The na ...

'' (1995) *''

Fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

'' (1997) *''

Fatal Frame ''Fatal Frame'', titled in Japan and ''Project Zero'' in Europe and Australia, is a Japanese survival horror video game series created, published and developed by Koei Tecmo (originally Tecmo). Debuting in 2001 with the first entry in the seri ...

'' (2001) *'' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'' (2010) *'' Five Nights at Freddy's'' (2014) *''

DreadOut ''DreadOut'' is a survival horror video game from independent developer Digital Happiness for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and OS X. A port for PlayStation 4 was announced but never released. The story is about a group of high school students i ...

'' (2014) *''

SOMA Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

'' (2015) *'' Observer'' (2017)

Novels and literature

*'' Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949) *''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' betw ...

'' (1950) *''

Second Variety "Second Variety" is a science fiction novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in ''Space Science Fiction'' magazine, in May 1953. Set in a world where war between the Soviet Union and United Nations has reduced most of the ...

'' (1953) *''

'' (1967) *'' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (1968) *''

Christine Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fil ...

'' (1983) *'' Ghost in the Shell'' (1989) *''

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect ''The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect'' is a 1994 novella by Roger Williams, a programmer living in New Orleans. It deals with the ramifications of a powerful, superintelligent supercomputer that discovers god-like powers to alter reality whi ...

'' (2002) *'' Crawlers: A Novel'' (2003) *'' Cell'' (2006) *'' Under the Dome'' (2009) *''

The Dark Net ''The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld'' is a 2014 nonfiction book by Jamie Bartlett. It is published in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, in the United States by Melville House Publishers, and in Australia by Random House. Bartlett discuss ...

'' (2017)

Criteria

Examples

Films

Video games

Novels and literature

See also

References

Further reading