Horror fiction

Prose genres Poetry genres Dramatic genres

• Comedy
• Libretto
• Play
  • historical
  • moral
• Satire
• Script
• Tragedy
• Tragicomedy

History

• Ancient
• Medieval
  • Early medieval
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• 18th
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Media

• Voice
  • audiobook
  • speech
• Writing
  • book
  • digital electronics
    • ebook
  • manuscript

Lists and outlines

• Outline
• Glossary
• Books
• Epic
  • folk-epics
• Poets
• Writers
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  • poetry groups
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• Literary awards
  • poetry
• Short story collection / Cycle
• Lost literary work
  • lacuna

Theory and criticism

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• Magazines
• Composition
• Language
• Narrative
• Comparative
• Circle
• Society
• Post-literate Society
• Peer
• Feud
• Estate
• Workshop
  • Circle

Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. The threats present in horror fiction often reflect broader cultural anxieties.