Psychological horror

Narrative subgenre Poster for the American psychological horror film The Black Cat (1934) Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subgenre of psychological thriller, and often uses mystery elements and characters with unstable, unreliable, or disturbed psychological states to enhance the suspense, horror, drama, tension, and paranoia of the setting and plot and to provide an overall creepy, unpleasant, unsettling, or distressing atmosphere. Characteristics A book cover of Misery, the 1987 psychological horror novel by Stephen King Traditionally, psychological horror was defined by its portrayal of characters experiencing psychological instability or extreme emotional distress, where the eerie atmosphere was a direct reflection of the character's internal state. Today, however, the genre is no longer confined to a character’s psyche; for instance, Ju-On: The Grudge is frequently cited as a hallmark of psychological horror within the J-horror tradition.[citation needed] Psychological h