Literature Glossary
Don’t be an oxymoron. Know your literary terms.
Over 200 literary terms, Shmooped to perfection.
Horror
Definition:
Witches and vampires and werewolves, oh my!
Horror is a genre of literature that's all about scaring the reader's pants off. Not literally. Nobody wants to see that. But they do want to be shocked, thrilled, and even repulsed. And that's where horror comes in.
Horror stories often get their scares from the supernatural, but they don't have to. In fact, the horror genre can be chopped up into all sorts of spooky subgenres. Mad about mad scientists and killer vegetables from outer space? Science fiction horror's got your back. Maybe you like to have a good laugh in between bloodcurdling screams. Then comedy horror's right up your treacherous, poorly lit alley.
But no matter the subgenre, all horror literature has one thing in common: fear. When you're ready to check out some of the masters of the macabre, we recommend starting with the major players below. We also suggest sleeping with the lights on.
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Carrie, The Shining, or Salem's Lot by Stephen King, the scariest man in Maine
- Basically everything by the maestro of morbidity, Edgar Allan Poe