Horror?

The Late Late Show

Can anyone define what is horror and what is not horror?

Clearly, TV series like 'The Walking Dead' are horror. I heard series like The Handmaid's Tale, Love/Hate, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones also defined as horror but thought of these as dystopian, crime and fantasy personally. GoT may be the closest to what I'd consider horror of these 4 examples. What they all have in common is violence. Can all violent drama be called horror or does horror have to have a supernatural element? Can anyone explain what is the difference between violent drama and horror?

razorblunt

Horror - Haunting of Hill House.

Horrific - the wife in Breaking Bad.

icdg

There are sometimes lines between horror and fantasy/sci fi. Alien, for example. Or some “monster of the week” episodes of the X Files. Maybe even Doctor Who on occasion.

Love/Hate and Breaking Bad? Nowhere near the genre.

pixelburp

Says a lot about how quiet this thread has been that a blatant GoT spoiler was posted here and nobody reported it

As to the subject? Depends on the viewer really, but I think anything that can successfully create and maintain a sense of unease, foreboding and make the viewer feel unsettled can be classified as 'horror' - or at least 'horror adjacent'. So something like the Netflix series 'Dark', while not ostensibly a horror film, had a very intentionally unsettling, dread laden tone and aesthetic that creeped me out far more than all 4 seasons of Walking Dead that I bothered with.

CastorTroy

I'm not sure what the definition of horror could be. Slasher movies are considered horror but I would apply it more to something like Paranormal Activity which is all about tension and building dread. As such, I can't really think of any series like that.
And depends on what you personally consider horror: Hannibal contains cannibalism which is considered horror. From Dusk Til Dawn as well could be classed as horror.


As for that spoiler, I would probably delete it altogether or at least say what it's a spoiler for just before it

Capt'n Midnight

Here's a list of Horror Tropes from Abandoned Hospital Awakening to Zombie Apocalypse it covers a lot, but Fear Is The Key*

Off to TV tropes for a definition.

Horror is a Genre of fiction that exploits the Primal Fears of viewers with things ranging from the Uncanny Valley, Body Horror, and Dramatic Irony AKA Suspense to cause the viewer anxiety, fear, and ultimately thrills. It uses various Horror Tropes to cause these effects; however, partly due to the rise in complexity of Special Effects, overuse, and viewer desensitization, several of these are now cliché.

This is a very broad genre, it can go from tasteful and timeless tales of psychological suspense (a trademark of people like Alfred Hitchcock) to gross out horror (which tends to become campy). It often employs the supernatural, but "normal" people are more than sufficient to scare audiences when used properly.

*Not a horror movie but a good name for one.