Thriller vs horror

As a horror writer, I get a lot of questions about the distinction between thriller and horror movies. My answer sometimes leaves people more confused than before they asked, because the truth is, there isn’t a perfect answer to the question of thriller vs horror. There are specific traits you can look for, and there are certain choices you can make when writing that will make your project lean in one direction or another, so let’s explore those.

Thriller vs horror: intent matters

What reaction are you trying to create in your audience?

Horror creators typically intend to bring out feelings of terror, which can be defined simply as “extreme fear.” Author Stephen King has discussed what he sees as the three types of terror. 

“The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it’s when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it’s when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It’s when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there’s nothing there…”

As the quote implies, horror writers work with both the unknown and the known to create feelings of fear in their audience. Hereditary and Get Out are examples of horror movies. Ari Aster and Jordan Peele intentionally create feelings of fear, terror, and disgust in their audience.

What about thrillers? Thriller creators tend to be aiming for feelings of tension rather than horror. Tension is the feeling that keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the big reveal. Often there’s a central mystery or a ticking clock that keeps you engaged. Gone Girl and Rear Window are examples of thrillers that create feelings of suspense and tension.

Predictability or inevitably? 

In the question of horror vs thriller, there’s also an element of how predictable certain plot elements are. I actually take issue with the word “predictable” as it relates to the horror genre. As I see it, there are two ways to create fear or tension: either the audience doesn’t know what is going to happen (is this character going to live or die? Are they going to be able to defuse the bomb in time? Who is the killer?) or there is a sense of inevitability to the plot beats (he’s going into the dark basement alone and we all know what is about to happen down there.) People often use words like “predictable” or “formulaic” in a derogatory way, when in fact many well-made and well-liked pieces of media follow certain genre conventions that make them easy to predict on purpose because they create a sense of inevitability.

Both horror and thrillers follow certain conventions, but thrillers often put an emphasis on there being a twist, a big reveal, or a central mystery, while horror can either be surprising (The Only Good Indians) or formulaic (most slasher movies.) The inevitability of certain events or outcomes can add to a sense of dread or horror, rather than taking away from it.

Other factors

There are other factors that are often raised when discussing thriller vs horror stories. Some people say that paranormal or supernatural factors are more frequently present in horror, however, supernatural thrillers have been around for a long time (The Sixth Sense) and plenty of horror doesn’t have any supernatural components (the Saw franchise.) 

People also bring up things like gore or a body count. While it’s true that horror is more likely to contain gruesome deaths than other genres, plenty of thrillers deal with death, sometimes a lot of it. There’s a lot of debate about if Se7en is horror or thriller. I’d personally argue thriller, but since it’s about a serial killer, it makes sense that it would be open to debate. How do you categorize Silence of the Lambs?

At the end of the day, the line between horror and thriller is murky, and ultimately, it doesn’t matter much. Genre conventions are ever evolving, and it’s easy for a story to straddle the line between horror and thriller. Ultimately, genre is used as a marketing tool, rather than hard and fast rules for creators to follow.

When it comes to creating your own work, your intention does matter. Read or watch widely in your chosen genre and you will begin to notice patterns that will help you shape your own work.