History of Supernatural/Thriller

1. History of Supernatural/Thriller
Gelsomina De Lucia

2. “The history of the supernatural thriller is longer than you
may expect.”
• The genre of supernatural thriller has been around since the early
ages in the form of oral stories passed down from one generation
to another.
• Within this storytelling construct, the conflict tends to be between
two main characters whereby one of them has some sort of
supernatural power.
• An early example of this can be seen in Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’
• Another early example is ‘Beowulf’.

3. Supernatural thrillers are influenced by folktales...
• Over time, the supernatural thriller style of storytelling evolved into
stories of a Gothic nature such as ’Frankenstein’.
• Stephen King would use the epistolary format when writing his
breakthrough work, Carrie.
• Stoker contribution to the supernatural thriller uses the inherent
mystery and exotic nature of old superstitions to add intensity to
the story.
• While writing ’The Hound of the Baskervilles’, Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle would base the hellhounds on a folk tale about a
supernatural dog who would howl at a cursed squire’s tomb.
Folklore, belief and myths are integrated into the otherworldly
conflict of the genre.
• The supernatural invades real life.

4. Recent Case Studies.
• In more recent stories, we find mythical creatures or changeable
spirits like the ‘manitou’ which is featured in the Peter
Straub book, Ghost Story.
• Shape-shifting creatures like the ‘manitou’ can be found in many
works by Stephen King, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and in
television shows like The X-Files.

5. World Of Film.
• Most of these tales of intense
supernatural thrills make for
excellent visual storytelling.
• Filmmakers have used technical
and artistic devices to bring these
stories to life on the screen as
independent films or studio
creations.
• ’Dracula’ actually has few literal
adaptations of the original book;
however, it has inspired a great
deal of screen derivations.
• ‘Nosferatu’ (1922) is considered
one of the best film versions of the
classic tale.

6. Target Audience.
• The genre is very popular among women who want the thrill of
suspense, the mystery and the horror of the supernatural without
the gratuitous use of gore.