This document discusses several major subgenres of horror films, including slasher, psychological, supernatural, possession, gothic, monster, and zombie films. It provides characteristics and conventions for each subgenre, such as common plot elements, settings, characters, and themes. Examples are given for well-known films that exemplify each subgenre, such as Friday the 13th for slasher, The Shining for psychological, Poltergeist for supernatural, The Exorcist for possession, Dracula for gothic, Godzilla for monster, and Zombie for zombie films.

1. By Josh Naughton

2.  SUB-GENRES ENSURE THAT HORROR CAN
AND WILL MULTIPLY IN ITS COMPLEXITIES
AND EVOLVE ALONG WITH HUMAN FEARS.
- William Cook (Horror author)
 FILMS MADE POST-2000 TESTIFY TO THE
BROADNESS OF THE HORROR CATEGORY.
- Peter Hutchings (The Horror Film)

3.  These films normally have an antagonist who is a masked killer, usually psychotic, who
commits lots of gruesome, gore-filled deaths. The victims are normally those are teenage,
who drink, and have casual sex. The final female survives until the end.
 The first girl to die gives the film its meaning and sets the tone by making the audience
known that this clearly a slasher film and that the killer has come to start their killings. This
character is often a girl who is sexually active and almost always goes off to have sexual
intercourse but ends up being slaughtered by the killer.
 The murderer’s identity is often unknown and only revealed at the end of the film. This can
be achieved by a mask, creative lighting and camera techniques. They are most likely to be
a man and their weapon of choice is commonly a sharp object and handheld.
An example of the slasher genre is Friday The 13th.
The film’s narrative involves camp counsellors who are stalked and murdered one by one by an
unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp that was the site of a child's
drowning.

4.  The antagonist has a monstrous, twisted mind, but looks ‘normal’. Their mind will scare the
audience and be the main source of where the horror is coming from. Plot twists are also
often used. Characters may commonly face internal battles with subconscious desires such
as romantic lust and the desire to kill too.
 The settings in a psychological horror film are that of big houses, forests, woodland areas,
warehouses, schools, and hospitals and so on. These will create a sense of realism for the
target audience as they, on some level, have been in these settings. This increases the fear,
as the audiences will then start to picture themselves in these situations.
 Flashbacks may play a dominant part in the film and they take the audience back to see
exactly why the killer is disturbed and to explain what had happened to them in their lives
which has lead them to become mentally challenged.
 There is also less physical harm and bloody gore visible for the viewers to see and instead
create discomfort in the viewer by exposing common psychological vulnerabilities and
fears.
An example of the pyschological genre is The Shining.
The film’s narrative involves a family heading to an isolated hotel for the winter
where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence.

5.  Supernatural horror films have a tendency to have themes including gods or goddesses,
ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other similar ideas or depictions of extraordinary
phenomena that is taking place within the movie. Narratives focus upon the presence of
something not human that can not be easily controlled or defeated.
 The characters are depicted as being caring, loving and nurtured people, who are
considered by the audience to be completely harmless. This is to contrast against the
aggressive hauntings. Often the characters are haunted in themselves by something in
their past that is troubling them.
 The spirits’ past is an important factor for the build up and pace increase. The character will
often find a disjointed series of clues as to who this person was, why they died and what
they can do to dispose of them as quickly as possible.
 Locations for this type of horror film generally involve the action taking place in a suburban
setting, generally a vacant house that has not been used in quite some time.
An example of the supernatural genre is Poltergeist.
The film’s narrative involves a young family who are visited by ghosts in their home. At first the ghosts
appear friendly, but then they turn nasty and start to terrorise the family before they "kidnap" the
youngest daughter.

6.  Possession horror movies have the plot revolving around a person, most notably a female,
who becomes possessed by a demonic entity. An exorcism is performed to try and rid the
victim of the spirit. The victim may have their skin turn pale white, eyes diluted, and scars
marked all over their body.
 Religious imagery is quite significant due to presence of demons and evil spirits with thin
films. This is frequent in many possession films because of the audiences are frightened of
the unknown. What they do not know exists or is physically present.
 The possession may begin when a spirit is unleashed from an object, preferably a box. The
specified object is supposed to seem ordinary, however it turns out to possess an evil
demon that is trapped inside.
 Another convention is the loss of colour in the iris to signify the loss of soul. This is effective
as eye colour says a lot about a person's personality, therefore the loss of this suggests
someone's identity has been lost.
An example of the possession genre is The Exorcist.
The film’s narrative involves a teenage girl who is suddenly possessed by a mysterious
entity. Her mother then desperately seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

7.  Gothic horror comes from the popularity of Gothic fiction and novels from the 1800s
onwards. This genre typically combines the elements of wild and desolate landscapes, an
atmosphere of doom and gloom, wicked tyrants and malevolent witches, along with the
use of a spine chilling plot.
 The narratives are flesh creeping and spine chilling, to stir up fears and anxieties that are
attractive yet dangerous at the same time. These are feelings that we don’t acknowledge
on in everyday life but are repressed. The narratives are intended to create an emotional
response from the audience, not an intellectual or moral one.
 The settings are often dark and dangerous locations, such as abandoned graveyards,
forests and untamed places. This is to give a strong sense of mystery for the film.
 Plots often enclose a family mystery, ancient prophecies or revenge. Notions of inherited
curses or terrible family mysteries are common; often, the protagonist must overcome an
ancestral curse to restore the world to order.
An example of the gothic horror genre is Dracula.
The film’s narrative involves the ancient vampire Count Dracula arriving in England and beginning to prey upon the
virtuous young Mina.

8.  A monster film centres upon a large scale struggle between human beings and a
monster(s). The monster usually serves as a villain, and the film portrays a hero or heroine
that ultimately saves the world from the monster, by the end of the film.
 Most films of this particular genre portray the monster as either being a prehistoric
creature that has suddenly reawakened, born out of radioactivity from nuclear testing, or
from outer space. It will then be seen attacking a major city such as New York or Tokyo, with
normal efforts from the army or police force being unable to stop it.
 A majority of monster horror films will have a sequel produced, in order to show that the
monster is still out there on the loose and has yet to be fully stopped.
An example of the monster genre is Godzilla.
The film’s narrative involves a giant dinosaur-like beast, that
awakes from undersea hibernation by the usage of atomic-bomb
testing, and starts to attack Tokyo.

9.  Zombie films portray mindless human beings who are raised from the dead. These films
often include a zombie invasion, and centre around zombies feasting on human flesh,
specifically brains. The revolving story of a zombie film then revolves around the struggle
between the living, and the living-dead, and the effort to find a way to stop the undead
overall.
 These films are designed to cause panic to the audience, while depicting scenes of
isolation, broken down societies, and plenty of gore. They normally conclude in a shocking
ending, although the lead protagonist, however, does normally survive the onslaught up
until the end of the film.
 The stereotypical characters such as children, coward or betrayer crop up to become the
protagonist's other roadblocks to his ultimate goal of survival. Rarely is there a
authoritative leader due to the character's prone reaction of panicking and or arguing
between themselves.
An example of the zombie genre is Zombie.
The film’s narrative involves strangers looking for a woman's father who arrive at a
tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a
recent epidemic of the undead.