download dark forces new stories of suspense and supernatural horror

Now, as we move into the 2020s, the supernatural horror subgenre is thriving once more. In his wonderful book Paperbacks from Hell, author Grady Hendrix referred to the 1970s as the “Devil’s Decade.” As he wrote: “after the one-two punch of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, suddenly all anyone wanted to talk about was the devil.” The supernatural horror subgenre got a big boost in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, is widely considered to be the first gothic horror novel, and also the first novel of the supernatural. After all, the whole idea of ghosts, spirits and demons has been around as long as humans. In literature, supernatural horror goes way back. It gives you a rough outline of the danger and lets you finish out the details in your mind, in your own way. And that’s what the supernatural subgenre delivers. When you combine the two, you have a subgenre of fiction that deals with unseen, malevolent forces, such as ghosts and demons.įor some people (including me), the unseen forces in horror novels and movies can be even scarier than the “visible” terrors. It relates to things that exist outside the normal laws of nature. Supernatural: “of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe … attributed to an invisible agent (such as a ghost or spirit)” So maybe we should start by defining the word “supernatural,” by itself. Ask a dozen writers to define this category of fiction, and you’ll end up with 12 slightly different definitions. There’s no standardized definition for this subgenre.

Supernatural horror is a subgenre of the much broader (and loosely defined) horror genre. It’s in our nature to wonder … what if? Toni Collette in Hereditary, 2018.īut what is supernatural horror exactly? And what are some good books and movies to check out, if you’re into this sort of thing?īelow, we’ll explore the definition and origin of supernatural horror, followed by some novels and movies that exemplify the genre.

Humans will always crave tales of supernatural forces, such as demons, ghosts and spirits. And while it goes through cycles of popularity, it will never go away. The supernatural horror subgenre has been frightening readers and moviegoers for decades.

Download dark forces new stories of suspense and supernatural horror