Horror Genre Characteristics

Horror Genre

Intro to Collection 2

Multiple Choice

A genre is...

• a fiction book or story

• a category of literature or music with similar elements

• a nonfiction book or article

• a subject studied in school

Open Ended

What are some classic elements of the HORROR genre?

Poll

How should we define horror stories?

• Characters- has to have a good monster

• Actions- has to be thrilling and exciting

• Setting- has to be dark, isolated, or creepy

• Suspense- has to keep the audience on their toes

Archetypes​

• a very typical example of a certain person or thing​

• ​a recurring symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology

• ​Can be: characters, themes, symbols, colors, plot lines...

• ​Examples: The Hero's Journey, the damsel in distress, river/water

Open Ended

So with all of these archetypes and predictable elements in the horror genre...why are scary stories still so popular? 

​Good horror stories need:

• ​​imagination

• ​fear

• ​mystery

• ​foreshadowing

• ​SUSPENSE!!

Multiple Choice

What is suspense?

• The action or events of a story

• a memory that explains what is currently happening in the plot

• a clue that predicts something to happen later in the story

• a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what will happen

​Suspense...

• ​keeps the audience interested

• ​edge of your seat feeling,

  • you know something is about to happen

• foreshadowing and use of archetypes give us clues

  • setting

  • imagery

• ​Dramatic Irony- when the audience knows, but the characters do not

​Edgar Allan Poe

• 1809-1849​

• the Father of the Modern Mystery or Detective Story

• ​American author, editor, literary critic

• wrote short stories and poetry

• ​famous for his dark, grim, macabre writing style

Multiple Choice

Macabre means...

• disturbing or horrifying because of the involvement on death or injury

• forbidding or uninviting

Poll

What Edgar Allan Poe stories or poems have you heard of, or read before?

• The Raven

• The Cask of Amontillado

• The Tell Tale Heart

• The Fall of the House of Usher

• Annabel Lee

Poll

Do you like horror stories?

• Yes

• No

Open Ended

What's your favorite scary story or movie?