Many people enjoy a good book or film that sends a shiver down your spine and makes you question reality. This may seem crazy to others, who do not see a single reason why you would stay up watching a film that will make you unable to sleep for days, but to others it is a hobby. The question is, what is horror really, and what makes it so good?
Per definition, a horror story would be a work of fiction with the intention and purpose of giving the reader a negative feeling, such as fear, repulsion, or dread. It gives the work a frightening atmosphere. Whilst there are many subgenres of horror, the largest amount of horror stories focus on topics like death, evil, the supernatural and witchcraft. This is most likely the case because of its ancient…show more content… The responses can be psychological, emotional or physical, for instance causing the reader to cry from fear. H.P Lovecraft, an American author who produced works of horror, stated that fear is both the oldest and strongest emotion that humanity has felt, and that fear of the unknown is the most prominent type of fear. This is another reason why religious horror used to be so popular, as religious people fear demons and hell. Even atheists can be afraid of the after-life and do not know whether hell exists or not, so religious horror affects even…show more content… It tends to have romantic and supernatural aspects, with the purpose to both seduce and horrify the audience. Even when they do not contain the paranormal or supernatural, they remain mysterious due to the focus on a very dark atmosphere. There tends to be a lot of symbolism in gothic horror as well. Fascinatingly enough, it is one of the oldest subgenres of horror and can even be considered to be the mother of all modern genre fiction, as the first sci fi authors got inspiration from gothic horror. The name “Gothic” originates from an architecture in the Middle Ages, which Brits from the 18th and 19th century were interested in because of its mysterious and creepy aura. Back then, there were a lot of Gothic ruins scattered around in Great Britain that inspired british authors to write horror set in the Middle Ages, often taking place in Catholic