Stories have power—the power to move, hurt, inspire, and even terrify us. Some folks are after the thrill of a good fright, while others want to test their mettle. The hunt for the scariest type of horror story, however, might not be as straightforward as you think.
Which Types of Horror Stories are Scary?
If you’re specifically in the mood for a scare fest, you can’t just go grabbing any horror story off the shelf. Fear is a common, but not required, element of the genre. Beetlejuice, for example, is a classic horror-comedy, but I wouldn’t call it a scary movie.
Moreover, not all horror movies are consistently scary (sometimes purposefully so), and not all horror movies are scary in the same way. To scare, a story needs to cause fear—but within that simple definition is a huge margin for interpretation. Unease, dread, terror—all of these fall under the umbrella of fear, but not everyone will consider a slow-burn thriller “scary.” On the other hand, some folks are unfazed by even the most jarring jump scares.
In short, the psychology of fear—what frightens us and why, and our reasons for seeking such experiences out on purpose—is complicated. Still, there are horror subgenres that people tend, more often than not, to find pretty darn chilling. For example:
- Paranormal horror—spooks give many of us, well, the spooks
- Horror-thriller—scarier to some because they’re not supernatural, but grounded in reality
- Body horror—plays on instinctual fears around physical violation and mutilation
- Postapocalyptic horror—takes advantage of our fears about the future
- Psychological horror—few things are more frightening than feeling like you might be losing your mind
There are far more subgenres beyond these to choose from, of course, and the lines dividing them all from one another are blurry at best. So how can you possibly decide which type of horror story is scariest?
The Scariest Type of Horror Story is a Personal One
We all experience fear a little differently. As such, there’s no one right option when asking the mirror, mirror on the wall which story is scariest of them all.
That’s because the scariest type of horror story is the one that really gets you. Your experience of fear will always be most potent when the circumstances speak directly to your own personal worst nightmares.
For example, someone who believes in the possibility of ghosts is far more likely to be frightened by a ghost story than someone who thinks ghosts are just figments of the imagination. Likewise, if you have night terrors about your hair falling out or your teeth crumbling in your mouth, body horror might (or might not) be up your alley.
So if you’re tired of sifting through subpar spooks in search of grimmer gold, pause a moment and ask yourself: what do you fear most?
Kim Berkley is a fantasy and horror fiction author whose published works include The Harbinger’s Head, a chilling interactive tale inspired by the headless horsemen of Irish mythology and Sleepy Hollow fame. Read the first chapter for free today!
