More horror movies are produced and released each year than any other film genre. While horror enjoys broad popularity, many hardcore fans voraciously consume films from their favorite subgenres while avoiding others entirely. This says something interesting about the films and their audiences.
This primer and reference guide defines and explores 75 alphabetically listed subgenres of horror film, from Abduction to Witchcraft and two Zombie subgenres. Each sizeable entry provides a critical survey of the subgenre, a detailed examination of its characteristic elements and themes, and a discussion of three or four exemplary titles as well as other titles of interest.

Chris Vander Kaay is an author and screenwriter, and his most recent film, The Redemption of Henry Myers, premiered on the Hallmark Movie Channel. He has written articles for Bloody Good Horror and Creative Screenwriting Magazine.
Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay is an author, screenwriter, and poet who co-wrote the script for the award-winning short film Freund, based on the life of cinematographer and The Mummy director Karl Freund and was a contributing writer for the Deseret News. Chris and Kathleen split their time between Florida and Nevada.

Chris Vander Kaay and Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: 43 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9837-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2283-5
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Preface  1

Abduction Horror  3

Alien Horror  6

Animal Attack Horror  9

Anthology Horror  13

Apocalypse and ­Post-Apocalypse Horror  16

Asylum Horror  20

Back from the Dead—Revenant Horror  24

Basement Horror  27

Battle with the Devil Horror  30

Body-Snatching Horror  33

Buried Alive Horror  37

Campground Horror  40

Cannibal Horror  43

Carnival-Circus Horror  47

Children in Danger Horror  50

Church-Convent-Monastery Horror  53

Comedy-Horror  56

Crazy Family Horror  59

Creepy Kid Horror  62

Crime Horror  65

Cult Horror  67

Demon-Possession Horror  70

Doll-Puppet-Ventriloquist-Dummy Horror  74

Doppelganger–Evil Twin Horror  77

Dream Horror  80

Ecological Horror  83

Filmmaking Horror  86

Found Footage Horror  89

Ghost Horror  92

Giallo Horror  95

Holiday Horror  98

Humans Hunting Humans Horror  101

Infection Horror  105

Invisible Being Horror  108

Literary Horror  111

Modern Zombie Horror  113

Mummy Horror  117

Nazi Horror  120

Old People Horror  124

Out-of-Control Machines Horror  127

Pregnancy Horror  129

Prison Horror  132

Psychic–Mental Powers Horror  135

Redneck Horror  138

Repressed Sexuality Horror  141

Road-Travel Horror  144

School Horror  147

Serial Killer Horror  150

Shape-Shifter Horror  152

Siege Horror  155

Single Location Horror  158

Single Person Horror  162

Slasher Horror  165

Split Personality Horror  169

Spooky Old House Horror  171

Stalking Horror  174

Subway Horror  177

Surgical-Medical Horror  180

Swamp Horror  183

Terror in Suburbia Horror  186

Theatrical Performance Horror  189

Tool Horror  193

Underwater Horror  197

Urban Legend Horror  200

Vampire Horror  202

Voodoo Zombie Horror  206

War Horror  210

Werewolf Horror  212

Western Horror  216

Witchcraft Horror  219

(Zombie see Modern Zombie Horror; Voodoo Zombie Horror)

Further Resources  222

Index  223

“the authors had a great understanding of horror on screen, and that the choices they made were wonderful ways of introducing fans and the curious to recent films that many of us may have missed”—Scarlet the Film Magazine; “a fun work”—Bookgasm; “a fun work”—Flick Attack.