10 of the Scariest Types of Horror Stories

For those of us who find entertainment in being scared, we each to be scared in different ways. Some want to jump out of their seats. Others like psychological horror. And some just love blood and guts. Different horror stories leave a different effect, from an abrupt adrenaline rush to a lingering unease that clings to you for days. Here are 10 of the scariest types of horror.

Body horror

Whether it’s due to possession, experiment, or a magical transformation, losing control over your body is a very real and very frightening concept. Are you consciously trapped inside of your body and aware of what’s going on, or are you completely oblivious until you wake up and see the aftermath of the things that someone, or something, else did using your body? Either way, it’s a terrible thought to know that things are happening because of you and are beyond your control.

Transformation stories, such as werewolf tales, tap into those puberty years where we’re subtly growing and changing without warning. Experimentation alludes to those fears of illness or injury which distorts our bodies and makes us feel inhuman.

Possessions play on religious or moral fears of being punished for something we did wrong. As a result, we’ve let an evil presence into ourselves by not listening to those moral forewarnings.

Being watched, followed, or chased

Those invisible eyes in the back of your head have landed on all of us. Whether someone is there or not, we don’t like that idea of being watched or followed because it makes us wonder just how far the voyeur will take it. Are they following us home, or worse, watching us from inside our homes?

Taking away our privacy is worse than any valuable they could steal or destroy. It puts us on edge in the places we go and the things that we do for relaxation and solitude. And when the chase is on, emotions are heightened as survival comes down to speed, luck, and perseverance when a character shows what they’re made of. And you as the audience project your own personal odds of survival on them.

The death of an innocent person or animal

Death is so prevalent in horror stories that we barely bat an eye when an adult or even teenagers get slaughtered. But when a child or animal gets it, it takes things to a whole new level. Their innocence should make them immune to any real danger, but this isn’t always the case. So, when they meet their end, it punches up the stakes and makes you grieve for them in a way that you don’t for any of the older characters.

Innocence is a superpower in horror. And if that’s not enough to save a character, there’s no hope for anyone.

A character who wrestles with guilt

Guilt is a strong ingredient in a horror recipe. Sometimes a character is haunted by or trying to atone for a past mistake or even an intentional action. Childish pranks get out of hand. A selfish decision costs the life of a loved one. And the survivor is left with crippling or tormenting guilt. So, they’re in no shape to fight off the horror that is around the corner.

Guilt is a relatable emotion that we all feel on different levels and have led to different consequences. And it can be dealt with in a multitude of ways. The choices that characters make in dealing with that aftermath makes for a suspenseful and psychologically tormenting experience.

Isolation

It can be the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in a tiny, cramped space or getting stranded in a particular building or area, people don’t like to feel trapped. It raises their anxiety and makes them feel vulnerable and desperate. You don’t have to be afraid of small spaces yourself to know what characters are going through. When you’re cornered, you have to face whatever is coming at you. It limits your options and calls for extreme levels of level-headedness and strategy at a time of psychological chaos.

Unreliability

Some characters cry wolf too many times, or their story is too outlandish to believe. When nobody believes what you’re saying, it puts you in a vulnerable and isolating position. No one is in your corner, and no one is coming to save you. In fact, those who whose job it is to protect you can be just as much as a threat because they’ll unwittingly put you in the path of the dangers you’re trying to dodge.

A lack of trust leads to desperation which leads to desperate actions. And in the case of horror, the person who nobody believes is often right. And if they’re not, they become an unreliable character which creates an instability in the audience. And then, reality totally gets turned upside down.

Real life horror

Any Stephen King fan will tell you that the scariest moments in his books are the moments that could be true. The creepy, diseased sister in Pet Sematary, the obsessed fan and murderous nurse Annie Wilkes in Misery, and the Bible-thumping abuser, Mrs. White, in Carrie are all perfect examples of this.

We hear about horrific situations on the news or in history books. You can’t just close the book or turn off the movie on these stories. Whether you want to hear about it or not, they exist and can happen.

At the end of the day, we can tell ourselves that the supernatural horror is just make believe. But it’s descriptions of horrific deaths, the truly evil characters that exist in the world, and the simple but terrifyingly realistic situations that a person can get themselves into is what keeps us up at night.

Suspense

Some horror is hard to describe due to the fact that it’s all about suspenseful tone and pacing. It is all build up and release, and sometimes that relief is met with a worst case scenario rather than a sweat-wiping sense of safety.

A character racing to save someone and is too late, a character investigating a noise only to find danger at the end of their trail, or a character acting suspiciously so that you don’t know whether to trust them or not are all nail-biting situations that leave audiences rattled and, for horror junkies, entertained.

Poor decision making

Horror keeps you guessing at what will happen next. What decisions will characters make, and will they be the right decisions?

In horror, you can usually guess that it won’t end well for most, if not all of the characters. Some characters are forced to keep information a secret, either out of fear or loyalty, and it can lead to horrific things happening for others. Some are unsuspecting victims who don’t realize that a killer could be hiding around the corner or up the stairs. That anticipation of watching people make decisions that you know are wrong because you know something they don’t or you have seen similar situations play out in the past creates a nail-biting element to the horror genre that builds into chaotic mayhem.

Messages from beyond the grave

Dead is dead – but not in horror. While we sometimes yearn to speak to those who have passed on, if they really were to show up, we probably wouldn’t be able to handle it. It’s why ghost stories are so effective. They go against everything that is proven to be true about mortality and nature, and it’s both a confirmation of our hopes and fears.

It’s why people even run away from friendly ghosts like Casper and don’t want to find objects moving on their own around the house. As much as we want to know if ghosts exist, we really couldn’t handle it if we came face to face with one.

What horror elements scare you the most? Leave your answers in the comments below!

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