Horror sub-genre descriptions

Child in Peril: involving the abduction and/or persecution of a child.
 

Comic Horror: horror stories that is either spoof horror conventions or that mixes with dark humor.
 

Creepy Kids: horror tale in which children often under the influence of dark forces  begin to turn against the adults.
 

Dark Fantasy: a horror story with supernatural and fantasy elements.
 

Dark Mystery/Noir: inspired by tough detective tales, set in an urban underworld of crime and moral uncertainty.
 

Erotic Vampire: a horror tale making the link between sexuality and vampires with a realistic story and violence.
 

Fabulist: in which objects, animals or forces of nature are anthropomorphized (given human characteristics) in order to deliver a moral lesson.
 

Gothic: a traditional form depicting the encroachment of the Middle Ages upon the 18th century Enlightenment filled with images of decay and ruin, and episodes of imprisonment and persecution.
 

Hauntings: a classic form centering on possession by ghosts, demons or poltergeists, particularly of some sort of structure.
 

Historical: horror tales set in a specific and recognizable period of history.
 

Magical Realism: a genre inspired by Latin-American authors, in which extraordinary forces or creatures are in real-life settings.
 

Psychological: a story based on the disturbed human psyche, often exploring insane, altered realities and featuring a human monster with horrific, but not supernatural, aspects.
 

Quiet Horror: subtly written horror that uses atmosphere and mood, rather than graphic description, to create fear and suspense.
 

Religious: horror that makes use of religious icons and mythology, especially the angels and demons derived from Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
 

Science-Fiction Horror: SF with a darker and more violent twist, often revolving around alien invasions, mad scientists, or experiments gone wrong.
 

Splatter: a fairly new, extreme style of horror that cuts right to the gore.
 

Supernatural Menace:, often featuring ghosts, demons, vampires and werewolves.
 

Technology: undertaking the expanding domain of computers, cyberspace, and genetic engineering.
 

Weird Tales: inspired by the magazine of the same name, a more traditional form featuring strange and strange events.
 

Young Adult: horror aimed at a teen market, often with heroes the same age, or slightly older.
 

Zombie: tales featuring dead people who return to commit mayhem on the living.