How Many Ways Can You Say Boo? 16 Horror Themes (from Iconic Pictures) + 1 or 2 More (from me)

At the outset of a project – and when you’re planning a rewrite – I think it’s good to ask yourself what the the project is about. What’s it really about?

When it comes to horror themes and story elements, I think this list almost covers it and almost any horror book, film or TV is one or more of these:

1. Good vs Evil
2. Depression
3. Religion
4. Childhood issues
5. Revenge
6. Supernatural
7. Beyond death
8. Science gone bad
9. Zombie Apocalypse
10. Nightmares
11. Madness
12. Insanity
13. Lust
14. Envy
15. Suicide
16. ‘Self-consciousness’ – making you question what is real and not.

Source: http://iconicpictures.weebly.com/conventions-of-horror.html

Although I think we might need one more category to cover something like “Aliens” (my favorite horror-action movie ever and, I think, one of the best movies ever made!). It’s sort of ‘Revenge’ and sort of ‘Beyond death’ and sort of ‘Nightmares’, and you could consider the aliens a form of ‘Zombie Apocalypse’, but… what about ‘Facing Your Demons’, ‘Redemption’ or straight-up ‘Slaying the Dragon(s)’?

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