Psychological thrillers and horror are two genres that seem rather similar. Both deal with danger and death. More often than not, the storyline includes a protagonist who is fighting an evil force. These genres keep the readers on their toes while reading. Since there are quite some similarities, there are chances that people might use them interchangeably. However, they are distinctly different from each other. The main factor that makes them unique is their purpose – while horror stories are meant to terrify people, psychological thrillers use the psychological elements of fear to induce thrill in their audience.
Also Read: Top 10 Psychological Thrillers and What Makes Them Unique
In a psychological thriller, the reader is always kept at arm’s length. As a writer, you like to play the game of suspense and mind games here. On the other hand, with the horror genre, you focus on building feelings of dread and terror. Simply put, you are trying to scare the pants off your readers. Now, you may use elements such as suspense, shocks, and surprise or a mix of all three to induce these feelings, but its goal is entirely different from that of a psychological thriller, which focuses on getting the reader excited.
Mostly, what makes psychological thrillers different from horror is their point of view. Let’s understand this by taking an example. Agatha Christie’s ‘Death on the Nile’ focuses on Hercule Poirot, the detective, and his pursuits in solving the murder. Here, the author creates suspense through the guessing game. But, there is no real fear as the reader knows Poirot will outsmart the killer as he is too clever to be harmed. This is the kind of suspense that thrills the audience. But in Robert Bloch’s ‘Psycho’, the focus is on Mary Crane who did not see the danger coming until it was too late. This suspense is leaning towards the horror side. Now, if the events in ‘Psycho’ had been narrated from the perspective of Poirot, it would have felt more like a thriller. Since it was not executed that way, ‘Psycho’ is an example of a horror novel.
Wonder how a horror series always features the return of a monster while in thrillers, people often see the return of protagonists, who are mostly pursuants of the killer? That’s because horror focuses on the perspective of the victims more intimately to generate those feelings of dread and fear. Unlike horror stories, psychological thrillers try to include or mix different perspectives. They take in the point of view of the attacker, their pursuants and sometimes, even the victim.
Psychological thrillers highlight the significance of shared perspectives. When the point of view of a killer, a terrorist, or an attacker is narrated, there are more chances that the audience will be able to develop a connection with the villainous characters as well. That allows the readers to see the events or situations through different perspectives. If the story is only narrated from the perspective of a victim, it will fit into the mould of horror novels.
People often say that horror stories are made predictable. But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that you feel scared while reading a horror novel. The horror genre does not rely on unpredictability. Its focus is on emotional values. For instance, you don’t need to do a lot of guesswork to figure out what will happen when a group of teenagers go camping in the jungles while a serial killer is on the loose. This suspense in horror is not about what happens, but how it happens.
Psychological thrillers, on the other hand, are known for their unpredictable nature. If the reader is experiencing suspense from a point of view where they have all the information about the events in a scene, then that story falls under the thriller category. A certain amount of unpredictability is important in thrillers with the big twist endings. Consider a situation where you have all the information about what’s happening, but still cannot predict what is going to happen next – that’s the premise for a psychological thriller.
Often, horror genres do not feel realistic in comparison with psychological thrillers, which although include extreme violence may still look plausible. While the horror genre involves a lot of supernatural elements, psychological thrillers are more realistic. This is mostly because of the atmosphere that each genre aims to create. While horror novels focus on creating an eerie or frightening atmosphere, psychological thrillers aim at building an atmosphere of menace or sudden violence. That also explains why horror genres feature ghosts, demons, vampires, and zombies as antagonists. Speaking of the antagonists in psychological thrillers, they don’t take any supernatural forms. They are often criminals or evil people with certain disorders or mean intentions.
In the end, it all boils down to the kind of suspense you want to create- mystery-based suspense or threat-based suspense. No matter which genre the story you are going to share falls in, you should focus on rightly delivering the point of view that you want your audience to feel.
Just pay all your attention to the story you want to share first. Then, slowly, you will start seeing the elements that are important to the story such as the emotions, perspectives, big twists etc. Chances are, if you are a fan of horror, your story will lean towards that way; and if you happen to be a lover of all things suspenseful, your story will reflect the elements of a psychological thriller before you even realise it.