Horror is a huge label, and it covers some very different nights. Undertone and They Will Kill You are both supernatural horror films, and both run 94 minutes. One is a podcast, a pile of strange recordings and a sound design that gets under your skin. The other is a cult-run apartment tower, a stunt-heavy fight for survival and a lot of stylish gore. Pick by the word "horror" alone, and you can easily land on the wrong one for your mood.
That's why every review on the site carries one or more subgenre tags, and why this guide exists. Each page explains what a subgenre feels like, how it differs between movies, books and games, and which of our reviews make the best way in.
Subgenres also pair with our facet scores. Every review scores a set of facets from 1 to 5 (13 for movies, 8 for books, 9 for games), and different subgenres tend to light up different ones. Psychological horror leans on Atmosphere and Genuine Fear/Suspense in movies, and Psychological Dread in books. Body horror is where Violence & Gore and effects work matter most. Survival horror puts the weight on tension, pacing and fair difficulty. Supernatural horror lives or dies on its villain or presence, and dark fantasy leans on prose and storytelling. The subgenre tells you what to expect, and the facets tell you how well it delivers. The overall rating starts from the facets, but the reviewer has the final say on how the whole thing landed.
We add new subgenre guides as our catalog expands. Pick one below, or read how we review to see how the scoring works.