Human and Inhuman

Horror could perhaps be generally (and vaguely) divided into two types: human
horror and inhuman horror. Of course, many if not most horror works incorporate
aspects of both.
Human Horror
Human horror is horror provoked by the evils of humanity. This can be the horrors of
war, the horrors of encounters with a serial killer, the horror of being stalked by a
potentially dangerous person with an obsession. In human horror the emphasis is
often mans inhumanity to man, an old but reliable standby. Also important is the
sense of being at the mercy of someone else whose motives are unclear or actively
malicious.
Inhuman Horror
Inhuman horror focuses on fear from facing entities or forces beyond humanity.
They may simply be beyond human control (able to threaten us with impunity) or
even beyond human comprehension.
Many classic folktales could be considered examples of this form. Various mythical
monsters can be seen as representations of the dangers of the wilderness, the
dangers of places outside of human control. Consider the wendigo, various Yokai, or
the fearsome critters shared in stories among lumberjacks. Indeed, consider the
old stories of elves and fairies, inhuman beings of supernatural power and bizarre
motivations.
Weird Horror and Cosmic Horror
Weird horror might be considered a subset of inhuman horror; in weird horror, the
source of fear is utterly bizarre, so beyond the norm that it provokes fright by
making characters question their basic assumptions. Humans are inherently afraid
of having their assumptions challenged, because it results in uncertainty and thus a
feeling of helplessness. Many people are deeply uncomfortable just encountering
someone else who lives in a very different manner from themselves, as this
challenges the assumptions underlying their cultural behaviors. How terrible then,
to encounter something that seems to challenge the nature of reality itself,
something that defies conventional laws of biology and/or physics. The character is
left questioning either the fundamental nature of reality, or questioning their own
senses.
A further subset is Cosmic Horror as exemplified by H.P. Lovecraft; here the alien
source of horror is so powerful and strange that its existence emphasizes the
insignificance of humanity in a cosmos where such things exist.
Dark Refl ections
Human and inhuman horror are combined directly in the case of horror featuring
monsters that are distortions of humanity. The classic gothic monsters are all dark

reflections of humanity: werewolves, vampires, Frankensteins monster. Ghosts are

often portrayed as forces that seem highly inhuman in nature and abilities, but they
are ultimately of human origin and motivations.

Physical and Psychological Horror

Physical
Physical horror is fear of bodily harm and/or death. More broadly, physical horror
might encompass fears of disease and illness, or fears of becoming crippled or
disabled. In short, fear of physical pain and/or disability.
Splatter Horror that seeks to shock with intense descriptions of gore relies on both
aversion to the gore itself (as a potential source of disease) and the fear created by
the thought of being subject to whatever caused the gore. As TVtropes puts it, this
is horror drawn from the fragility of the human body.
Survival horror focuses more directly on the fear of death. Exclusive to video games,
this is a very specific horror genre focusing on endless conflict.
It is worth mentioning body horror, a term that refers to disturbing
transformations of the body. This combines fears of pain and disability. In some
cases the transformation may come from somewhat plausible causes, such as
horrible surgical procedures involving disturbing body modifications. Another
common source is transformation by fantastic disease, incorporating another
physical horror element.
Body horror also often comes as a result of bizarre forces, appearing in Weird Horror
(see above) and thus incorporating fear of the unknown and alien. In these cases
there may be an emphasis on how undergoing such a transformation means a
violent change in ones experience of life. If it is accompanied by mental
breakdown, it enters the realm of psychological horror.
Psychological Horror
What defines psychological horror though? According to Wikipedia, psychological
horror relies on the characters fears and/or emotional instability to build tension
and unsettle. So in psychological horror the source of fear for the audience is less
the outside situation affecting the characters, and more the reactions of the
characters themselves. Psychological horror emphasizes the fragility and failings of
the human mind.
A common example of human horror and psychological horror would be the violently
insane or unstable individual. The audiences horror comes from seeing the darkest
aspects of the human mind. It comes from seeing utterly inhuman actions carried
out by a human perpetrator; we have something in common with the perpetrator

simply by virtue of shared humanity, yet cannot or do not want to imagine acting
the way they do.gh
Psychological horror also combines well with inhuman horror, particularly weird
horror, as the focus is on how that characters react to having their assumptions of
normality broken down.

Gothic Horror
What exactly is Gothic horror, beyond dark castles and vampires? It is heavily tied
to the darker elements of Romanticism, which emphasizes emption over reason.
Indeed, romance tends to play a major part in gothic horror stories, as its founders
drew on classical medieval tales of romance.
Gothic horror typically avoids obvious monsters that operate in the open, favoring
insidious beings that lurk in the shadows of humanity. In many cases the monsters
are monstrous humans; otherwise they are often corruptions of the human form,
vampires being the most famous example. Mystery is thus an important theme in
Gothic works, as the protagonists struggle to uncover and catch the villain.
Curses are another recurring theme is Gothic horror. These may be curses on an
individual brought about by folly, or family curses passed down unfairly. In the
former case the curse acts as a sort of punishment or retribution, but many merely
drive the victim to further transgressions. In the latter cases the curse is more
unjust; perhaps it haunts the victim from birth and thus drives them down a dark
path, or perhaps it appears later and disrupts what was once an enjoyable or at
least normal life.
The Byronic Hero is common in Gothic horror, a cynical and troubled individual
who is nevertheless proud and passionate.
Gothic horror is name for Gothic architecture, and draws on monsters of classical
European mythology, so it is inevitably rather Euro-centric.

Religious Horror
Religious horror is an interesting horror subset. This is usually specifically Christian
horror, dealing with struggles against demonic/satanic forces. For those who are
actually religious, I imagine that this genre can hit close to home, especially for
those who believe in supernatural evil. The fear of eternal damnation indoctrinated
by religion is drawn upon; while the damnation may be forced upon victims by
supernatural forces, in keeping with religious traditions such fate is usually made
possible by the victims own spiritual weakness.
But what about those of us who arent religious?