9 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American psychologist whose research on morbid curiosity — the desire to learn about dangerous, threatening, and disturbing things — examines the adaptive functions of attraction to horror, violence, and death.
A 1973 horror-thriller directed by Nicolas Roeg about a grieving couple in Venice haunted by premonitions and a mysterious red-coated figure.
Mary Shelley's 1818 novel — about scientist Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature from body parts and abandons him — the founding text of science fiction and the first novel to explore the ethics of scientific creation.
American novelist — the best-selling horror and thriller writer in history — author of Carrie, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery, and 60+ other novels — whose On Writing is the most widely read craft memoir for fiction writers.
A 1928 silent film featuring Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine, a man whose face has been carved into a permanent grin.
qntm's 2021 novel based on SCP Foundation fiction — about a secret organization that combats 'antimemes': ideas that actively resist being remembered or perceived, effectively becoming invisible threats.
Mexican filmmaker born 1964 in Guadalajara. Director of Pan's Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017, Academy Award Best Picture), Crimson Peak, The Devil's Backbone, and Hellboy. His films fuse fairy tale, myth, horror, and political allegory, treating monsters as more humane than humans.
A viral short film by then-16-year-old Kane Parsons (published January 2022) that brought the internet creepypasta concept of The Backrooms to life, depicting the uncanny experience of noclipping out of reality into an infinite, empty, fluorescent-lit labyrinth. The film gained over 50 million views and launched a multimedia franchise.
American supernatural horror TV series created by the Duffer Brothers — premiered on Netflix in 2016 — set in the fictional Indiana town of Hawkins in the 1980s — featuring a group of children encountering supernatural phenomena — the series that defined 1980s nostalgia aesthetics in prestige streaming television.