“The 3 types of terror: The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it's when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it's when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It's when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there's nothing there...”

― Stephen King

This is the quote that, to me, defines fear pretty well. It gives three forms from highest to lowest, terror, horror, and revulsion. Fear ties in well with a lot of dark stories and since Halloween is coming up, I think it is fairly appropriate.

Terror, according to King, is the highest form of fear. Primarily concerned with tension rather than release, terror is the slow build up that comes before a creature jumps out. It is an inactive form of fear, arising from the lack of action (the lack of anything happening), and thus benefits from longer durations, as the longer the tension builds without being released, the more intense the emotional response. A good example of this would be the popular game Slender. The dark forest, eerie ambience, and the lack of actions all add to the overall tension.

The next form is horror. Horror is, most simply, a jump scare. It’s the fear that arises from the sudden shock caused by the release of tension established by the terror reaction. More simply, it is the moment when you finally see the monster in question. It is an active form of fear, as it involves action rather than inaction; terror is the expectation of action, and horror is the action itself. This form is probably the hardest to incorporate in literature but nevertheless, it can be done and if done right can have a similar reaction as one from a film or game.

The last one is revulsion. It is understandable that revulsion is the lowest form given that while horror and terror require that a certain mood be established, revulsion depends only on a grotesque or disgusting sight. It is, in King’s words, “the gross-out scare”. Like terror, it is an inactive form of fear, as it requires no action; simply the presence of a revolting sight. Unlike terror and horror, it is unaffected by duration. A good example of revulsion would be any of the SAW movies. The feeling you get when you see someone's body getting mutilated in a horrible way is exactly what revulsion is.

I've tried to incorporate fear in my own story and knowing these forms has certainly helped. Hopefully this has brought some light on what exactly fear is and maybe it'll even help with your own story.

as the longer the tension builds without being released, the more intense the emotional response.

As I say: let the reader's imagination work, it'll surely produce something scarier that you'd ever come up with.

1988141
Support opinion

1988141 pffahahahahahaha!!!!

1987948 *copy and pastes into notes* thank you! This is definitely going to help in one of my later fics!

So suspense, jump scare, and gross out. That's pretty simplistic and easy to understand, but then where does existential horror come in? Not something gross, or even necessarily unnatural, but something that's terrifying only once you completely understand it (or try and fail to understand it). The kind of horror that comes from being presented with an unknown that seems relatively benign at first, but the longer you look at it, study it, the more you come to realize its something absolutely awful and far worse than something jumping out at you or haunting the edges of your vision.

Something like the realization that everyone you used to play with as a child has been marched into an oven, burned, and now your very likely breathing their ashes in and out of your lungs as the stench of roasting human flesh hangs in the air. Or the knowledge, the abject and certain knowledge, that there are things living inside you, crawling around in your bowels right now... And they have always been there. In fact you'd feel sick if you ever got rid of them. They are a part of you now. Or even the sure and certain knowledge that he's coming home tonight, he is going to be drunk, and no he's not going to be proud of you. No matter how hard you try, no matter what you've done, he is going to hate you...he is going to hit you, and you are going to let him until he gets tired or passes out, or you yourself pass out from the pain.

Suspense is only scary because your mind can manufacture more horrible possibilities than reality can ever hope to provide. Jump scares are only scary because they trigger the fight or flight response...similarly for gross out scares. But existential dread, the horror that can only come from the familiar, from torments and terrible knowledge that are well known and in many instances inevitable...that's a fourth kind of horror and one far more potent than the other three. Beyond the anticipation, beyond the moment of climax, this is the dull after glow of certainty...and it can leave not just your body, but your mind a broken mess.

I think Poe handle this kind of horror the best, though Lovecraft is probably the better known for it.

1988141 I agree. It's always up to the reader or viewer to decide.

1990011 You make an excellent point. I think what you're describing is somewhat of a combination of terror and revulsion. " seems relatively benign at first, but the longer you look at it, study it, the more you come to realize its something absolutely awful" it might just be my way of thinking but it kind of sounds like a deep sense of revulsion as in it gives you the same feeling. I don't really think it belongs in its own category just because it fits under the three forms in its own way. It just fits under a more broad definition of those forms because fear comes from the feelings you get in a certain situation.

I honestly don't know but this is just my thought process.

1990317
I suppose you could fit existential dread under those two categories, but it can be as much a response of fascination as revulsion. The knowledge itself is horrifying, compelling and repelling at the same time. Kind of like how you can't keep your tongue away fro ma sore tooth, even though you know it won't help, you can't help but keep exploring.

1998562 Would that really be fear then? Or would it be a different feeling entirely? It sounds to me like something that one would see it as revolting or fearful while another would be fascinated by it.

1999411
The point is to feel both repelled and compelled at the same time. It's not a matter of so-and-so might run away but so-and-so might keep pushing forward (though in practical terms that would probably be the case). It's kind of irresistible. You don't want to know, but you HAVE to know, ya know? Kind of the same feeling you get when inspecting a potential corpse...you might know more or less what to expect, but you can't know exactly. It's like that only a little more grand and sweeping.

2006345 ...uh.

Uncertainty?
Kinda like how I feel right now.

Whatever it is, it just doesn't sound like fear.

2007999
Uncertainty would be its antitheses and bring us back to Mr. King's description of the 'worst terror'. The unknown is all about uncertainty, the point is not to know, but to suspect.

Existential dread on the other hand is fear without uncertainty. It's a solid knowledge of what is wrong, but it's something that you are completely helpless before... Or perhaps worse, you may have the ability to do something about it but lack the will or freedom to act. Of course it still varies a bit between simple foreboding and outright phobia. At its most complete, existential dread could be described as an intensity that is both all encompassing and profound. When all you know is fear it somewhat blunts the edge of terror making it easier, if no less painful, to stare into the abyss.

I guess it would have to be something you'd have to experience to really grasp it. But I'm probably just splitting hairs