Defining Horror

And categorizing creativity.

Over the past few weeks, readers have been sharing reviews for my upcoming novella, The Flowers at Flood House. As always, they’ve been insightful, honest, and truly appreciated.

However, I’ve noticed something interesting emerge with this story around how people are choosing to define it. For some, the story’s a horror; “haunting”, “nerve-wracking”, and “deeply unsettling”. For others, it’s not horror at all and instead a straight-up thriller.

To clarify, I’m not saying those that call The Flowers at Flood House a thriller are wrong. If anything, it’s the opposite, and whether a review is good, bad, or offers a new perspective, I love seeing people respond to stories.

A scene from a thriller or horror? Image credit.

Plus, these reviews aren’t for me. They’re for readers looking for a new experience. Once a story is out in the world and I press publish, it’s open to interpretation, review, and conversation about what it is or isn’t, or what it does and doesn’t do well.

In the case of The Flowers at Flood House, that’s brought up some fascinating questions that have got me thinking.

What are the parameters and ‘rules’ that define a genre? What is the role of genre in creating something from nothing? Where does the line for thriller end and horror begin? What is it that makes those two genres work so well together and, equally, what nuances separate them?

When you want to sell a book, there’s no denying genres are a huge help. They categorize creativity, organize ideas, and help people find whatever they’re looking for online and offline. Finding a book that fits your taste in a bookstore without a genre system would be a nightmare, as would finding a record in a record store.

Genres offer an introduction – almost a promise – of what a reader can expect to encounter. They set the tone for the experience and give a sort of unwritten prologue. Genres empower you to say, ‘There’s a good chance I’m going to like this.’

Genres also help with marketing, a necessary time sink that all authors have to get to grips with if they want to sell books. Do the reviews make me question whether I should have marketed The Flowers at Flood House a thriller? No, but it does make me ponder other questions.

If I did categorize it as a thriller and left horror out of the equation, would a reader go into it with a different mindset? Would they view the story through a different lens and would reviewers then question whether it should be branded a horror? Should this just be a ‘horror-thriller’, and is that a defined enough genre? I don’t have the answers, but I do know I’m fascinated by the idea of those conversations.

I want to re-emphasize here that there’s no right or wrong to any of this. I marketed The Flowers at Flood House as horror because that’s what it felt like to me. It fit the rules I’ve defined around the genre and is inspired by real events that haunted me and felt horrific at the time.

But when a readers says it feels like a thriller, I see that too. I get it. They are as right in their opinion as I am, and honestly, I love that they’re interpreting it in a way that feels different.

The hallmarks of a thriller are suspense, anxiety, and something that’s typically villain-driven. They’re high-stakes stories that should keep the reader on the edge of their seats. These are all things that describe The Flowers at Flood House and things I love about thrillers myself.

So, what am I trying to say here? In short, I think genre is open to interpretation. Guidelines are just that. Rules are meant to be remixed. Whether it’s horror, thriller, or something else, genre is personal, fluid, and all the better for it. It’s why Longlegs was called a thriller “masquerading as a horror” and why I see Stephen King’s 11/22/63 not as a thriller or science-fiction, but one of the best love stories I’ve ever read.

Before you go

My upcoming novella, The Flowers at Flood House, is available to pre-order on Kindle ahead of its release on July 31. You can check out early reviews or add it to your TBR pile on Goodreads.

My latest book, Waxwing Creek, is out now. It’s a collection of interconnected horror stories about a haunted motel in a small town called Hunt. It’s available in paperback and on Kindle (including Kindle Unlimited).

Feel free to check out reviews on Goodreads or click the button below to grab a copy.

If you want to read more of my fiction on Substack, you can check out Lightbulb, 483, A Gentle Rain, Cold House, or Blood Orange, Vanilla, and Musk.

If you want to connect, I love hearing from readers. I keep an Instagram updated and post regularly to Threads and Notes. You can also find me on TikTok.

/ JJW