Horror fiction consists of a wide variety of sub-genres, each of which is aimed at eliciting feelings of fear and disgust. The main intention is to shock or frighten the readers or even develop intense repulsion for a particular character. The fear of the unknown is said to be the most intense emotion mankind has experienced, and horror fiction capitalizes on this.

Broadly speaking, horror is a subgenre of speculative fiction and can be further classified into supernatural horror and psychological horror. Though the latter cannot be termed as a form of speculative fiction, often elements of psychological horror can find themselves mingling with supernatural entities.

But that's just the formal definition of what horror possibly entails. There can be a wide variety of experiments one can perform when venturing into this genre, and the possibilities are endless. Including supernatural elements like ghosts and demons, witches and monsters, vampires and werewolves are just the tip of the iceberg.

When it comes to horror, it's up to the author how they want to mix and match the different elements to form a world of fiction that entails scare and thrills, but the main idea remains to induce the fear of the unknown in the readers. Goosebumps arising on the skin, sensing someone looking at you when there is no one around, or hair standing at the back of the neck are just a few of the ways to describe how one feels when they are scared. Not to mention, the raucous shrieks or the chills that we often get after watching a horror movie or reading a scary piece of fiction.

If we were to trace the origins of writing horror fiction, the roots go beyond at least a millennium when myths and folklore deep-rooted with ideas such as curses and dark magic were used as elements to stage plays or write short verses of fiction. That evolved into a more structured form of writing in medieval and modern Europe, thereby giving birth to stories like Frankenstein and The Monk.

By the turn of the 20th century, there was a boom in this genre, and once again the authors proved that when writing horror, the sky is the limit. Recurring themes like a ghost possessing a human or even a pet dog, witches casting evil curses on the good girl next door, and centuries-old monsters awakened by fluke became popular globally. Stories like The Shining are considered cult classics to date.

In the 21st century, zombies, vampires, and werewolves made an entry into this genre too, and soon we came across stories that elicited feelings of intense fear and kept us hooked to the storyline. After all, who doesn't like the shiver running down the spine in the anticipation of turning around in the dark woods on a lonely night and finding the most ghoulish creature with a wicked smile on its face and staring right at... you?