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Horror fiction is a genre of fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle and horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of a disturbing supernatural element into everyday human experience. Since the 1960s, any work of fiction with a morbid, gruesome, surreal, or exceptionally suspenseful or frightening theme has come to be called "horror". Horror fiction often overlaps science fiction or fantasy, all three categories of which are sometimes placed under the umbrella classification speculative fiction.
Haunting is sometimes used as a plot device in horror fiction and paranormal-based fiction. Legends about haunted houses have long appeared in literature. For example, the Arabian Nights tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad" revolves around a house haunted by djinns.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The influence of the Arabian Nights on modern horror fiction is certainly discernible in some of the work of H. P. Lovecraft.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Achievements in horror fiction are recognized by numerous awards. The Horror Writer's Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work, Dracula.<ref>[1]</ref> The International Horror Guild presents its own annual awards, as do organisations such as the Australian Horror Writers Association with its annual Australian Shadows Award. Other important awards for horror literature are as subcategories included within general awards for fantasy and science fiction in such awards as the Aurealis Award.
Today, horror is one of the most popular categories of film. Examples of well-recieved horror movies include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist and A Nightmare On Elm Street.<ref name="horror pop">{{cite web
|url=http://news.ncsu.edu/features/103106_HorrorFilms.htm
|title=Horror Films Still Scaring – and Delighting – Audiences
|author=Chad Austin
|publisher=North Carolina State University News
|accessdate=2006-01-16
}}Template:Dead link</ref>
== References ==
* H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1927, rev. 1934, collected in Dagon and Other Macabre Tales Arkham House, 1965.
== See also ==
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* Related genres
** Crime fiction
** Mystery fiction
** Speculative fiction
** Thriller
* LGBT themes in horror fiction
* Horror convention
* List of horror films
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== External links ==
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ar:أدب الرعب
bn:ভৌতিক সাহিত্য
bs:Horor
bg:Ужаси
cs:Horor
da:Horror
de:Horrorliteratur
et:Õudusulme
es:Novela de terror
eo:Hororo
fa:وحشت (گونه هنری)
fr:Horreur (littérature)
hr:Horor
it:Letteratura horror
he:ספרות אימה
hu:Horror
nl:Horror
ja:ホラー小説
no:Grøsser
pl:Horror
pt:Terror (gênero)
ru:Литература ужасов
sk:Horor
fi:Kauhukirjallisuus
sv:Skräcklitteratur
zh:恐怖小說