horror vs paranormal...what are the differences?

[Rebecca, Group Creator]

This is the reason I started this group. I love paranormal but as a teen i was about horror. R.L Stine, Christopher Pike, Anne Rice I loved them all. Then I moved on to Steven King. Him and historical fiction were all i read for a while, but then the twilight craze hit and I was once more thinking about vampires, werewolfs and things that go bump in the night.
I never really believe that there was much of a difference between horror and paranormal until I starting writing. Now I think you have so many sub genres like...para rom, para horror, horror/thriller etc...
Really i just want to hear others thoughts on this...do you only read horror? Do you only read paranormal? could you find a happy medium between both? etc

[Anna]

Well I don't really like horror - I scare too easily: I don't think I ever recovered from reading The Rats by James Herbert as a teenager! But I have really quite enjoyed the Anita Blake series so far (I'm on Book 10). That seems to sit between horror and paranormal. I also enjoyed Interview with a Vampire many years ago. I find realistic horror too freaky, whereas when it is the paranormal genre I seem to be able to dismiss it as unreal.

As a preference, I would go with UF as a general rule - like Karen Chance and Paticia Briggs.
I really like Mike Carey's books as well and my library classifies that as horror though I would say more paranormal detective thriller-so as you say its quite a broad genre!

[Bill]

It can be said that not all horror is paranormal, but more so, not all paranormal is horror.

[Jennifer]

Bill wrote: "It can be said that not all horror is paranormal, but more so, not all paranormal is horror."

Exactly. I love them both. I'm not a fan of un-supernatural horror. Killers in rubber masks and such, that doesn't do anything for me at all.

As both an author and a reader, I find that as I grow older, I'm starting to get more interested in horror (my latest manuscript is much creepier than anything I've ever written).

To me the difference is how scary it is. A lot of paranormal stuff has the "scary" creatures but isn't about the scares. Take Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series (one of my faves). There are vampires and werewolves and ghosts, but they aren't scary books.

Horror, meanwhile, is all about the atmosphere and the scares. That's how I tend to gauge them. I still love them both. :)

[Glenda]

I don't go for hard core horror. To me it isn't entertainment either in book or movie form. I like creepy/chilling things. But not slasher, lots of blood mixed in with lots of sex. That to me is dumb and a turn off. I like the seduction, the temptation, and the danger as far as paranormal goes.

[Anna]

@Glenda: I agree, but I also wouldn't read it if it was set in the 'real' world- too close to what might atually happen!

[Jennifer]

Sara wrote: "I like both horror and paranormal. I'm also starting to really get into horror/paranormal YA books. I love horror books that are creepy/scary but not overly gory. Paranormal books tend to stay away..."

I stay away from gore, too. I just plain don't get the appeal at all. Creepy is much better than gory, in my opinion. I want to be scared, not grossed out!

[Erik]

A good example for me is King's "Pet Semetary" - the supernatural elements are creepy of course, but there was equal horror at the thought of an ordinary kid getting too close to a busy road.

Combining them together? Good call.

I personally prefer supernatural genres myself, so long as my vampires don't sparkle and my werewolves don't walk around with their shirts off when not being hairy. :)

[Rebecca, Group Creator]

Erik wrote: "A good example for me is King's "Pet Semetary" - the supernatural elements are creepy of course, but there was equal horror at the thought of an ordinary kid getting too close to a busy road.

Com..."

Erik I had to Lol at your comment...I dont really like my vamps to sparkle either! The vamps I like are like the ones in the anita blake series, some are good, most are bad and they are NOT all drop dead sexy hehe

[Miriam]

I suppose I’m not a huge fan of the real hard core horror slasher books, what I read tends to have an occult/supernatural edge. I think I favour a good combination myself. Scary, otherworldly and situations that provide a good twist on reality, I don't mind a bit of non gratuitous gore if it works - my books aren't too gory but they aren't YA, and some of the scenes might be described as ‘unsettling’. I am a pretty voracious reader and for years stayed away from paranormal/occult/horror (probably as a result of overindulgence in teenhood) but now, especially since I write a series of that genre, I can't stay away and like to see how other authors shape their stories. By the way, this is my first post in goodreads - bit scary in itself…

[Trinity, PNH Lovers Tech Support & Group creator]

Sara wrote: "One of my favorite lines in Obsidian is
“Will you show me what you really look like? You don't sparkle, do you?” A total dig at Twilight lol!"

LOL! That is AWESOME!!

[Trinity, PNH Lovers Tech Support & Group creator]

Sara wrote: If you haven't read Obsidian..."

I took a look at it and it looks awesome! I think I might have to add this to my growing 'To Read' list! :-)