Another genre question

lefty23 · Jul 10, 2012

I have two works in progress and know that one of them is definitely a thriller (the plot involves an fbi agent and his tracking of a woman who's been on the run for the past ten years for murder).

But my other work, i'm not sure if it qualifies as a thriller or if it would be horror. I know if it was a movie it would be a horror film, but as a novel i'm not sure if it would be horror, thriller, or suspense? (the plot involves a trio of college students who are abducted by a serial killer and his family).

To me, the story is closely related to horror, but when i search the horror genre it is all vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. So i'm not sure if suspense or thriller would be the better choice to classify the novel?

Little Anonymous Me · Jul 10, 2012

Sounds like horror to me.

I believe Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho were both published as horror/thriller, so it seems you can cross lines with these two genres.

cbenoi1 · Jul 10, 2012

Here's a rough list of genres that could fit your stories:

Detective: Uncover the truth. ex: I, Robot; Maltese Falcon
Crime: Catch a criminal. ex: Batman; The Thomas Crowne Affair
Thriller: Prevent a crime. ex: Silence of the Lambs; North By Northwest
Horror: Survive a monster. ex: Mysery; Aliens
Action: Engage in combat. ex: Indiana Jones; James Bond

The FBI agent running after the woman is a crime story (chasing after a known criminal). The other one is horror.

-cb

lefty23 · Jul 10, 2012

Thanks for the replies. I'm thinking maybe the best way to refer to them once i start sending out queries would be crime/thriller and horror/thriller.

lorna_w · Jul 10, 2012

if they aren't completed, revised, edited, and proofread, this is not the thing to be thinking about.

quicklime · Jul 10, 2012

lorna_w said:
if they aren't completed, revised, edited, and proofread, this is not the thing to be thinking about.

it is common, especially when new, to get a bit ahead of oneself.....that said, I just wanted to parrot this, as my suspicion is there is a lot of revising and things in the way first. There's no harm in knowing the genre, just consider these as "speed bumps"--genre is fine, but you don't need to know it so you can get your submission out this Friday. Take the time to make it right.

Another genre question

lefty23

Little Anonymous Me

cbenoi1

lefty23

lorna_w

Hybrid Grump

quicklime

all out of fucks to give