Genre CardHorror

© 2010 by American Reading Company®

Reader: _____________________________ Room: ___________

Horror: Speculative FictionHorror is an emotion. You know it when you feel it. Authors of horror create an emotional reaction in their readers of fear or dread. They confront our comfortable, everyday lives with something unknown and unknowable, but lurking and horrific. Choose a good horror story to read and ask yourself: Why do we love horror?

Setting/Plot

Time: When does the story take place and why does it matter?• Time of day or year• Past, present, or future• Historical period

Place: Where does this story take place and why does it matter?

Situation: In our world, the events of this book:• Could never happen.• Might happen.• Could definitely happen.

Source of Horror Identify and describe the source of horror.• The unknown• The supernatural• A form of evil• Psychological

What literary devices are used to create the sense of horror?• Foreshadowing/flashback• Figurative language

Plot: Describe the rising action, climax, and falling action of the story.

Subplots: Are there subplots? What purpose do they serve?

Characters

Narrator: Who is the narrator and why did the author decide to tell the story this way?• First person• Third person omniscient• Third person limited• Reliable or unreliable

Protagonist: Describe the main character’s:• Traits and how they

influence the action and theme.

• Place in society and why it matters.

Sources of Comfort What sources of comfort are available to the main character?

Monster: Is there a monster? In what ways is it:• Threatening (evokes fear)?• Disgusting (evokes disgust)?• Both (evokes horror)?

Effect: How does the source of horror affect the protagonist:• Morally• Physically• Psychologically• Socially• Spiritually

Theme

Author’s Purpose: Why do you think the author wrote this book? What was his/her theme, message, moral or lesson, for you, the reader?

Basic Conflicts: What are the essential conflicts in the book and how do they relate to the theme?

Good vs. Evil: Is it obvious where the good and evil lie in the book, or is it ambiguous?How does this relate to the theme?

Love: Do relationships ultimately triumph over the horror? How does this relate to the theme?

Knowledge: What is the role of knowledge and what are the rules for pursuing it?

Search for Self: What does the protagonist learn? How does this relate to the theme?

Search for Meaning: Are the characters struggling with the meaning/purpose of life? What seems to be the author’s position?

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HorrorSupernatural Termsapparitionbansheecovenghoulgoblingothichauntinglycanthropemiasmanecromancyoccultparanormalphantasmpoltergeistspectresuperhumansupernaturaltalismantransformationwarlockwerewolfvampirezombie

Psychological Termsabnormalamnesiaanxietyapprehensioncompulsivedepravityforebodingillusioninsanitymultiple personalitiesobsessednauseaparanoiaphobiapsychopathsanitoriumsanityschizophrenictrepidation

Evil Termscursedemonfiendmacabremalevolentomenpredatory

Deformity & Death Termscadavercemeterycomacryptdecomposedemisedisfigureddoomgoreimmolationmaimmausoleummummypost-mortempyreskeletontrauma

“The Unknown” Termsalienapocalypsedestinyexperimentfatemuseprimevalprophecyritesritualsuperstitionunearthly