When Is a Horror Book a Thriller? When a Woman Writes It

Recently, I’ve noticed books that belong in the horror genre keep getting mislabeled as thrillers by readers or even their publishers. Bunny by Mona Awad, for example, is often referred to as a psychological thriller despite the very much not rooted in reality events that happen in the book. Jennifer McMahon’s My Darling Girl is another book that’s often called a thriller despite the demonic possession storyline, once again, skewing it toward the creeping dread and possession elements that I’d argue live in the horror genre.

And this is only to name a couple! There seems to be a tendency for readers to mislabel women-written horror novels as thrillers. But why? While, spoiler alert, there’s no clear-cut answer, let’s take a look at some possibilities of what’s at play here.

The Thin Line Between Horror and Thriller

The horror and thriller genres are closely intertwined , with often no clear-cut way to decide which bucket a book falls into. Both genres are categorized in large part by the feelings they invoke in the reader rather than one specific element to point to. And, well, every reader is different, so what’s horrifying to one might be just a low-level thriller to another. Both genres are mood-based, using setting, character, and plot to create a sense of foreboding or dread in their audience. Some signs do point one way or another, like the paranormal or ghostly elements that make something horror, or the way thrillers are often firmly based in the real world.

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