One characteristic is the use of eerie settings like old castles or mansions. For example, in 'Dracula', the castle is a place full of mystery and danger.
In horror fiction, a sense of atmosphere is crucial. Books like 'Dracula' create a spooky and foreboding atmosphere that adds to the horror. They might also use supernatural elements effectively. Psychological thrillers, on the other hand, are all about mind games. They often have unreliable narrators. Take 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' for example. The mother's narration makes you question what's really going on as she tries to come to terms with her son's actions.
The recommendations for extreme horror and psychological horror novels are as follows:
1 The Evil Dead: This is a horror movie Edward's series of novels, including Ghost Blows Out the Light, fatherly 451 degrees and dragon soul, told a series of stories about horror, death and conspiracy.
2. The Evil Dead II: This is the sequel to Ghost Blows Out the Light, which tells the story of the protagonist's struggle against evil ghosts.
3 The Shining: This is a novel by the famous horror P Lovecraft. It tells the story of a passenger trapped on a mysterious ship who gradually falls into despair and madness.
The White Tower: This is a Japanese story about a doctor who discovers a series of murders while solving a patient's psychological problems.
5 " The Dark Forest ": This is a science fiction novel created by Liu Cixin. It tells the story of humans looking for a new home in the universe, which contains some horror and horror elements.
These novels all have a certain amount of psychological horror and extreme horror elements. I hope you will like some of them.
One idea could be a person who wakes up every day to find that their memories are slowly being erased. They start to see strange symbols around their house that seem to be related to the memory loss. As they try to figure out what's going on, they realize that there's a shadowy figure in the corner of their vision that disappears whenever they turn to look directly at it.
Sure. Dracula is widely regarded as a psychological horror. It messes with the characters' mental states, making them question their sanity and pushing them to the brink. The horror isn't just physical but stems from the psychological torment the characters endure.
A psychological horror novel is a novel that uses human psychology as the main clue to create a nervous, fearful, and uneasy reading experience by describing the occurrence of a horror event and the protagonist's experience and reaction.
In psychological horror novels, the protagonist would usually face a series of seemingly harmless events and scenes, but in fact, these events and scenes originated from the psychological problems and subconscious of the protagonist. This kind of novel often explored the fear, desire, loneliness, and contradiction in the human heart. Through the protagonist's experience and reaction, it showed the horror and depth of these topics.
The psychological horror novel was one of the more advanced categories of horror novels. Its plot and atmosphere often attracted the reader's attention and triggered the reader's inner thoughts and reflections. The common psychological horror novels, Faulkner, George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, and others.
These books may often have unreliable narrators. This is a common characteristic in psychological fiction. By having an unreliable narrator, it makes the reader question what is real and what is just in the character's mind. For instance, the narrator's perception of events might be distorted by their own psychological traumas or desires. So, the reader has to piece together the true story while also understanding the psychological state of the narrator.
Well, 'Pet Sematary' by Stephen King is a must - read horror fiction. It plays on the theme of death and the supernatural in a really creepy way. For psychological thrillers, 'Before I Go to Sleep' is good. The protagonist has amnesia and as she tries to piece together her past, you are taken on a suspenseful journey. And 'Sharp Objects' is a great one too. It delves into a journalist's return to her hometown and the dark secrets she uncovers there.
One great book is 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. It combines elements of gothic horror with psychological depth. The portrait that ages while Dorian remains young is a truly creepy concept, and Wilde delves into themes of vanity, morality, and the corrupting influence of beauty.
" The Silent Patient " was a highly acclaimed psychological horror novel in English. This was the debut work of the playwrights Alex Michaelides, who graduated from Cambridge, England. However, the structure and completion of the story were unbelievable. This was the author's first work. This psychological suspense novel topped the New York Times bestseller list as soon as it was released in 2019 and continued for dozens of weeks. It also won the Best Thriller and Suspense novel of 2019 by Goodreads readers in the United States. It was also the second best-selling fiction novel in Europe and the United States in 2019. It had been bought by Brad Pitt's film company and was ready to be put on the big screen.