Comments on: Is My Story A Mystery, Horror or Thriller?

By: BECCA PUGLISI

BECCA PUGLISI — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 01:28:41 +0000

In reply to Lucy V. Of course, this is no problem :). I'll check it out. Thanks again, Lucy.

By: Reacher or Hardboiled, here's a little something for everyone - Opening A Mystery

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 20:39:56 +0000

[…] finally, the writing coach, Lucy V. Hay, discusses the differences in mystery, horror, and thriller. Finding the difference isn’t always as easy as it seems. Coach Hay gives us a couple of things […]

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:43:13 +0000

In reply to Lucy V. Oh, neat! I had no idea!

By: Lucy V

Lucy V — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 20:30:05 +0000

In reply to NetRaptor. I like that!!!

By: NetRaptor

NetRaptor — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 18:15:39 +0000

Heh, this is how it was defined for me ages ago, and I still remember it:

A mystery takes place after the murder is committed.

A horror takes place while the murder is being committed.

A thriller is trying to prevent the murder from being committed.

By: Lucy V

Lucy V — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 11:42:42 +0000

In reply to P.I. Barrington.

Hi P.I – I recognise your name, hello! Glad the article was useful 🙂

By: Lucy V

Lucy V — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 11:41:53 +0000

In reply to ANGELA ACKERMAN. Hi Angela! Yup, I totally love psychological thrillers too. They're often set in the home which means over here in the UK they are often referred to as the 'domestic noir' subgenre.

By: P.I. Barrington

P.I. Barrington — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 23:20:23 +0000

I read almost everything you post on B2W, I was surprised to see your guest post here, Lucy! Great article as always! PLUS, you cleared up most of my questions about each genre’s definition.

By: Alice Fleury

Alice Fleury — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 22:41:28 +0000

In reply to Lucy V. Thank you!

By: ANGELA ACKERMAN

ANGELA ACKERMAN — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 22:23:11 +0000

Great post Lucy. I absolutely love psychological thrillers – those can be truly horrifying as they trigger base fears and force readers/viewers to imagine what the character’s going through and how vulnerable it would feel to be in certain situations.

By: Lucy V

Lucy V — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 21:40:49 +0000

In reply to Alice.

Ah yes I have met Alexandra in ‘meat space’ a couple of times, her stuff is good. I love set pieces and wrote this case study of 3 blockbusters, if it helps (and Becca and Angela don’t mind, of course!) >> https://bang2write.com/2015/11/how-to-write-action-set-pieces-in-your-thriller-screenplay.html

By: Lucy V

Lucy V — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 21:37:10 +0000

In reply to William Cowie.

What a great question! I will think on this some more, but my instinct tells me ‘suspense’ is to mystery or thriller like ‘dread’ is to horror … not so much a genre as a feeling evoked *by* the story. Definitely going to muse some more though on this!