Psychological Horror!

Psychological Horror is a subgenre that explores the complexities of the human psyche by focusing on the mental or emotional turmoils of the characters. You may have heard about PTSD, or know a lot about anxiety, or the lasting impacts of our traumas; these topics are generally central to psychological horror through which the audience is shown a feast of dread, discomfort, and triggering elements.

The objective is not only to evoke a sense of unease but also to delve deep into the human mind and release the darker aspects by tapping into the inner turmoils deeply rooted in our psyche.

Releasing the deep-seated elements that reside within our subconscious, psychological horror explores that our mind can be the utmost enemy that we might have to confront when we are faced with our inner fears or unresolved traumas. By exposing our vulnerabilities, these types of films never fail to create an unsettling atmosphere to horrify the audience without a need to make use of common horror tropes that belong to the other horror subgenres. Essentially, they declare that the most terrifying thing to fear is you, yourself. 

This subgenre's ability to break down the intricacies of the human psyche makes it one of the haunting forms of narration.

Characteristics of this genre are delusions, paranoia, stalkers, mental disorders, loss, grief, loss of sanity and madness. Through these themes psychological horror movies unravel the repressed and dissettling parts of ourselves.

A prevalent stereotype is a character study in which they lose their sense of reality as they start doubting their own presence and perception, reminding us that the line between sanity and insanity is always paper-thin.