Help me classify this story

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TheAntar

TheAntar

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Hey all,

I'm struggling with a story I just wrote. I was trying to write a horror story, because there seems to be tons of places to submit horror short stories, but also because I wanted to 'cross the line' of what normally goes in a thriller and get a little more graphic, a little more primal.

Now that I'm done the story though, aside from one scene in a 4400 word story, I really don't think it's a horror.

Depending on your point of view, its either a paranormal suspense, a psychological thriller, or some kind of horror story. I'm not sure which. How do you figure out where an enigma like this might fit in the publishing world?

Thanks,

EDIT: Oh the story is posted in syw under horror, in case anybody feels especially bored/helpful :)
 
Exir

Exir

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Depending on your point of view, its either a paranormal suspense, a psychological thriller, or some kind of horror story.
Click to expand...

Psychological thriller = completely realistic. If there are any "ghosts" or "demons", it's due to a psychological condition, such as a hallucination. Usually involves a main character put into an desperate, psychologically trying situation, and trying to get out of it. Like other "thrillers", it involves a race against time and adversary -- in this case, the ticking clock is the protagonist's inner mind: she has to solve the problem before she becomes too insane to get out of it.

Horror = involves truly supernatural events, and the supernatural entity is ALMOST ALWAYS an EVIL that the protagonist will have to fight.

Paranormal suspense = I'm not very sure about this one. I think the difference is that the paranormal entities could be helpful as well as malevolent. Again, I don't know for sure.
 
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TheAntar

TheAntar

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Well the way my story is constructed, it is vague whether the protagonist is just crazy and perceiving supernatural events or ... are they actually happening to him?

I guess my question boils down to this: Does the antag have to be 'a supernatural entity' to be horror? Was "In the Deathroom" by Stephen King a horror story or a thriller?

Mine has more supernatural (or at least, what might be supernatural) than in the deathroom, but King's story has more of a horror element I'd think.

Hmm... so unsure of what to do!
 
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