horror story
Americannoun
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a story, movie, etc., that entertains or fascinates by shocking or frightening, especially by an emphasis on bloodshed or supernatural forces.
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Informal. a distressing experience.
the horror stories of child abuse.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
From her perch in Midtown Manhattan, divorce attorney Lisa Zeiderman has seen every imaginable marital horror story.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
It quickly became a so-called "creepypasta" -- a short horror story reposted and modified around the web, to which other users added details such as monsters and undiscovered dimensions.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Six months and 16 Oscar nominations ago, Delroy Lindo hopped on a Zoom call with the awards consultants running the campaign for Ryan Coogler’s genre-defying American horror story, “Sinners.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
Speaking ahead of the sentencing, Ms Hopkins said she was grateful to have a healthy son this Christmas after the "horror story" that unfolded earlier this year.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
When I was younger, he loomed large and scary, like a character in a horror story.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
