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.
It was an anticlimactic end to a legal and political horror story: On Monday the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 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
After a brief theatrical release, “Frankenstein,” starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, starts streaming Nov. 7 as director Guillermo del Toro puts his sumptuous spin on Mary Shelley’s classic gothic horror story.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 31, 2025
It would be an American horror story, he told me.
From Salon • Jun. 14, 2025
The campus is buzzing with the horror story.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
