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What is a thriller?

A poorly written - see Grisham, Cussler, Brown - novel where the plot rises above local dangers and could pose a threat on a greater scale whether it be national or international. Actual character, setting, and literary style are usually sacrificed to fill the five hundred plus pages with a pacy story that runs so fast you don't have time to comment on how crap it actually is. Rarely does it have a theme and seldom do their authors write for the love of writing but purely for profit, although they may try and say that writing is their first love in some crappy FAQ on their website.
 
Doug's page is good, I just wanted to add a couple of things:

I think a thriller is a story that's full of action and suspense, designed to keep you on the edge of your seat while reading it. Often, it involves a killer on the loose, who could be threatening not just anonymous victims but the actual protagonist(s) during the course of the plot. It's different from the average mystery story in that regard - the killer strikes closer to the main character, and is generally more active than he or she is in a mystery where a crime has already been committed and the protagonist has to solve it.
 
Along the same topic (I hope)...

What is the difference between horror and thriller (in either books or movies)?

MonkeyCatcher
 
MonkeyCatcher said:
Along the same topic (I hope)...

What is the difference between horror and thriller (in either books or movies)?

MonkeyCatcher
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hmm... a good question it is...

thriller is about adventures with alot of actions, a book, or story or movie that thrills... but some scary movies or books can come under as thriller.

then horror is about curse, ghost, vampires, and other supernature fiction...

does this answer the question? :confused:
 
The two are sometimes one in the same. I think of "thriller" as something that gets your heart rate up, and "horror" as something that does the same, but also keeps you from sleeping at night. Thomas Harris's work, for example, is very borderline.
 
i disagree.

horrors, in their definition, are scary. thrillers don't neccesarily need to be scary- they just keep you reading all the time.

Although, i think it's unusual that "thriller" is a genre, because it's really not. it's just a tag you put on some books. For example, Michael Cricthon books are Sci-Fi, Dan Brown is a mystery/scu-fi writer, and Stephen King is a Horror writer- but they all write thrillers. See?

And stewart... don't say "a poorly written... story..." when someone asks for a definition give them fact not opinion. You may think they have no skill, but i find some of them very good. Michael Crichton and Dan Brown both put a lot of research behind their books- they may notlike writing as much as they like science or history, but they still love what they're trying to portray. And it's interesting in my opinion.

Hope this was of help!
 
Richard Rahl said:
Michael Crichton and Dan Brown both put a lot of research behind their books
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Please do not, in any way, try to insinuate that Dan Brown knows anything about research.
 
Does a thriller have to arise from local events? Clancy is characterized as a thriller writter and his books typically arise from international events.
 
chewlianchillz said:
does this answer the question? :confused:
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Yes, thanks, it helped a lot. :) I have always wondered what the difference was :eek:

sirmyk said:
The two are sometimes one in the same.
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See, this is what had me confused. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish the differences between the two, at least for me, and so it lead me to wondering /what/ a thriller or horror actually was.

sirmyk said:
I think of "thriller" as something that gets your heart rate up, and "horror" as something that does the same, but also keeps you from sleeping at night.
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Great explination.. thanks a lot :)

Richard Rahl said:
Although, i think it's unusual that "thriller" is a genre, because it's really not.
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My local video store disagrees ;)

MonkeyCatcher
 
jbcohen said:
Does a thriller have to arise from local events? Clancy is characterized as a thriller writter and his books typically arise from international events.
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No, a thriller can be based on any situation, anywhere. It's called a thriller because it uses certain conventions and is written in a certain style designed to create tension for the reader using realistic situations. Horror is also supposed to create tension but it's done using supernatural elements.
 
A thriller is similar to a mysery and usually has the protagonist trying to figure it out along the way, but the protagonist is placed in dangerous istuations much more often than in mysteries. Also in a mystery we rarely get a look at the villain until the end. In thrillers we may be folliwing the villain throughout the story. In the case of Absolute Power by David Baldacci, we see the crime committed at the beginning and the remainder of the book is the protagonists trying to solve it while the various conspirators try to cover it up.
 
A Mystery on Steroids

Ha Ha, the first post by Stewart defining thriller as a poorly written novel is very funny. Let me take crack at it. A thriller to me is a mystery on steroids. In thrillers, there is always a mystery but the protagonist's life is usually in danger. There are all forms of thrillers, there are spy thrillers, like The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva, political thrillers, like The Kappa File by Oliver Sands, supernatural thrillers like The Dead Zone, by Stephen King, etc. Because thrillers are suspenseful, they are supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
 
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