Did you know that there is a name for fans of Horror Movies? You probably didn’t even know that there is a word for people who love movies in general.
If you are a lover of Horror Movies, this article is for you to learn what to call yourself and your fellow Horror fans. The funny thing is there is more than one.
There are multiple words in the dictionary for referring to a person who loves horror movies. You can use words for general movie lovers, words for the gothic style, and words for people who are in love with Horror Movies.
One of the formal English words for someone who loves Horror Movies is Horrorphile. It simply means ‘Lover of Horror’, just like many other words that end with ‘-phile’ refer to the love of something.
15 Words for Someone Who Loves Horror Movies
There are simple words you can use for a lover of Horror Movies. Some of them sum up a general love for movies. You can also just say ‘Horror fan’. However, there are cooler words out there and we have brought 15 of them to you.
- Horrorphile
- Adrenaline Junkie
- Morbid
- Cinephile
- Spooky head
- Horror Movie buff
- Goth
- Horror Movie Fanatic
- Dark coper
- Ghoulish
- White knuckler
- Horror enthusiast
- Phobophile
- Paranormal truthers
- Horror filmophile
Horrorphile
While it is okay to use a word for general movie fans in referring to a lover of Horror Movies, you can also use a word that is central to the love of Horror.
This is an example of words you can use in referring to a person who loves Horror Movies.
Horrorphile is a formal word for a lover of Horror movies. This refers to a person who is fascinated with horror movies.
This doesn’t cover the reasons for their love for Horror or which elements of Horror they love. It generalizes all fans of the Horror genre.
Example:
- I am not a horrorphile but the movie is ranking so I’ll watch it.
Adrenaline Junkie
An adrenaline junkie is a fan of Horror movies who watches the genre for the purpose of getting thrilled by scary and shocking events.
These are Horror fans who scream at scary scenes but love the fear being instilled in them. They would rather watch Horror movies at night so they can feel the fear. However, many adrenaline junkies don’t watch Horror movies alone.
Example:
- He’s an adrenaline junkie so he would want to watch with the curtains down.
Morbid
If you want to refer to a person who loves horror movies but you can’t think of the right word to use, you can use a word for general movie fans and add ‘Horror’ before it. That’s quite creative.
However, if you can’t think of a word for movie lovers, there are more creative words. You can use a word that describes a person who simply loves fear. This is one.
A morbid person is one who loves Horror movies due to his/her interest in gruesome and scary things. This kind of Horror movie fan watches Horror movies for the scary and gruesome elements of the genre.
Example:
- He is so Morbid. I can’t be his roommate.
Cinephile
Unless you are writing an exam where you have to give a formal word for a lover of Horror movies, don’t rack your brain for too long. You can use this word which many people are familiar with.
It is not for Horror movies but for general movie lovers. To make it more central to lovers of Horror, you can decide to add ‘Horror’ before it and you will pass the message.
A cinephile is a person who loves watching movies and participating in reviews and criticisms of movies. A Horror Cinephile is one who is more interested in Horror movies and discussions about them.
Example:
- I am a cinephile but I don’t watch Horror movies.
Spooky head
If you are not forced to use a formal word to refer to a person who loves horror movies, you can use Spooky Head to refer to him/her. Like Morbid, it is good for referring to lovers of Horror movies but that isn’t what it means.
A spooky head is a person who loves Horror movies due to an obsession with disturbing things. This is you if you love the suspense of dark stories often featured in Horror movies.
The term, ‘Spooky head’, is also used informally and sensually to refer to oral intercourse from a ghost or a numbness of the organ making it nearly impossible to feel pleasure from the oral intercourse.
Example:
- I can’t go to the cinema with another spooky head.
Horror Movie buff
Horror movie buff is an informal way of referring to a lover of movies. It is coined from another popular term for referring to a lover of movies in general.
This is just like the word, ‘Cinephile’. You just have to add the ‘Horror’ to make it what you want it to mean. The difference between ‘Horror Cinephile’ and ‘Horror Movie buff’ is that ‘Horror movie buff’ will make more sense due to how ‘Buff’ is often used.
A Horror movie buff is a person who is interested in Horror movies. A buff is a person who is interested in a particular subject. In this case, it’s Horror movies.
Example:
- There are more Horror movie buffs in the room.
Goth
This is slightly different from the earlier suggestions and does not necessarily deal with Horror movies. As Horror movies are often considered scary, not all Horror movies are as frightening as you expect.
Horror used to be called ‘Gothic’ and this is where the word, ‘Goth’, comes from. You can use this to refer to people who are fans of traditional horror style rather than scary movies.
A goth is a person who loves Horror movies for the traditional Gothic culture and practices the culture. This person doesn’t necessarily watch all Horror movies or any at all.
Example:
- She’s a Goth. Modern Horror movies are not her thing.
Horror Movie Fanatic
A Horror movie fanatic is another creative term for referring to a person who loves Horror movies. While ‘Horror Movie Fanatic’ may not be a formal term for what it means, it is very much acceptable for referring to lovers of Horror movies.
It is very similar to the word, ‘Buff’, which also has a separate meaning and can be used to refer to interest in multiple different things.
The use of the word, ‘Fanatic’, emphasizes a hyperactive interest in Horror. ‘Fanatic’ has an old meaning; a person who shows signs of demonic possession through hyperactivity.
Example:
- Maybe I’m a Horror movie fanatic, after all.
Dark coper
While there are words that are specific to horror movies, there are even more specific terms for certain kinds of Horror Movie fans. Just like ‘Adrenaline Junkie’, this term is another category of Horror movie lovers.
A dark coper is a person who loves Horror Movies and uses it as a tool for escaping real life. This kind of person sees Horror movies as an adventure and watches them when anxious about real-life situations.
Example:
- He’s just a dark coper. He’s not exactly fascinated with dark things.
Ghoulish
If you know what ‘ghouls’ are, you should have an idea of what this word means. As mentioned earlier, you can always get creative when you can’t think of a word to use for a person who loves horror movies.
An option is to use a word for people who generally love movies. Another option is to use a word for someone who loves something that’s a major element of horror movies. In this case, just like Morbid, it is the element of Fear that is loved.
A ghoulish person is one who loves Horror movies due to his/her fascination with gory elements of Horror. This word is used to refer to a fascination with corpses or death. You can use this to refer to a Horror movie lover if you believe he/she likes the extreme and gory actions of Horror movies.
Example:
- How can you be so Ghoulish? I can’t watch a Horror movie with you.
White knuckler
A white knuckler is a lover of Horror movies who claims to hate the genre but still watches it from time to time to get scared.
This is a person who genuinely gets scared when watching Horror movies and is often disturbed by extreme activities. However, a white knuckler still bears an interest in Horror movies which shows up occasionally.
Example:
- That’s another white knuckler. She will never admit her love for Horror.
Horror enthusiast
This is a word that will comfortably replace ‘Horror Movie Fanatic’. This is because, aside from the obsolete meaning of ‘Fanatic’, Enthusiast means the same thing. You can refer to a lover of Horror movies as a ‘Horror enthusiast’ or a ‘Horror movie enthusiast’.
A Horror enthusiast is a person who is very interested in Horror movies, books, or Horror literature in general.
The word, ‘enthusiast’, can be used along with other things to refer to a person who is interested in something.
Irrespective of whatever reasons a person may love Horror movies, you can always call him/her a Horror Movie enthusiast.
Example:
- I am a Horror enthusiast. That’s the only genre I’m interested in.
Phobophile
This is another creative word for referring to a person who is in love with scary movies. However, this is not the exact meaning of the word.
All words with the ‘-phile’ suffix are for referring to the love of something so you can tell that this refers to the love of an element of Horror movies. Just like Morbid and Ghoulish, this is a creative word that works effectively for some Horror Movie fans.
A phobophile can refer to a person who loves to watch Horror movies just to see other people getting scared. He/she may be a person who gets turned on by the fear of another person.
This is a person who is sensually attracted to people when they are scared. A phobophile may also get excited by his/her own fear. This is a person who likes to be scared or shocked.
Example:
- He is a phobophile. He likes being scared.
Paranormal truthers
A paranormal truther is a lover of Horror movies who watches Horror movies mainly because of his/her obsession with the idea that some paranormal happenings may be real.
These are people who believe in the supernatural and are often biased when some supernatural movies or stories have a semblance of reality.
You know you are a paranormal truther if you enjoy listening to people’s paranormal experiences or even try to investigate reported paranormal happenings.
Example:
- Are you one of those paranormal truthers? You all are delusional.
Horror filmophile
‘Filmophile’ is another word like ‘Cinephile’ and is used generally for people who are interested in movies generally. You can decide to call a fan of horror movies a filmophile.
However, if you feel the need to be more specific on which genre, you can add ‘Horror’ to it. This idea implies that you can also make up creative words for lovers of another genre of movies e.g. Romance Filmophile.
Horror Filmophile is an informal name for a person who loves Horror movies and pays attention to reviews and criticisms.
The formal word, ‘Filmophile’, refers to a person who has passionate interest in movies, film theories, and film criticisms.
This is the kind of person who likes to participate in movie discussions. Therefore, you can use ‘Horror Filmophile’ to refer to a filmophile who is more interested in Horror movies.
Example:
- I am a Horror Filmophile. I don’t just watch any movie
There are several words for a person who loves Horror Movies. Instead of using general words like Cinephile, Filmophile, or even informal words like Movie Freak, you can use ‘Horrorphile’ which is central to the love of the Horror genre.
There are more subtle words for a person who loves the Gothic style, rather than the fear. An example is ‘Goth’.
For lovers of Horror movies, they are divided into three categories, namely ‘Adrenaline Junkies’, ‘Dark Copers’, and ‘White Knucklers’. All three are elucidated in the article above.
