horror story

English

horror story (plural horror stories)

(fiction) A fictional narrative of distressing events.
The film is based on a horror story by Edgar Allan Poe.
(informal) A disturbing rumour.
We've heard horror stories about people being attacked in the elevator.
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Logasiri:
  Nevertheless, the batarians have colonized the world, forcing slaves to work in their mines and agri-habitats. The labor is hot, endless, and backbreaking, even in the low-G environment. Every horror story told by slaves elsewhere in the cluster seems to be topped by one from Logasiri. The most famous is that of the slaver Silparon, who worked to death 420 slaves over the course of a galactic standard year and ground up their bodies for compost in his greenhouses.
An unpleasant experience.
It was more of a horror story than a vacation.
- 2022 April 8, John Lichfield, “Get ready for a scary fortnight in French politics: a Le Pen presidency really is possible”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  The French election is straying from the script. It was meant to be a predictable remake. It has turned into a thriller. It could end up as a horror story.

fictional narrative of distressing events

disturbing rumour

unpleasant experience