Gateway horror: the films that get people into the genre
Gateway horrornoun
Gateway horror is horror that is frightening enough to count but gentle or fun enough to bring a newcomer into the genre.
Gateway horror is the horror you hand to someone who says they do not like horror. It has to be real, with a threat and a few moments that land, and it has to leave the newcomer wanting another one rather than swearing off the genre. It is a job description more than a subgenre.
Where it comes from
The phrase is fan vocabulary, borrowed from "gateway drug", and it has a lineage of its own. For many people it was a family film with teeth: Gremlins (1984), The Monster Squad (1987), Hocus Pocus (1993), Coraline (2009), the Goosebumps books before any film. For others it was an adult film that was more fun than frightening: Scream (1996), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Tremors (1990), The Cabin in the Woods (2012). For a lot of people it was Jaws (1975), which is not usually filed under horror and scared a generation out of the sea anyway.
What the list shares is a tone. Gateway horror takes its monster seriously and its audience gently.
Why it matters
Every horror fan was a non-fan once, and most can name the film that turned them. The genre renews itself through those films, and the ones that work hardest at it, horror comedies and creature features especially, are often undervalued because they are not the scariest thing in the room. Gateway horror is also the honest answer to the most common question about the genre: where do I start if I scare easily? The answer is not "toughen up". It is a specific list of films.
In Gasper
Gateway horror is not one of the built-in tags, but any member can add it to a rank with "Add a tag", and it is one of the more useful notes for other people. A film that collects it is one members think is safe to recommend. A tag does not affect the scare score; it is a note. In the "Which was scarier?" head-to-head, gateway films usually land in the lower half of a rankings, which is fine, and they are often hearted (Loved) anyway. For a member whose Scare Tolerance runs well below the crowd, a Gateway horror tag and the daily pick, which draws from what you ranked and what other members ranked alongside the same films, are the two best ways to find a next film. The guide for people who scare easily builds on both.
Questions people ask
Is gateway horror just horror for kids?
Not only. Family films like Gremlins and Coraline count, but so do adult films that are more fun than frightening, like Scream or Shaun of the Dead.
Who decides a film is gateway horror on Gasper?
Members do, by adding a Gateway horror tag of their own to a rank with Add a tag. It is a signal from people who watched it, not an official rating.
What is a good gateway film for someone who scares easily?
The site's guide on getting into horror if you scare easily has a path. The short answer is a horror comedy or a creature feature with a sense of humor.
Go deeper
- FeatureScare ToleranceYour scare scores against the community's on the same films, named plainly, with your fear stats beside it.
- GuideGetting Into Horror If You Scare Easily: A Kind On-RampA gentle way into horror for people who scare easily: gateway films, watching with the lights on, which subgenres to start with and what Scare Tolerance will say
Related terms
- Body horrorBody horror is horror in which the human body itself transforms, mutates, decays or betrays its owner, often in graphic detail.
- Cosmic horrorCosmic horror is horror built on the dread of forces vast and indifferent to humanity, whose true nature cannot be understood or survived.
- DreadDread is the sustained, building fear that something terrible is coming, the slow counterpart to the jump scare in horror.
- Elevated horrorElevated horror is a 2010s label for slow, serious, character-driven horror films with arthouse ambitions, such as The Babadook and Hereditary.
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