Genre Benders are those works that have crossed into other genres. One of the greatest of these was the Harry Potter series with its use of creatures such as werewolves from the horror genre (see below). Here are 10 examples of Genre Benders:
J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series created a world inhabited by many creatures to fear either from mythological stories, inspired by mythological creatures, or older literary sources.
Creatures | Appearance | First appear in a book and/or film | Source |
Acromantula | Monstrous spiders | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Inspired by the wolf spider |
Basilisk | Giant snake-like creature with a stare that can kill | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Ancient Greece |
Boggart | Shape-shifting entities that transform into a person's worst fear | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | English folklore |
Centaur | Half-man half-horse | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | Ancient Greece |
Dragons | Fire-breathing giant reptiles | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | |
Hippogriff | Half eagle-half horse | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Medieval |
Merpeople | Underwater beings | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Ancient Greece, India & China |
Troll | Large, unintelligent creatures that feed on human flesh | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | Norse mythology |
Pixie | Mischievous creatures | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | British folklore |
Vampire | Undead, blood sucking creatures | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | European folklore |
Werewolf | Human who transforms into a wolf | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Ancient Greece |
A parody is " a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule."
A satire is "a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish, weak, bad, etc."
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Jones, D. (2021). Horror a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
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Luckhurst, R. (2018). The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror. Flame Tree Publishing.
Landis, J. (2016). Monsters in the movies: 100 Years of Cinematic nightmares. DK.
Skal, D. J. (2020). Fright favourites: 31 movies to haunt your Halloween and beyond. Running Press.
Turitz, N. and Zimmerman, B. (2020). Horror: An illustrated history of vampires, zombies, monsters & more. Centennial Books, an imprint of Centennial Media, LLC.