Before Freud, there was Edgar Allan Poe. Poe probably has had the greatest influence on the creators of horror. Again and again, horror creators relate that it was Poe that first drew them to the genre. His stories and poems explore the human psyche in a variety of ways. Especially fear (and the fear of being buried alive), nightmares and insanity. "Madness is the dominant subject of one of the greatest of all horror writers in the work of Edgar Allan Poe" (Jones, p.82). Here you will find Poe stories in both the Psychological Horror and Sociopathic Terror sub-genres.
Psychological horror "focuses on the inner psychological states and experiences of character to generate horror, fear and dread" (Cardin, p.985).
Sociopathic terror focuses on an outer experience that generates horror, fear and dread. The experience is usually caused by a sociopath.
Cardin, M. (2017). Horror literature through history an encyclopedia of the stories that speak to our deepest fears (Kindle) Greenwood.
Jones, D. (2021). Horror a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
King, S. (2010). Danse macabre. Gallery.
Landis, J. (2016). Monsters in the movies: 100 Years of Cinematic nightmares. DK.
Luckhurst, R. (2018). The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror. Flame Tree Publishing.
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.