History Main / SuperheroHorror

* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' is about a former hitman named Al Simmons who comes back as a demonic NinetiesAntiHero and fights demons, angels and the absolute worst that humanity has to offer, killing them in [[BloodierAndGorier increasingly gorier]] ways.
* ComicBook/{{Venom}} and [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]]:
** These two characters combine a superheroic universe with science fiction and BodyHorror. The various symbiotes in the Marvel Universe are [[LovecraftianSuperpower capable of forming tentacles, spines, extra mouths, and other grotesque metamorphoses]]. Also, the reason that the reason Carnage's suit is red is that it's made up of the Venom symbiote mixed with '''Cletus Kasady's {{blood|yMurder}}'''.
** ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' turns Carnage into a cult god resurrecting [[GodOfEvil Knull]].
* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s the nature of ComicBookDeath, and explores psychological and even [[DoingInTheScientist supernatural]] angles to the Hulk's [[LovecraftianSuperpower powers]], all of which have been given [[CosmicHorrorReveal a sufficiently horrifying twist]] befitting of a darker narrative. With the cast of the character's world reimagined, it becomes clear that Hulk's place in the Marvel Universe will never be the same.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'': An alien virus carried into an Elseworlds version of the Marvel Comics universe by a zombified [[ComicBook/TheSentry Sentry]] has transformed the Marvel superheroes and supervillains into cannibalistic zombies who, by the time we're introduced to them, have already consumed every living thing on their own Earth.
* ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' mixes this with BodyHorror and supernatural horror, especially stories written by Creator/AlanMoore.
* ''ComicBook/DCeased'' is a comic miniseries about a ZombieApocalypse happening in an alternative DC Universe, similar to ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. The plot kicks off when Cyborg arrives on Earth from [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokolips]] carrying a corrupted form of the Anti-Life Equation which turns humans into ravenous undead instead of brainwashed slaves. The remaining superheroes now must find a way to stop the chaos before it is too late.

* ''ComicBook/LeavingMegalopolis'' tells a story about a ragtag group of survivors trying to find a way out of the city while avoiding detection by the bloodthirsty former superheroes.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' has the Metal Virus Saga, a ZombieApocalypse-style story of [[BigBad Doctor Eggman]] unleashing a techno-organic virus which converts everyone it infects into mindless robots (dubbed "Zombots" by Sonic).
* ''ComicBook/TerrorInc'' was a dark series set in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse following an immortal assassin who [[AppendageAssimilation replaces body parts by tearing them off of other people]], also allowing him to copy their abilities -- something like a BodyHorror version of [[ComicBook/XMen Rogue]].
* ''ComicBook/MisterMiracle2017'' plays the character of Mister Miracle and the ''ComicBook/NewGods'' mythos for PsychologicalHorror, {{deconstructi|on}}ng the severity of the war between New Genesis and Apokolips as [[WarIsHell catastrophically bloody and politically obtuse]], and delving into Scott Free's mental health and [[SanitySlippage increasingly unreliable perception of the world]] as it spirals into both supernatural and mundane existential darkness.
* ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDoomThatCameToGotham'' is an {{Elseworld}} story that asks "what if Creator/HPLovecraft wrote a Batman story?"

* ''Film/TheNewMutants'' is a superhero action film taking place in a BedlamHouse and ripe with {{Jump Scare}}s, demons, and a bit of PsychologicalHorror.

* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' might be the first superhero horror film yet (or at least superhero HorrorComedy). A 98-pound weakling named Melvin runs afoul of a local gang of hoodlums and ends up falling out of a second-story window at the gym -- straight into a vat of {{toxic waste|CanDoAnything}}. The resulting mutation transforms Melvin into the Toxic Avenger, a deformed creature who proceeds to beat up baddies (and boy, are they bad!) in the most gory ways possible.
* ''Film/TheFlyingMan'' takes a near-Lovecraftian approach to superhero fiction, by showing the titular [[HumanoidAbomination Flying Man]] as an entity that just showed up one day and started enforcing its own justice without anyone being able to do anything about it.

* ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' has been billed as Creator/MarvelStudios' first outright horror film, and is directed by ''Franchise/EvilDead'' mastermind Creator/SamRaimi. The first trailer (which debuted as TheStinger of ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'') shows off plenty of SurrealHorror elements.

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' story "Literature/AttackOfTheMutant", the titular {{supervillain}} has [[RefugeeFromTVLand breached his way into the real world]] and targets his biggest fan, a regular 12-year-old kid. The "heroes" are shown to be cowardly and powerless, while the Mutant's shapeshifting gives him the edge in getting him closer to his young victim. The book overall shows how terrifying it would really be to meet your favorite comic characters.

* ''Series/Legion2017'' centers around a mutant who had diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia who has struggled with mental illness since his late childhood. The series uses MindScrew to tell a story of psychological horror.
* ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'' is a [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]] and [[BloodierAndGorier bloodier]] reboot of [[Series/KamenRiderAmazon the 1974 series]]. [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke 4000 lab-grown predators]] known as "Amazons" were unleashed into the world after a mysterious lab accident 2 years prior to the series, [[IAmAHumanitarian where they feast upon unsuspecting humans: their natural prey]]. The main characters range from [[AntiHero Anti-heroes]] to outright [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]], and most are just as violent and cannibalistic as the monsters they fight.

* ''Series/MoonKnight2022'': The trailer shows traits of this with elements of PsychologicalHorror given Steven's dissociative identity disorder. A prominent example is him being chased by Khonshu down a hallway, and then revealing it's just an old lady entering the elevator. Cast and crew place it under the PsychologicalThriller genre.

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E15And16TheTerrorBeyond The Terror Beyond]]" sees the League butt heads with "Icthultu", an incomprehensible old god from beyond reality, whom they defeat at the heavy cost of [[spoiler:the life of Solomon Grundy, a recurring AntiVillain who was making his first steps towards redemption]].

There's the WeirdWest for horror meets the {{Western}}, and there's SciFiHorror for when {{Horror}} meets ScienceFiction. Superhero Horror is when the {{Superhero}} genre meets horror. Typical SuperheroTropes are PlayedForHorror.

Heroes will sometimes have a LovecraftianSuperpower, and the tone is generally DarkerAndEdgier than the usual superhero comic. It often mixes {{Capepunk}} with horror tropes.

* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s the nature of ComicBookDeath, and explores psychological and even [[DoingInTheWizard supernatural]] angles to the Hulk's [[LovecraftianSuperpower powers]], all of which have been given [[CosmicHorrorReveal a sufficiently horrifying twist]] befitting of a darker narrative. With the cast of the character's world reimagined, it becomes clear that Hulk's place in the Marvel Universe will never be the same.

* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' by Creator/ToddMcFarlane is about a former hitman named Al Simmons who comes back as a demonic NinetiesAntiHero and fights demons, angels and the absolute worst that humanity has to offer, killing them in [[BloodierAndGorier increasingly gorier]] ways.
* ComicBook/{{Venom}} and ComicBook/{{Carnage}}
** These two characters combine a superheroic universe with science fiction and BodyHorror. The various symbiotes in the Marvel Universe are capable of forming tentacles, spines, extra mouths, and other grotesque metamorphoses. Also the reason that the reason Carnage's suit is red is that it's made up of the Venom symbiote mixed with '''Cletus Kasady's blood'''.
** ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' turns Carnage into a cult god resurrecting Knull.
* ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' deconstructs the nature of the ComicBookDeath, and explores psychological and even supernatural angles to the Hulk's powers, all of which have been given a sufficiently horrifying twist befitting of a darker narrative. With the cast of the character's world reimagined, it becomes clear that Hulk's place in the Marvel Universe will never be the same.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'': An alien virus carried into an Elseworlds version of the Marvel Comics universe by a zombified ComicBook/TheSentry has transformed the Marvel superheroes and supervillains into cannibalistic zombies who, by the time we're introduced to them, have already consumed every living thing on their own Earth.

* ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'' is a ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' graphic novel written by Creator/GrantMorrison set in the titular asylum. Batman arrives during a takeover of the asylum by its inmates and explores a layered, disturbing tal supernatural/psychological horror tale involving the dark history of the asylum.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' is about a Superman-like figure named the Plutonian who one day snapped and begins a rampage to destroy humanity. A group composed of the Plutonian's fellow superheroes must find a way to stop him and understand why he became the world's bloodiest mass murderer. The comic deconstructs the nature of superheroism by exploring the assumption that a superhuman must do the right thing automatically without being emotionally prepared for the role. It also shows how horrifying and destructive a superhuman destruction would be unleashed.
* Creator/AlanMoore describes ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' as Superman retold as a horror story. It contains themes that Moore later developed in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' such as BewareTheSuperman, the alienation of superbeings, and the horrific effects of superhumans on modern society.

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' deconstructs neo-Golden Age comics which depict World War II being fought with [[WeirdHistoricalWar superheroes and Dieselpunk mad science]] as an arena for RuleOfCool adventures. First Nazi Germany, and then other countries, develop superhumans in the final stages of the war. The result is an extremely depressing and sickening intensification of its real-world brutality, with BodyHorror and floods of gore aplenty, and SuperWeight differences being treated with ruthless SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome as something that can't be overcome by abstract "willpower" or "righteousness" -- challenge a super more powerful than you are and you '''will''' end up as a smear of blood and ash... if you're lucky.

* ''ComicBook/TerrorInc'' was a dark series set in the Marvel Universe following an immortal assassin who replaced body parts by tearing them off of other people, also allowing him to copy their abilities--something like a BodyHorror version of ComicBook/{{Rogue}}.
* ''ComicBook/MisterMiracle2017'' plays the character of Mister Miracle and the ''ComicBook/NewGods'' mythos for PsychologicalHorror, [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructing]] the severity of the war between New Genesis and Apokolips as [[WarIsHell catastrophically bloody and politically obtuse]], and delving into Scott Free's mental health and [[SanitySlippage increasingly unreliable perception of the world]] as it spirals into both supernatural and mundane existential darkness.

* ''Film/TheNewMutants'' is a superhero action film taking place in a BedlamHouse and ripe with {{Jump Scare}}s, demons and a tad bit of PsychologicalHorror.
* ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' deconstructs the Superman mythos, and turns it into something much horrifying, demonstrating just how dangerous and terrifying someone with [[FlyingBrick Superman's powerset]] could be if they had no morality or humanity.
* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' might be the first superhero horror film yet (or at least superhero HorrorComedy). Melvin runs afoul of a local gang of hoodlums, he ends up falling out of a second-story window at the gym - straight into a vat of toxic waste. The resulting mutation transforms Melvin into the Toxic Avenger, a deformed creature. he proceeds to beat up baddies (and boy, are they bad!) in the most gory ways possible.
* ''Film/TheFlyingMan'' takes a near-Lovecraftian approach to superhero fiction, by showing the titular Flying Man as an entity that just showed up one day and started enforcing its own justice without anyone being able to do anything about it.

* ''Film/{{Glass}}'', a crossover sequel to ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' and ''Film/{{Split}}'', utilizes both psychological horror and superhero elements.
* ''Franchise/KamenRider''

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' goes into a lot of detail on the evil that supervillains can do and the damage fighting off regular {{Kaiju}} attacks takes on person, property and psyche. Some types of capes, like the {{Mind Control}}ling Masters and the invisible or perception-altering Strangers, are played for all the fear factor they're worth. Bug-controlling protagonist Taylor is a HorrifyingHero at one point explicitly compared InUniverse to the Slaughterhouse Nine, a band of notorious serial killer supervillains, for her brutality and creepiness.
* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' story, "Attack Of The Mutant", the titular supervillain has breached his way into the real world and targets his biggest fan, a regular 12 year old kid. The "heroes" are shown to be cowardly and powerless, while the Mutant's shapeshifting gives him the edge in getting him closer to his young victim. The book overall shows how terrifying it would really be to meet your favorite comic characters.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/{{Helstrom}}'' follows siblings Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana (Sydney Lemmon) Helstrom, the children of an infamous serial killer who moonlight as hunters of demons. While not openly "superheroic" from that description, it was originally going to be part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse until backstage restructuring shut down Creator/MarvelTelevision.
* ''Series/WandaVision'' is, on the surface, a throwback to classic TV sitcoms (including ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', and ''Series/FullHouse''). However, it's obvious that something is not quite right about Westview, and elements of PsychologicalHorror, SurrealHorror, and ParanoiaFuel only become more prominent as the series continues[[note]]as a side detail, those who've been following MCU-related news know that ''[=WandaVision=]'' is meant to lead into ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', which has been confirmed to have heavy horror influence, including being directed by Creator/SamRaimi of ''Franchise/EvilDead'' fame[[/note]]. [[spoiler:And to top it off, there's a hint that Wanda may be on the brink of a FaceHeelTurn by the end.]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/Blade2000'' and ''VideoGame/BladeII'' have storylines that took place after their respective films.
* ''VideoGame/SpawnArmageddon''
[[/folder]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "The Terror Beyond" sees the League butt heads with "Icthultu", an incomprehensible old god from beyond reality, whom they defeat at the heavy cost of [[spoiler:the life of Solomon Grundy, a recurring AntiVillain who was making his first steps towards redemption]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' episode [[Recap/WhatIfS1E5WhatIfZombies "What If...? Zombies"]] adapts the concept of ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' into a version of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, complete with magic and aliens in play. Granted, it also takes some liberties (like Spider-Man and the Hulk not being among the horde).

* ''Series/MoonKnight2022'': The trailer shows traits of this with elements of PsychologicalHorror given Steven's dissociative identity disorder. A prominent example is him being chased by Khonshu down a hallway, and then revealing it's just an old lady entering the elevator.

See also: FrighteningPowerUsage and BewareTheSuperman.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/DCeased https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dceased.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:This WOULD horrify Bruce.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[This WOULD horrify Bruce.]]'']]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/DCeased https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dceased.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/DCeased https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dceased.jpg]]]]

* ''Series/MoonKnight2022'': The trailer shows traits of this, given Steven's dissociative identity disorder. A prominent example is him being chased by Khonshu down a hallway, and then revealing it's just an old lady entering the elevator.

[[caption-width-right:350:ComicBook/{{Batman}} [[CoolVersusAwesome fighting]] [[ZombieApocalypse zombies]].]]

* ''Series/WandaVision'' is, on the surface, a throwback to classic TV sitcoms (including ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', and ''Series/FullHouse''). However, it's obvious that something is not quite right about Westview, and elements of PsychologicalHorror, SurrealHorror, and ParanoiaFuel only become more prominent as the series continues[[note]]as a side detail, those who've been following MCU-related news know that ''[=WandaVision=]'' is meant to lead into ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'', which has been confirmed to have heavy horror influence, including being directed by Creator/SamRaimi of ''Franchise/EvilDead'' fame[[/note]]. [[spoiler:And to top it off, there's a hint that Wanda may be on the brink of a FaceHeelTurn by the end.]]

* ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'': An alien virus carried into an Elseworlds version of the Marvel Comics universe by a zombified ComicBook/{{Sentry}} has transformed the Marvel superheroes and supervillains into cannibalistic zombies who, by the time we're introduced to them, have already consumed every living thing on their own Earth.

* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' deconstructs neo-Golden Age comics which depict World War II being fought with [[WeirdHistoricalWar superheroes and Dieselpunk mad science]] as an arena for RuleOfCool adventures. First Nazi Germany, and then other countries, develop superhumans in the final stages of the war. The result is an extremely depressing and sickening intensification of its real-world brutality, with BodyHorror and floods of gore aplenty, and SuperWeight differences being treated with ruthless RealityEnsues as something that can't be overcome by abstract "willpower" or "righteousness" -- challenge a super more powerful than you are and you '''will''' end up as a smear of blood and ash... if you're lucky.

* ''Series/WandaVision'' is, on the surface, a throwback to classic TV sitcoms (including ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', and ''Series/FullHouse''). However, it's obvious that something is not quite right about Westview, and elements of PsychologicalHorror, SurrealHorror, and ParanoiaFuel only become more prominent as the series continues[[note]]as a side detail, those who've been following MCU-related news know that ''[=WandaVision=]'' is meant to lead into ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'', which has been confirmed to have heavy horror influence, including being directed by Creator/SamRaimi of ''Franchise/EvilDead'' fame. [[spoiler:And to top it off, there's a hint that Wanda may be on the brink of a FaceHeelTurn by the end.]]

* ''Series/WandaVision'' is described as being a send-up of classic TV sitcoms such as ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'', ''Series/TheBradyBunch'', and ''Series/FullHouse'', with implications of a PsychologicalHorror twist, while adapting plot elements taken from the comic series ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' and ''ComicBook/TheVision2015''.

* ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' deconstructs the Superman mythos, and turns it into something much horrifying, demonstrating just how dangerous and terrifying someone with Superman's powerset could be if they had no morality or humanity.

* ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' introduces the [[DarkWorld Dark]] [[MirrorUniverse Multiverse]], where worlds are created from every bad decision or choice that the person makes, and said worlds are filled with a malformed contents of nightmare and despair, until they're doomed to rot apart. To illustrate, Batman has about eight {{Evil Counterpart}}s of himself coming from the Dark into the Prime Multiverse, with their backstories ranging from being driven to madness due to losing his entire family to becoming twisted and psychopathic whilst retaining his technological and intellectual prowess after killing The Joker out of pure rage.

* ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' is about a Superman-like figure named the Plutonian who one day snapped and begins a rampage to destroy humanity. A group composed of the Plutonian's fellow superheroes must find a way to stop him and understand why became the world's bloodiest mass murderer. The comic deconstructs the nature of superheroism by exploring the assumption that a superhuman must do the right thing automatically without being emotionally prepared for the role. It also shows how horrifying and destructive a superhuman destruction would be unleashed.

* ''Series/Legion2017'' centers around a mutant who had a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia who has struggled with mental illness since his late childhood. The series uses MindScrew to tell a story of psychological horror.

* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' depicts a world where superheroes embrace their darker sides from their fame, wealth and power, engaging in hedonism and depravity that harms the lives of normal people, all while being backed by a major corporation. It shows how horrific superpowers inflicted on normal people such as A-Train accidentally killing Hughie's girlfriend, Robin by ramming her on super-speed. It deconstructs the underlying relationship between superheroes and the comic industry by portraying the relationship between Vought corporation and its superheroes.

* ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'' by Creator/MarkMillar is a {{Deconstruction}} of society's glorification of violence through the lenses of supervillain-dominated world, as well as a satirical jab at comic book fans who wanted DarkerAndEdgier.