horror story

noun

: an account of an unsettling or unfortunate occurrence

heard horror stories about recent layoffs

also : something unsettling or unfortunate

his childhood was a horror story

Examples of horror story in a Sentence

We've all heard horror stories about airlines losing people's luggage.

Her childhood was a horror story.

Recent Examples on the Web

Kimberly Raney, the executive director of transportation at Oakland Unified School District and a former manager at FedEx, has a few horror stories about what student busing looked like before Zum came to town. — Maggie McGrath, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Yes, Cathedral is a deeply haunting record and rather than dream up a horror story to accompany it, Carpenter has given us a portal to his nightmares with the graphic novel. — David Harris, SPIN, 10 Aug. 2026

Giese-Hurst told horror stories involving BB guns, including children who died of fatal wounds. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026

Ryan Murphy has tackled monsters, legal drama, the beauty industry, and all manner of American horror stories. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for horror story

• allegory
• amatory
• auditory
• category
• clerestory
• crematory
• desultory
• dilatory
• dormitory
• excretory
• feudatory
• gustatory