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

Wehunt has written one of the great internet horror stories, a book for the terminally online, who remember the early days of online legend and forum culture with nostalgia. —Neil McRobert, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025

The best horror stories are those that don’t rely on jump scares or bloodied campground killers to frighten. —Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025

The frustration has exploded online, with customers sharing horror stories on Reddit of missing skin care products, art and collectibles. —Kayla Steinberg, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025

Either the owner is requiring it or there is a fear held by someone in the building that Sanders will develop elsewhere and turn into this franchise’s next Mayfield horror story. —Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025

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
• extempore
• feudatory