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

The ultrasound tech encouraged me to switch practices, citing other horror stories from my current group, and offered a list of other local OBs. — Trinity Mouzon Wofford, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2026

Each episode adapts a different tale from author Sawamura Ichi’s collection of short horror stories. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026

Six-part series will launch in January 2027 and is based on a short horror story collection from Ichi Sawamura. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026

Conflict with Indigenous peoples on the Maine frontier had sent traumatized refugees into the region, relating horror stories of attacks on their homes. — Jennifer Byrne, Popular Science, 15 Oct. 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