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

In the psychological horror story, ambitious young psychiatrist Parker attempts to make a name for himself by treating Josephine Todd (Berry), the famously incurable patient at his hospital. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 27 Jan. 2026

There's a horror story brewing every morning during mid-winter when the obligatory weather app check comes around. —Frances Solá-Santiago, InStyle, 25 Jan. 2026

Witnesses testifying at a June 1989 congressional hearing held by a subcommittee of the House Small Business Committee in Washington heard a litany of horror stories of patients maimed by surgeons with dubious training and credentials. —Jason Kane, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2025

Over the course of eight episodes, Charlotte established herself as the sharpest and most logical person on the show, the kind of voice of reason that functions as an audience surrogate for horror stories while also working to keep the other characters alive. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Dec. 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