What is a thriller?
“Thriller” is a fiction genre, sometimes called suspense fiction, and is a genre of literature that generally requires fast-paced plots, full-packed action scenes, and limited character development. Part of the glamour of thrillers comes from what their stories are about and how they are told. The plot of a thriller is usually driven by the villain, who represents obstacles that the hero must overcome. The newest book of Frank R Heller entitled “The Secret Empress,” is an excellent example of how a thriller genre can take you on to ride full of suspense, action, surprise, and excitement.
How is it different from straight mystery or suspense?
There is an excellent distinction between straight mystery or suspense and Thriller. While the former slowly generates feelings of anxiety, anticipation, and uncertainty in the audience, Thriller is a fast-faced, gripping, plot-centered story. If the suspense is waiting for the pencil to drop, Thriller is the sequence that follows the reveal. Straight mystery or suspense, focusing on anxiety and building tension, can have a much more mundane set of external events while focusing on the internal conflicts or employing dramatic tension. Thrillers fall in between by having a more action-oriented plot than suspense, while still digging into the complex psychological aspects that make suspense so engaging for the reader.
What makes the reader love it so?
While reading the Thriller genre, we automatically and invariably align ourselves on one side or the other. That’s what reading is about, and we experience it as if we are the character of the story we are reading. Going inside the heads of characters who are downright evil, or at best morally ambiguous, is a thrilling adventure in itself. We relate either to the victim or the detective and, in many cases, with the criminal. It all depends on how the author writes and chooses to convey every prose we want to offer to their readers. Such a view opens up a lot of psychological doors in our minds that is endless as our imagination. That’s what makes Thriller appealing to the readers because it too engages the intellect too. The twists and turns of the Thriller keep our adrenaline flowing and activate a part of our brains that is normally stimulated. This sets off chemicals that have us feeling euphoric, and the feeling can be very addictive. The exposure to dangerous situations, the twists, and turns of the story, and the edge-of-seat drama give a real-life experience almost like the thrill you feel on the rollercoaster ride.
Every human being varies from each other, but one human commonality is the love of storytelling. Since time immemorial, human beings have uttered myths that were the foundation of the storytelling we know today. From telling tales through the cave paintings to the moment first writing was invented and introduced a form of communication and self-expression, the sprouting of the literary tradition that started from Homer, Edgar Allan Poe, and all canons who created the scenery of the thriller genre.
But still, every literary genre’s gest came from the moment when humans were under no control of their emotions and experienced internal and external crises. Humans, after all, are the central motif of why we read and experience literary art. The gift of storytelling permits us to live more than one life in our lifetime. Isn’t it fascinating to ponder such an impossibility?
The Damsel’s Files 