HISTORY OF THRILLERS

 HISTORY OF THRILLERS 

Thrillers are characterized by suspense—a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement over what is to come next, mixed in with apprehension, anticipation, and sometimes even, fear. These feelings develop throughout a narrative from unpredictable events that make the reader or viewer think about the consequences of certain characters’ actions. The suspenseful feelings build towards a climax that is sure to be memorable. 

 

With suspense and crime, with conspiracies and revenge, the thriller genre has been keeping audiences on their toes with tension and excitement for centuries. When it comes to thrillers, many think of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies, like Psycho (1960) and Frenzy (1972), that contain storylines of embezzlement, murder, wrong accusations, and more. However, the thriller genre began much before these movies ever hit the big screen.  

Thought to be one of the earliest prototypes of the thriller genre, Homer’s Odyssey uses similar techniques as today’s modern thrillers. The hero of this epic poem, Odysseus, voyages home to be with his wife, Penelope, through extraordinary hardships and trials. He contends with Cyclops, a one-eyed giant, and the Sirens, who sing sailors to their death, all while battling the sea on his journey home from the Trojan War. These encounters contain anticipatory suspense  and leave the reader wondering if Odysseus will ever make it home, and if so, how he will do it.