Thriller (genre)

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Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. This genre is well suited for making thriller films and television programs. A thriller generally keeps its audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information is a common element. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, unreliable narrators, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is often a villain-driven plot, whereby they present obstacles that the protagonist or hero must overcome. Roots of the genre date back hundreds of years, but it began to develop as a distinct style in the 19th century and the early 20th century with novels like The Count of Monte Cristo (1848) and The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915). The films of...

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