Thriller Conventions

Novelist James Patterson gave this description of thrillers. “There are all kinds. The legal thriller, spy thriller, action- adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high- tech thriller, military thriller. The list goes on and on, with new variations constantly being invented. In fact, this openness to expansion is one of the genre's most enduring characteristics. But what gives the variety of thrillers a common ground is the intensity of emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness, all designed to generate that all-important thrill. By definition, if a thriller doesn't thrill, it's not doing its job”.

 But what is a thriller? A thriller uses suspense and tension as main elements to excite the audience and keep them on edge. The settings are usually in dark, but not as dark as the representation of its society, which is usually filled with corrupt police and immoral, acts, even if it for the great-a-good. Thrillers are known for making the audience think with devices such as plot twist, red herrings, cliff hangers and other mind games. Thriller protagonist characters tend to be harder to place as they often aren’t just good or bad but show signs of both qualities. Antagonists will be just as enigmatic, if not more, and the audience will tend to know less about them.