Horror and Romance as mirror genres

I’ve been thinking about genre again, pondering Romance and horror as two sides of a coin. I compared notes* with a friend who reads a lot of horror, and we were surprised how much they served as mirrors. One imagines the worst that could happen; the other imagines the best. “The worlds of myth or fairy tale have been built either as traps or as happiness-giving universes.” — Stanislaw Lem, Microworlds *(Discussion prompted by a couple books that combine elements of horror and Romance: All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles and How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold. I don’t read much horror, so if you do, let me know if I’ve mischaracterized anything about the genre.) Fears and failings In a Romance, characters must face their psychological fears and overcome their character flaws to achieve love, self-fulfillment, and happiness. In horror, characters must confront their physical mortality and overcome their character flaws to survive. Both build to an inescapable confrontation…