Hello guys! It's me Sherjil. Today we will take a look at what is the target audience for a horror thriller. I will be utilizing real data, and then linking this on how production companies market these films.
Horror films tend to attract a slightly younger audience, predominantly towards those under 25. It is said that roughly 42% of horror audiences are women, with 58% being men. Horror fils are tend to interfere with thrillers in the way that viewers seek out a certain thrill/scare by diving into a world which is not their own. Younger audiences tend to be more engaed with with seeking out this feeling, hence why horrors do not nesccarily appeals to elders.
The general intention for a horror film is for the audience to feel scared and feel a sense of panic. These films portray our worst fear to get that feeling of being involved in the story and the horror.
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A survey from Yougov also shows how the audience likes to experience fear: horror is often a social genre (47% prefer watching with other people), and most viewers prefer watching at home (55%) over theaters (17%). This changes how the studio markets, which they sell horror as a "group reaction" experience, but they also focus more on streaming and online platforms. Plus, horror grows in October in Nielsen charts indicated how horror movies were rising as a share of total movie viewing in October, peaking at 15.8% in October 2024. We can assess how studios time their biggest marketing pushes when audiences are already in the mood.
Target audience also deals with teasers and trailers. A teaser is to build mood and mystery by not revealing the full plot, and the trailer helps to build stakes and delivers a few controlled "scare beats" for the audience. Research in Frontiers in Communications found that audience response to trailers and how consistent the messaging is across multiple trailers is linked to opening box office performance, which is why studios obsess over the trailer strategy. Horror campaigns can often go beyond trailers into "you can't ignore it" stunts. For example, the movie "IT" used a guerilla approach in Sydney with red balloons placed near stormwater drains, which turned the film's symbol into a real world sighting people could photograph and share. Smile used a viral stunt by placing creepy "smilers" at baseball games, something that can spread because it looked real and made people uncomfortable in public.
Posters of horror films also work to target the audience because they are known to be the "instant identity" of the film. The reason for this is its fonts and visuals that instantly communicate the film's mood before the audience even watches the trailer. Horror thriller posters often use high contrast colors, unsettling imagery, and sharp or distorted typography to signal danger and tension right away. This helps the audience feel the genre in one glance. The font is a big point since it provides meaning of rough, scratched lettering that can imply violence or instability, while clean but spaced out text that can create an eerie empty feeling. The visual design helps control what the audience expects by using a memorable symbol or image to build recognition and curiosity
Here are quick examples:
Figure 1: The movie IT uses extreme negative space and a single bright symbol, such as a red ballon shown to make the poster look instantly readable from the text dissolving away. The title is huge and aggressive, so the audience immediately can expect something intense and iconic, which is perfect for teens/young adults who respond to recognizable symbols and shareable imagery.
Figure 2: The Blair witch Project: This cover leans into realism such as grainy/dark visuals and minimal text that makes the cover feel more like evidence rather than a polished movie ad. This documentary tactic helps target viewers who like thriller mystery because it helps suggest the story could be real.
Figure 3: The Conjuring uses classic horror thriller design that cues a muted, grim background with a single light source known as the match that helps draw your eye. The clean formal title font makes it feel serious and story-driven (thriller). The target audience for this can relate to a mature young adult audience of those who like imagery that involves a signal of danger and dread known as horror.
Studios also utilize marketing to teens/young adults (Gen Z) by combining brand collaborations with TikTok/Instagram first promotion, since younger audiences spend a lot of time on these platforms.
For collabs, Fanta partnered with Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions on limited edition packaging featuring horror icons that tie up to upcoming releases that turn the movie's marketing into something people can spot, buy, and post.
Another example is Popeyes launching a limited-time "Freddy Fazbear Crunch Menu" to promote Five Night's of Freddy's 2 to make the campaign feel more collectible and shareable, not just an ad.
On social media, a TikTok post from Warner Bros promoted the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux by highlighting suspenseful moments that grab young adults' attention and create curiosity about what happens next.
Smile used the "creepy smilers" at baseball games stunt that spread widely online, including Instagram, boosting curiosity and conversation before release.
Reflection: From what I learned, the target audience for a horror thriller attracts those who are young teens since there are more jump scares and anticipation involved. I am glad I got to learn different marketing techniques such as teasers, trailers with different font scaling and colors, and marketing collaborations that help build up momentum for fans from across of social media to be invested and excited of what the horror film will offer. My demographic for my film opening will target those audiences that teens that will like the experience of the horror thrillers with violent props involved such as weapons and an antagonist that is known to be deadly and a mature audience can handle. From the target audience research, this perfectly matches my description. Now that I got a knowledge, we will now discuss color theories help attract these audiences. Our research is almost wrapping up and we are close to reaching the mark of planning our film opening. Day-by day from researching the genre, I am happy to excite you guys of what ideas have made to unfold for when the time comes.
Till next time, we will meet for our next journey.
Sources:
Reference list (APA):
Gilbey, A. (n.d.). Horror film research [PDF]. Weebly. https://cmpalexgilbey.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/7/38878453/horror_film_research.pdf
Gilbey, A. (n.d.). Horror film research [PDF]. Weebly.
https://cmpalexgilbey.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/7/38878453/horror_film_research.pdf
YouGov. (2025, October 6–9). YouGov Survey: Horror Movies [PDF].
https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Horror_Movies_poll_results_jW30H9F.pdf
Nielsen. (2025, October). Happy Halloween! Horror movie TV trends this spooky season. Nielsen.
https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2025/halloween-2025-horror-movie-trends/
Kampani, J., & Nicolaides, C. (2023, January 20). Information consistency as response to pre-launch advertising communications: The case of YouTube trailers. Frontiers in Communication, 7.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.1022139
Mumbrella. (2017, September 12). How Mr. Glasses guerrilla marketed IT with less than $10,000. Mumbrella.
https://mumbrella.com.au/how-mr-glasses-guerrilla-marketed-it-with-less-than-10000-470959
Collis, C. (2022, September 29). Smile director was worried no one would notice crowd “smilers” at baseball games. Entertainment Weekly.
https://ew.com/movies/smile-baseball-viral-marketing-campaign-horror-parker-finn-interview/
The Coca-Cola Company. (2025, August 27). Fanta® teams up with Universal Pictures and Blumhouse to bring together infamous horror icons for the first time in a global partnership [Press release].
https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1140/fanta-teams-up-with-universal-pictures-and-blumhouse-to-bring-together-infamous-horror-icons-for-the-first-time-in-a-global-partnership
Popeyes. (2025, November 17). Popeyes announces limited-time-only Freddy Fazbear Crunch Menu to celebrate the release of Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 [Press release].
https://news.popeyes.com/blog-posts/popeyes-announces-limited-time-only-freddy-fazbear-crunch-menu-to-celebrate-the-release-of-blumhouses-five-nights-at-freddys-2
Internet Movie Poster Awards. (2017). It [Movie poster].
https://www.impawards.com/2017/it.html
Internet Movie Poster Awards. (n.d.). The Blair Witch Project [Movie poster].
https://www.impawards.com/1999/blair_witch_project_ver1.html
Internet Movie Poster Awards. (2013). The Conjuring [Movie poster].
https://www.impawards.com/2013/conjuring.html
Warner Bros. (n.d.). Joker: Folie à Deux | Official Trailer [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OKAwz2MsJs
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