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Horror
Horror
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Beeble Scale 2[1]
Statistics
319 cards
{C} 1.6% {W} 2.8% {U} 13.5% {B} 53% {R} 3.4% {G} 7.5% {W/U} 0.3% {U/B} 3.4% {B/R} 2.5% {W/B} 0.3% {U/R} 1.6% {B/G} 3.4% {R/W} 0.3% {G/U} 0.6% {M} 2.5% {artifact symbol} 3.1%
28 Horror creation cards
{C} 28.6% {W} 14.3% {U} 10.7% {B} 21.4% {R} 7.1% {G} 10.7% {U/B} 3.6% {U/R} 3.6%
as of Alchemy: Karlov Manor
Scryfall Search
type:"Horror"

Horror is a catch-all creature type used for horrible, black-aligned fiends and beings that defy normal descriptions. Horrors originate from different sources such as nightmares, scientific experimentations, and hellish planes.[2] The first creature to bear the type was Cosmic Horror in Legends. Many cards received the Horror type retroactively in the Grand Creature Type Update. Notable creatures from early sets, like Abomination and Hell's Caretaker retroactively became Horrors.

Horrors don't have a prevalent ability, but most of their abilities harm the controller of the Horror. Many of them also have some kind of evasion. As time has gone on and Horrors branched into Blue as a secondary color, they also became associated with milling and theft effects.

Between 1995 and the fall of 2002, Horrors replaced Demons as the black iconic creature.[3]

Storyline[ | ]

Amonkhet[ | ]

The Desert Lands of Amonkhet are not only inhabited by undead abominations but also horrors who prey on those that dare live outside the Hekma. Some of the creatures rival even the gods in size.

Several of these, like the Grim Strider and the Scrounger of Souls, have elongated forelimbs and a mask-like bone plate instead of a face with a glowing rhombus of light modeled after an eye in its center. Other Horrors are spawned from enchantments or are warped inhabitants of the plane, like the Wasp of the Bitter End.

Arcavios[ | ]

One of the Oriq’s most powerful tools is the Mage Hunter, a horrifying creature from the continent of Galathul that can sense magic.[4]

Capenna[ | ]

Slimy, vaguely humanoid horrors lurk between the Caldaia of New Capenna and the blasted surface of Old Capenna. There, they prey on wayward drifters and raccoonfolk.

Dominaria[ | ]

Cosmic horror

A cosmic horror. Art by Jesper Myrfors.

Duskmourn[ | ]

Cellarspawn are manifestations of Valgavoth's daydreams, commonly found in the Boilerbilges.[5][6] Made of the materials of the House itself, are made up of warped, asymmetrical shapes that distort the world around them.[7] When a cellarspawn catches a survivor, it overwhelms the person with pure terror until their mind collapses or their heart bursts. The resulting harvest is a dense, delicious morsel of terror that's considered a delicacy by cellarspawn. People harvested this way are reduced to spindrells, stripped-down psychic remnants of the victim that retain only a base level of consciousness, steeped permanently in terror. It's almost impossible to outmaneuver a cellarspawn or defeat it in open combat — beasties are the only other inhabitants of the House that pose a potential match.[8] Seemingly killed cellarspawn can reattach limbs, restore their blood, and seal their wounds. The only way to escape is to evade it long enough that it loses interest in you. Cellarspawn have practically no sense of perseverance or memory, so if a survivor can avoid drawing its attention for long enough, eventually it will drift away on its own.

Like other manifestations, most cellarspawn are unconsciously created by the House. [5] The main exceptions to this are the overlords, which Valgavoth deliberately created to help enact his will and carry out occasionally targeted campaigns of terror. There's one overlord for each zone of the House.

Eldraine[ | ]

Devious Witches of Eldraine's deep Wilds have crafted carnivorous horrors out of candies and sweets, arising to devour unsuspecting travelers. Sweettooth Village was once the home of one of these witches, who used the village as a trap created to lure hungry travelers.[9] At some point, the horrors overthrew the witch, now roaming the Village masterless.

Grixis[ | ]

Ikoria[ | ]

It is unknown what precisely separates Ikorian horrors from the much more common Ikorian nightmares, but both are present on the plane.

Innistrad[ | ]

Ixalan[ | ]

Indescribable creatures of nightmare lurk in the ruins and dark places of Ixalan.[10] Many are thought to be the corrupted remnants of the life energy and brilliant light left behind in places the Sun Empire has abandoned. Such creatures include a monster that lurks in the darkness of the jungle and feeds on the blood of mammals and dinosaurs, called the chupacabra. It is stealthy and elusive, known more by the blood-drained prey it leaves behind than by actual physical sightings (Lurking Chupacabra, Ravenous Chupacabra).

Mercadia[ | ]

Phyrexia[ | ]

Rath[ | ]

  • When the Dauthi of Rath were trapped within the "Shadows", the extraplanar space between Rath and Dominaria, they were left in an incorporeal state. They were unable to communicate with people on either plane, yet able to see into both the Dominarian reality and that of Rath. This predicament led the Dauthi to lose their sanity, and some of them manifested as horrors (Dauthi Horror).

Ravnica[ | ]

Ravnica has several kinds of horrors, most creations of one of the more unsavory guilds. The Dimir employ Horrors like the Abyssal Nocturnus, the Dinrova Horror, the Consuming Aberration, and Horror of the Dim, who are created from a combination of necromancy and mind magic with the intend to guard their secrets. The Orzhov use Horrors to collect their debts from the unguilded by sending them into their quarters to collect their souls (Slum Reaper). The Rakdos cryptwitches employ their brand of Horror, like the Cryptborn Horror, who are the results of their experiments, sometimes wrung from the collective nightmares and phobias of the inhabitants of the city (Dread Slag). And finally, the Golgari have command over Horrors wrought from plant matter and mutated insects that can spread on their own by infecting their surroundings with their essence (Woodwraith Corrupter). Sometimes horrors are hunted by the centaurs of the Selesnya Conclave (Hunted Horror).

Shadowmoor[ | ]

Zendikar[ | ]

  • On Zendikar, only the Thought Gorger qualifies as a horror, but it could be argued that the Eldrazi are horrors to the extreme.
  • Many otherwise normal animals (such as cats or wurms) have been mutated into horrors by the latent lithomancy of the Skyclaves.

Notable Horrors[ | ]

Tokens[ | ]

Token Name Color Type Line P/T Text Box Source Printings
Horror Black Creature — Horror 1/1
Black Enchantment Creature — Horror 2/2
Black Creature — Horror 3/3
Black Creature — Horror 4/4
Black Creature — Horror X/X
Blue/​Black Creature — Horror 1/1 Flying
Colorless Artifact Creature — Horror X/X
Blue Horror Blue/​Red Creature — Demon Horror 2/2 Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, this creature deals 1 damage to any target.
Eldrazi Horror Colorless Creature — Eldrazi Horror 3/2
The Atropal Black Legendary Creature — God Horror 4/4 Deathtouch
Nightmare Horror Black Creature — Nightmare Horror X/X
Phyrexian Horror Red Creature — Phyrexian Horror X/1 Trample, haste
Green Creature — Phyrexian Horror X/X
Colorless Artifact Creature — Phyrexian Horror X/X
Zombie Horror Black Creature — Zombie Horror X/X
Uchuulon Black Creature — Crab Ooze Horror */4 Uchuulon’s power is equal to the number of Crabs, Oozes, and/or Horrors you control.
Horrific Symbiosis — At the beginning of your end step, exile up to one target creature card from an opponent’s graveyard. If you do, create a token that’s a copy of Uchuulon.

Horror manlands and artifacts[ | ]

Horrors are also created by:

Creature Type Update[ | ]

In (and before) the Grand Creature Type Update the following creature types were changed into Horror

Gallery[ | ]

Trivia[ | ]

References[ | ]

  1. Mark Rosewater (2020-03-12). "Where are horrors on the beeble scale?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  2. Doug Beyer (December 17, 2008). "Insights from the Inbox". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. Magic Arcana (July 5, 2004). "The Horrors!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. Jay Annelli (2022). Magic: The Gathering - The Visual Guide, DK. ISBN-13 978-0744061055.
  5. a b Emily Teng (June 28, 2024). "Planeswalker's Guide to Duskmourn". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Mira Grant (August 21, 2024). "Duskmourn: House of Horror - Children of the Carnival: Part 1}". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Mira Grant (August 22, 2024). "Duskmourn: House of Horror - Episode 3: Don't Look Back". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Seanan McGuire (August 27, 2024). "Keep Alive, the DVD extras.". Seananmcguire.com.
  9. James Wyatt et al. (2023). "D&D Monstrous Compendium: Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures". Wizards of the Coast.
  10. James Wyatt (January 9, 2018). "Plane Shift: Ixalan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Monty Ashley (October 28, 2010). "Sketches: Corrupted Harvester". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Magic Arcana (December 01, 2005). "Ravnica Hunted Tokens 2". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
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