Genre is a category of art, music or literature. Here are some definitions of the main genres:
MYSTERIES AND THRILLERS, INCLUDING CRIME FICTION: A plot involving a crime or a mystery which the protagonist must solve often involving suspicious death, murder or a lethal threat to them. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, police procedurals, serial killers, conspiracies, sagas, psychological suspense, family sagas, young adult or new adult fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, historical or period drama, noir thrillers (ver dark)
ROMANCE: A plot within which the emotions of love, loss and unrequited love are examined usually resulting in a happy ending for the protagonist. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards melodrama, historical or period drama, erotica, family sagas, chick lit, young adult or new adult fiction, fantasy, sci-fi
SCI-FI & FANTASY: A plot in which the protagonist and secondary characters are living within the past, future, on another planet/ universe or encounter technology or events beyond the norms of what we currently accept as reality. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, fantasy, historical or period drama (going back in time instead of forwards), conspiracies, thrillers, crime fiction, romance, horror, young adult or ne adult fiction, paranormal fantas , fantas
HORROR: A plot which scares the hell out of you! There may be violence and gore, or there may simply (but effectively) be only psychological tension for example, The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, police procedurals, serial killers, young adult or new adult fiction, conspiracies, fantasy e.g. supernatural creatures, noir fiction
SPECULATIVE FICTION, INCLUDING FANTASY: Plots that cross genres and e amine hat if? are speculative fiction. What if nuclear war did happen? What if all the women in the world bar a handful became infertile? What if our sun started to die prematurely? Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, the paranormal, the supernatural, urban decay, apocalyptic fiction, sci-fi, sagas, young adult or new adult fiction, thrillers, noir fiction
EROTICA: Erotica includes sexually explicit details as a primary feature, although unlike pornograph , erotica doesn t aim e clusivel at se ual arousal. The novels of Anais Nin are good examples of well-written erotica see Delta of Venus and Little Birds. Within this there may be elements of, or a veering towards, romance, LGBT, BDSM, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, crime, romance
HISTORICAL: The plot is set within a historical period, and beyond that the story line may encompass any of the above with perhaps the exception of sci-fi.
Within genres there are also sub-genres, for example, in the romance genre there are also these possibilities: Sagas Historical Romance Contemporary Romance LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Science Fiction Fantasy Erotica
And drilling down further, in Fantasy I might find: