# Australian dopers, what's a "horror run"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605 "2019-03-27T13:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/1 "2019-03-27T13:20:10Z")
Today I’ve encountered the phrase “horror run” in two different Australian articles about traffic accidents. What does it mean? [article one](https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/horror-run-three-killed-on-south-australian-roads-in-17-hours/news-story/31136f3f85e34b3cc621305ee5a0490e) [article two](https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/bruce-highway-continues-its-horror-run-20120119-1q80f.html) ---
**Author:** ![Richox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Richox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richox)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/2 "2019-03-27T13:48:36Z")
A sequence of bad events in a short time frame. Commonly used in reference to road traffic accidents as seen in your linked articles. but also frequently for weather events (i.e multiple storms / hot days in a short period). ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/3 "2019-03-27T20:52:40Z")
And sports - both teams and individuals seem to be having a lot of horror runs, if the headlines can be believed. I’d never realised it was an Australianism, but from a quick googling and excluding Aust/NZ sites almost no other relevant mentions. You’d have thought Brexit was tailor-made for the term. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/4 "2019-03-27T23:27:52Z")
So…what Americans might call “a streak,” it sounds like. With the word “horror” in there, I thought it’d be something a lot more dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/5 "2019-03-28T00:44:00Z")
As opposed to a dream run. Where everything goes your way. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/6 "2019-03-28T01:07:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > So…what Americans might call “a streak,” it sounds like. Not a streak, but a bad streak > [@elfkin477](#): > > With the word “horror” in there, I thought it’d be something a lot more dramatic. Sensationalist journalism is alive and well in Australia. A sport team losing three succesive games in a season of twenty games can be a “horror run”. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/7 "2019-03-28T06:11:55Z")
A horror run can also be in the future. A sporting team drawn to play the three teams placed above them in the last three weeks of the regular has a horror run. Conversely once reaching the finals the same team now needs to beat the same three teams above them to win the premiership is definitely not a horror run, it’s just the luck of the draw. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-dopers-whats-a-horror-run/831605/8 "2019-03-28T06:39:49Z")
Also sporting related, a team has “a horror run of injuries”. One of those phrases that nearly always appears in that form.