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<blockquote data-quote="Hatchling Dragon" data-source="post: 3018521" data-attributes="member: 580">I'm going to reiterate the oft-overlooked rule of horror:&nbsp; keep it mysterious.&nbsp; The essence of horror is the unknown.&nbsp; Why are people afraid of the dark?&nbsp; Simple, becuase you can't see, and thus don't know what's making those noises.&nbsp; The unknown is uncontrolable, and thus frightening.&nbsp; Let them know what they're acutaly up against and you've just lost the battle.&nbsp; At that point the adventure starts to slide towards a tactical exercise, the party vs the big-bad-beastie.&nbsp; No more 'what are we up against', instead the far less frightening 'what do we do to defeat it?'As to what to do to scare them?&nbsp; I'm not realy good with this as I just don't care for, and thus don't watch, those types of movies.&nbsp; With that being said, I'd go with the classics.&nbsp; Ichor dripping down walls is good, especialy if they're unsure about the safety of touching it.&nbsp; Mysterious noises are great, but don't over-do it or they become jaded and ignore them.&nbsp; I love the 'disturbingly normal' scenes in an otherwise 'spooky' setting, the seemingly unexplainable is always a good trick.&nbsp; An hourglass (or clocks if you have them) running backwards is a staple, and it doesn't even have to work outside the room it's found in.&nbsp; Footsteps are good, and being accompanied by dust sifting down from the floor above is better, with the ultimate being a witness upstairs that'll swear there's nobody up there walking around.Keep them guessing and you keep them worried.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hatchling Dragon, post: 3018521, member: 580"] I'm going to reiterate the oft-overlooked rule of horror: [i]keep it mysterious[/i]. The essence of horror is the unknown. Why are people afraid of the dark? Simple, becuase you can't see, and thus don't know what's making those noises. The unknown is uncontrolable, and thus frightening. Let them know what they're acutaly up against and you've just lost the battle. At that point the adventure starts to slide towards a tactical exercise, the party vs the big-bad-beastie. No more 'what are we up against', instead the far less frightening 'what do we do to defeat it?' As to what to do to scare them? I'm not realy good with this as I just don't care for, and thus don't watch, those types of movies. With that being said, I'd go with the classics. Ichor dripping down walls is good, especialy if they're unsure about the safety of touching it. Mysterious noises are great, but don't over-do it or they become jaded and ignore them. I love the 'disturbingly normal' scenes in an otherwise 'spooky' setting, the seemingly unexplainable is always a good trick. An hourglass (or clocks if you have them) running backwards is a staple, and it doesn't even have to work outside the room it's found in. Footsteps are good, and being accompanied by dust sifting down from the floor above is better, with the ultimate being a witness upstairs that'll [i]swear[/i] there's nobody up there walking around. Keep them guessing and you keep them worried. [/QUOTE]

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