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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tylermalan" data-source="post: 6103596" data-attributes="member: 30929">The only way I've ever been able to curb the silliness is to make sure everyone is on the same page before the game starts.  Even THAT didn't work for a long time, though, and I ended up having to have a fairly serious talk with my group about how atmosphere is EVERYTHING in horror, and that even a single joke at the wrong time can ruin the entire session.    I just made it clear that, if they wanted horror, they had to work with me.So, I had a few bad sessions/campaigns where the horror elements didn't work so well, and then I had a GREAT time with the single best campaign I've ever run.  One additional thing to mention is that I had to be ON POINT.  Meaning, I really had to be at my best, I really had to be serious.  I couldn't joke around or anything - I was the DM and leader, and if I didn't lead my group to act serious through example, there's NO WAY they would have been able to do it.  I really had to turn myself as much as possible into a professional actor.  It was hard, but it was worth it.So, my specific advice:1)  You, as the DM, need to act the way that you want your players to act.2)  Make sure your group knows what it takes to create and maintain the type of campaign that they want to play.  Some types (like horror) require more work in that regard than others.</blockquote>