I've posted more than once, in reply to you, about some recent play of horror RPGs. You haven't responded.
So, I think I've mentioned the difficulty is twofold-
One, your individual play experiences with your group of 20+ years does not translate into universal play. This is the usual, "An anecdote is not data." (Technically, an anecdote can be a datum, but you know what I mean). Heck, my play experiences with my old group (aka, grognards) is decidedly different than when I DM to teach kids.
Second, you usually reference games that are ... well, not universally played or known (often indie games). There is nothing wrong with that, but given your frames of references are usually IIRC Prince Valiant, BiTD, and now Cthulhu Dark, it is difficult to parse the difference in play experience due to the rules that you are playing under. I'd rather not have to learn a whole new play system in order to simply understand your examples. Moreover, I don't think that they would translate well to a wider, and more general point, about RPGs given that they are fairly niche in the market. Not that this is bad, or good, but it would be similar to making a general point about blockbusters in cinema today by using
The Forbidden Room.
That said, briefly looking up Cthulhu Dark, it would appear that your experience is somewhat idiosyncratic (construed by me, that horror is not, and should not be, generated by "performance" or "description" or "narration" but solely by internal processes; aka "call and response"); these are the first three reviews I found by using google-
https://yawningportal.org/cthulhu-dark-review/
"Cthulhu Dark is truly a storytelling game about Lovecraftian horror. ...This is a game about horror and it takes that role seriously. The designers have gone the extra mile in helping game masters create their own mysteries and on how to convey horror and describe it so that the players actually feel it."
http://roleoverplaydead.com/rpg-review-cthulhu-dark-2017/
"The book also features practical and useful guidance for the game master to craft horror mysteries in a variety of historical, modern or future settings. Walmsley, the lead writer, discusses the use of recurring and often inexplicable imagery and elements, called Creeping Horrors, to ratchet up players’ unease and bafflement. And he includes a section with concise but flavourful outlines of Lovecraftian monsters and threats, and the themes associated with them. ... Cthulhu Dark discusses many disturbing elements: death and destruction, breeding with monsters, cursed bloodlines, mental abduction, the end of the world, and more. "
https://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/285500/cthulhu-dark-review-insane-non-euclidian-fun/
"Cthulhu Dark has some excellent guides for how to tell a horror story. One of my favorite tools the game has for doing this is what it calls “creeping horrors” ... The rulebook is chock-full of Lovecraftian storytelling tools and tips like the creeping horrors." etc.
So, yeah. I don't know, man. Seems like your experience and the ones that the reviewers had was different (but again, I don't know since I'm not familiar with that particular game).
I appreciate that you have a long-standing group of players, and that you have a playingstyle that works for you and your group. Again, I wish you would stop universalizing your playing experiences to everyone else; different groups have different experiences, and I think you'd get a lot more traction if you'd approach things in a more, "This is what I do, and how I have fun (see @
Manbearcat )" and less, "RPGs are not literary, and presentation doesn't matter." But that's your call.