D&D 5E The popularity of horror adventures/settings for 5e

[Remathilis]

KoS? Not familiar with that acronym.

But, I do agree with your point here. Horror is easily defined, easy to engage the players and, honestly, tons of fun. The old Stephen King adage about if everything else fails, go for the gross out certainly applies. Like you say, having a clear bad guy makes for a really easy way to hook the players into things.

And, because it's horror, there's nothing wrong with simply dumping scary critters on the party whenever you feel like. Things are a bit slow? Zombie attack! And nobody starts bitching about "Oh, you're just forcing this" because, well, everyone expects to get stuff dumped on them all the time in horror. That's the point.

KoS = Kill on Sight. Most undead, Eldritch monstrosities and demonic entities are pretty safe always Evil antagonist creatures.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

When you have read a lot of epic fantasy you know the paladin with a shinning armour is going to win, but then... where is the challenge? It is like the superheroes comics where you know the main character is going to save the end and the good guys are going to enjoy a happy end, the level of menace by the villain doesn't matter.

But in the (action-)horror genre nobody knows who is going to survive. Then the players feel there is a serious challenge. When the evil monsters are killed in a dark-fantasy or action gothic horror adeventure, the satisfaction from victory is greater.

* The "infernal" dragons, those from the upper planes, have got a really untapped potential. A good storyteller could create awesome adventures where these monsters are like the kaiju version of Batman's rogue gallery.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I think using Wayne June voice clips would really help add the horror vibe...