Not scared of Amnesia anymore, and it's ruined the game for me

[lemming77]

I've always had this problem with horror games whereby I can be scared during the first few hours of gameplay. But after that, I become used to it, and it stops scaring me. It ultimately makes me feel like I'm missing out on the experience. Some horror games I've found were perfectly enjoyable games even with the horror bits peeled off, but that hasn't been my experience with Penumbra and Amnesia.

I bought all the Penumbra games a while ago on a Steam sale. I put on headphones, turned off the lights, and started playing Overture. I loved the interface, loved the exploration involved, and was absolutely terrified. But somewhere along the line, I just stopped getting scared. Rather than cautiously creeping around the levels, I began sprinting through pitch black corridors. I lost the patience to hide from enemies, and started simply beating up the dogs with whatever weapons I had, assuming it would be quicker. But that felt more like I was fighting against the game's awkward weapon handling than the dogs. I grew tired, and never finished Overture.

The same thing has now happened with Amnesia. Whenever I see an enemy in it, I become frustrated rather than frightened. I love the puzzle solving, and I love exploring the dark and gloomy castle. I especially love piecing the story together using the notes I find and the flashbacks. But the enemies feel more like obstacles between me and the things I enjoy in Amnesia.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there anything I can do to make it more bearable?