what scares you?

[Yoilickturtles]

I wonder what in amnesia scares you? Monsters? Atmosphere? Im working on a custom story and wanna scare the s*it out of you! :p
Dont know if this thread belongs here but it has with custom story's to do so.

[Lleviathyn]

The biggest scare factor for me was the music/sounds combined with monsters.

Part of the reason monsters were so scary was because of the music that played when they were hunting/chasing you.

[Yoilickturtles]

The biggest scare factor for me was the music/sounds combined with monsters.

Part of the reason monsters were so scary was because of the music that played when they were hunting/chasing you.

So hearing the monster spawn and then the music in a dark place would make you scared even if Its not a monster there?

[ClayPigeon]

Build up tension. Scary atmosphere (darkness, horrifying scenes...).
Most important:
Sound, ambiance.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Mostly sounds and general atmosphere. Seeing a glimpse of the monster in the distance or hearing it walk past my hiding spot...stuff like that. Also, very rare(!) jumpscares (please no pointless ones like flying jesus ) with long sections of atmospheric buildup inbetween them.
Constantly expecting something to happen without having it actually happen can really drive me crazy...
I'm also quite easily scared by claustrophobic environments. Narrow corridors with a lot of bends or rooms with a lot of stuff that's blocking my view and dark corners where something could be hiding are way scarier than big, empty halls.

Good, moody lighting also helps a lot. Pure, pitch-black darkness isn't always the best choice for horror but an interesting contrast between light and dark areas is. A dim boxlight can also create this nice effect of mistaking distant silhouettes of harmless objects for something scary!


On the other hand what quickly kills the scaryness for me are:

1. Seeing the monster face-to-face or, even worse, being forced to exploit its AI flaws to escape. Because, let's face it - Amnesia monsters are actually rather derpy once you "get to know them".

2. Being killed often - a section that I've played before isn't scary anymore when I have to replay it for the third time.

3. Unfairness - being insta-killed by a monster that was hiding in a cupboard or walking into a dead end and having a monster spawn behind me isn't scary, it's just annoying. If you want me to immerse myself, you have to at least give me a chance to "play along" and flee or hide from the threat.

4. A ridiculous, grammar mistake- and typo-ridden or just lazily written story. I'd rather have no story at all than read notes containing what I can only classify as kindergarden-level writing - it totally kills the horror atmosphere.

Hope the feedback helps and good luck with your project!

[Akos115]

Water monsters ._.

[Adny]

Absolutely no ambiance, poor level design, flickering texture, and naked bodies that scream and then disappear.

[Macgyverthehero]

Something that would scare me in amnesia is there is no ambient music and you don't hear the monster, not even when it spawns. Also maybe if something sudden just happened that is NOT A JUMPSCARE like maybe a body just suddenly dropping from the ceiling or something like that.

Other then that the exorcist face scares me.

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Yeah, I could imagine sudden silence to be quite effective. Like, there's this really subtle ambient track playing - doesn't need to be music, could also be wind and the like - and suddenly it stops. I would probably not even recognize what's wrong at first, just feel that something's a bit off...

What also scares me are mundane things behaving strangely. Like, say, I walk through a room with some pieces of furniture in them and everything is normal. Then I return to the same room a few moments later and suddenly everything is arranged differently or piled against the wall. A door that suddenly opens into a completely different room. Or, a puppet is always turning it's head to face me as soon as I look away from it. o.O

[PutraenusAlivius]

Satanic sacrifices, Atmosphere, and Sounds.