Similarly, as graphics become more intense, it becomes much more difficult to scare anyone. For example- Bethesda's new game, The Evil Within, didn't do anything for me. I watched the trailer, and had a reverse excitement curve. It started edgy- a man in a bleak warehouse, collecting bits of evidence. Intriguing! Who is he, why is he there? Does his family know he's there? Then, a large sack of flesh walks around to examine a few things. The man dodges behind a wall, and my heart sinks. "Oh, there it is. There's the horror. Nothing we haven't seen before." The character makes a dash for a stairwell, but too late- the blob saw him. Now, there's a cutscene of him running up the stairs, furious footsteps making a heavy contrast to his stealth-oriented approach earlier. The screen shakes, and the blob is chasing him! A shrill sound fills the air, and the blob is closing with a chainsaw! I drink some more soda. Before he can reach the next door, our hero is splayed into pieces- gory, HD-rendered body parts spill on the floor; exactly like I expected. Nothing scary whatsoever, just some things that are mildly startling.
As a contrast, I looked at some screenshots of the first Half-Life. Specifically, a few of the bosses. I nearly crapped myself; it was horrifying! The shapes and textures were extremely primitive, which left so much more room for my imagination. Is that a large blood vessel, or a hydraulic line on the... whatever that limb is? Is it smiling? How many eyes does it have? These questions pecked at me, and I left the page a few seconds later to go hug my pillow.
In a similar vein, I have trouble taking Dead Space seriously. It is a little bit scary- you're alone, your light is absolute crap, and you're not sure if you're really shooting xenos or people.
But, almost all of the game is jump-scares. They're not even scary, just startling. The player flinches, pulls back, and five seconds later has their crap together again. And then, until they forget about it, that's not going to work again. Similarly are the drawn-out quicktime events. He's dangling on a ledge, above a giant saw...
... What else is going to happen? We all know how that's going to end, and we revel in our deathly prophecy.
Fortunately, jump-scares are extremely difficult in tabletop RPGs. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but the GM jumping up and yelling something doesn't sound very feasible, or frightening.
So, the only true horror is a subtle, creeping kind. Introduce little questions that grate on player's minds (and whatever you do... do NOT answer if they ask you). Make them question their own choices.
Lovecraftian horror is great for this. Less about grotesque and depraved acts, it has a focus on the unknown- one of the most relevant. Aliens? Bigfoot? Cloning? All have a serious potential to be a horror story.
~
The vampire's bite eludes me. The human body creates its own blood, in the marrow. So why suck blood?
Unless if, of course, the bite is to introduce something into the victim's blood. Pheromone-receptive cells seemed the obvious choice; either as a form of attraction, or to mark territory. Or both.
It's a popular joke that nerds are effectively vampires: Both shun sunlight, drink fluids most other find unnatural, and read books of strange arcane language. I might make this my basis, though I'm undecided yet. I like the idea of an amateur vampire, who hasn't gotten swept up into a coven yet- he'd effectively be a basement dweller minus the skin condition.
Certainly a lot to ponder. :F
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