: Re: How exactly can a writer write a horror story without making it so scary to the point where it's actually hard to read or watch? I've recently started getting into horror lately and trying

@Heady158

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user16226 is right about anticipation versus "splatter porn". Let's look at one of the classic masters of horror, H. P. Lovecraft.

Let's look at his only full-length novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. In that story, we start with a mystery, what appears to be basically a simple missing persons case but that soon develops some definitely mysterious aspects - rumors of black magic, mysterious and pungent chemicals, and possibly a generational conspiracy. Eventually we encounter actual necromantic rituals, disturbing, dusty tomes, and later we see a real dungeon complete with cages and torture equipment. What we don't see is much of this getting used - the torture equipment simply stays on the rack, and how and when it actually gets or got used is left up to implication. Maybe certain shrieks heard in the night are related? Maybe they are something else? Characters hear bubbling behind closed doors and detect noxious odors, but we never see any chemical formulas. Many other questions are never answered, such as the true identity of a specific character or even the true end goal of the main villain. This, IMHO, makes it a true horror story - the horror doesn't leave you when you finish the story.

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