Sharing Ideas for how to develop good and unique horror

This is both a question and discussion post for thoughts on creating suspension, tension, and other elements to give the audience that thrill of adrenaline and fear. What are some ways you like to convey horror? What are some changes you'd like to see in the genre? What personally scares you most in media or in general?

For my two cents, I like to try and subvert traditional horror settings and elements. Instead of a dark, stormy night, I think it'd be interesting to have a horror story take place in a bleak, scorching desert town. Also instead of the typical Friday the 13th, or Halloween night, I think any time of the year would do just as well, even spring. I think that by trying to expand upon the common horror setting, it allows for stories with different tones and mood. In a way, it creates more uncertainty and unfamiliarity since horrific stories shouldn't run on a predictable schedule once every blood moon. I have a story in the works that runs on this aspect, so it's somewhat of a challenge, but also interesting to see how it develops because of the premise.

I could go on for a long time about horror if I really stopped to think about it, but for now I'm going to keep it to two main points.

1) Have the Story Stand Well on its Own: More than any other genre, I see horror consistently rely on contrivances and straight up Plot Holes, because the genre seems to get less criticism for not making sense if people were scared nonetheless. I'm of the mind that you can do anything well given the right context, so I'd like to see more horror stories that are solid and makes perfect sense. I've heard it said about a lot of stories, but none more than horror. "If they did that, we wouldn't have a movie." Yes, you would. You can have a horror movie without the characters being Too Dumb to Live, or without a reveal at the end of the story that doesn't make sense when you think about everything that led up to it. And for me, the horror goes right out the window when Fridge Logic (and sometimes it doesn't even wait until the fridge) to tear the premise apart.

2) Show Contrast: A trend I'm noticing a lot right now, is for something that wants a horror vibe to just make everything look like Silent Hill's Otherworld. It's a shortcut for tone that sabotages the horror in the long run. If the legitimately normal house looks like it's covered in blood and rust, then what's so scary about being trapped in a murder house later? It ends up making it seem like the setting is just hopeless to begin with and removes the feeling of distance from safety and comfort.

Going back to Silent Hill, the fact that the town almost felt normal, just eerily abandoned, at first, is one of the things that stood out to me and made me feel unsettled. If it just always looked demonic, and that's the only setting you ever saw, I'd feel like I was just playing a fantasy game.

Also, one of the things I liked about Silent Hill 4 was that you keep going back to your (mostly) normal apartment between levels. It upped the anxiety so much more when you knew you had to leave it behind and brave the danger once more, and being able to see life going on as normal outside your window, and not being able to reach it, really hammered in the horror of being trapped. Finally, that all even gave them the opportunity to turn it all on its head, when your apartment starts being haunted as well. Since you had some small glimmer of safety until then, it made it that much more powerful when it was taken away.

edited 24th Jan '18 4:02:38 PM by Jokubas

Yes, I think that introducing a sort of safe place, or element of some sort to that regard really goes a long way. It's a good way to subvert the audience's expectation as a sort of way of saying "nobody/no place/nothing is safe" especially if the thing in question is established as sort of untouchable or immune. Having the patience to corrupt the Hope Spot in a story to me is better than having everything all dark and scary from the get go.