My Own Fears

I'll be this isn't what you were expecting when you took a look at this article.  I'm not talking about my fears to do with work or running games.  Oh no, I'm talking about those bits and pieces that creep you out that can empower your own horror games.

• Something bad doesn't notice you so long as you don't notice it.
• Paralysis in the face of danger.
• Someone else's fear / incapacitation / pain.
• Isolation - either physical or emotional.
• Things under the bed.
• Certain movements / shapes that are unfamiliar and alien to us.
• Crossing the bed boundaries will attract the bogeyman's arms.
• Inability to see things clearly - possible threats everywhere!
• Escape routes being routinely blocked off, locking you in with the threat.
• Exposure to an unseen threat.
• Inability to hide.
• Fear of contagion (especially using mundane vectors similar to disease or radiation)
• The classic Death, Mutilation and Helplessness trio
• Dying in agony
• Witnessing a loved one die in agony
• The ordinary slowly warping from the threat in a setting / location manner
• Betrayal and realising the one you love has been corrupted by the Threat
• Feather of mutilation, especially having to self-mutilate to survive
• Having to do something awful to stop a greater threat (sacrifice one for the many)
• Being near safety but unable to reach it, getting caught so close
• Being near a rescuer but unable to call out, getting grabbed or falling down
• Being the subject of misinformed vengeance (i.e. not my fault)
• Something that only moves when you look at it.
• Or the flip side, "Don't blink".
• Betrayal by your own body.