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Horror. Admittedly, horror has a fairly bad reputation as a genre. Movies are probably the main reason for this, and are probably the first thing that most people think of when they think about horror. Movies within the genre come in many styles, topics, and subgenres. It is not uncommon for these to involve sequel after sequel, numerous cliches, poor acting, and/or a lack of budget. The sequels alone prove something special about horror though. Despite these negative qualities that plague the horror movie industry, people want to go see them and will go see them.
While many of those who go see such movies scoff at the acting, mock the movie, and generally laugh at horror, there are those of us who love horror. And I don't mean enjoy and like it. I mean love it. There is an understanding of what horror is and always has been, why everyone continues to go see these movies, and why video games and literature is produced in the genre as well. When it comes down to it, horror is a genre which asks you to expose yourself emotionally in a way that few other things do.
People love romantic movies and books. They love action and adventure. Emotional depth enhances and adds to all types of stories whether your talking about Star Wars, The Hunger Games books, or the Halo video game series. It is not simply the entertainment factor of these things. There is an emotional connection to the characters and setting; you are slowly asked to form an emotional intimacy with the work. Without realizing it your heart races, your mind reels, and you may find yourself saying things out loud to characters that cannot hear you.
Horror also asks for an emotional intimacy, it too wants to pull you into the work as if you were there yourself. The difference with horror is what emotions it pulls from you and how it does this. Other works must relate to you, they must make the emotions understandable, and draw upon whatever empathy you have. But in a scary game or movie there is a bit of an expectation to open up to possibilities that you don't ever think could happen. Ghosts, demons, serial killers, and more. You know that these things and others are coming. You know that something is going to happen, you may even know what will happen. But that's all part of it too.
You see, horror takes cliched characters and puts them in cliched situations for a reason. More often than not, these are characters we can't directly relate to but know there someone out there like that, or perhaps an exaggerated version of yourself. They might be dealing with work problems or school problems, problems you have dealt with before or might someday deal with. Horror wants you to feel like these are just everyday people dealing with everyday problems, until something weird happens. That thing, whatever it is, you just know is coming. Now your curious about that thing, what it is, where it comes from. There is almost always a mystery to solve, however small. You have opened yourself up to curiosity and this is horror, just by being there you've opened yourself to being afraid.
Now comes atmosphere, and the slow wearing away of whatever defenses you think you've built around certain emotions. Fear, anticipation, confusion, not knowing something, powerlessness. Now is where I tell you that I lied about horror asking you to be open and not needing to slowly pull you into an emotional intimacy, because it already has. Not through relatable characters and connections, but through the setting itself. Music, lighting, silence, and images. Subconsciously your anticipation has increased, your heartbeat gets faster, curiosity spikes. You know terror is coming, and yet you don't leave. I mean, you can leave whenever you want, unlike the characters. You probably don't care about whether they live or die. What you want to know is if the situation is able to be overcome, what does it all mean, the answers to all your questions.
Where else can you safely throw back you defenses and expose yourself to the primal and raw emotions like fear? Where else can you know so much but face the unknown constantly? Fear is an intimate emotion, private and difficult to share, but horror is made with the purpose of flensing your raw nerves, exposing your fears, and forcing you to expose those emotions. The funny thing is you don't want people to see you scared most of the time, you don't want people to know what scares you, or how you act when scared. But horror, who would want to experience that alone?
This is why horror is important. It is a contradiction of knowledge and the unknown, private emotions and having someone to share them with. Horror has always been important. The Grimm's fairy tales? Horrific, terrifying stories told to children to teach them lessons. Frankenstein and Dracula? Cautionary tales of what may happen if you take science too far or aren't careful enough of what may be out there. We have always learned from horror, and we should continue to do so.
What does this have to do with RPGs, aside from the obvious connections to games like the Call of Cthulhu? Well, if we go back to the movies, everyone goes to see horror in some form. Many mock it, but those same people will be in situations where they say, "haven't you seen horror movies?! You never do that!" There are things about horror that just stick with you. Every tabletop RPG can learn from horror.
As a Game Master it is your responsibility to draw people into their characters and setting. Go play some horror games like Five Night's At Freddy's or Outlast. Watch horror movies that aren't big budget main stream movies, but made by those who are interested in varied aspects of the genre. Read some Poe and Lovecraft. Pay attention to what they are doing. How they make you feel and why. Embrace it. Use these tools. Anticipation is probably one of the best tools horror can give you. Putting players in a horrible and forced situation may sound cruel, but what if they learn something or become curious. Then, despite being forced into a situation, they may remain there longer than even need be. Curiosity did kill the cat after all. And fear, learn to cause fear in your characters. Not just in losing the character in battle, but in subtler ways. Character death is such a known fear, no mystery about it. Shake their foundations, make them worry and not know what they're worrying about.
There is no better place to learn these things then horror. It is one of the oldest and most important genres out there. In my opinion it is often one of the most underrated and unrecognized. Expose yourself. Watch the movies you're afraid to watch. That's the whole point, and maybe you'll learn something. When you play a scary game turn off the lights, put on headphones, and try not to look behind you. Be afraid. You're supposed to be. Enjoy it!
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