The Terrifying Power of Implied Horror
A creaking floorboard or a mysteriously flickering light, these moments, where nothing is seen but something, not quite right, is felt, have the power to unnerve players more than the most bloodthirsty monster encounter. So, why does absence of horror sometimes feel more terrifying than its presence? What is it about implied horror that chills us to the bone, and how can designers of horror games use it to devastating effect?
As someone who studies horror games both from a play and design point of view, I’ve always found myself more shaken by a closed door than a jump scare. The most lasting fear, I have found, comes more from what ‘might’ be there than from what I can see is there..
The Psychology of Unseen Fear: Anticipation, Uncertainty, and the Mind’s Darkest Work
Implied horror is something we have all experienced in our lives: humans are naturally afraid of the unknown. Research has shown that ambiguous threats can create more anxiety than clear ones (Bergland, 2016; Shackman et al., 2022). Horror games can exploit this by crafting moments of eerie stillness, moments that create space for players to imagine what danger hight lie ahead. Those spaces of not-knowing can become a breeding ground for the natural human fear of the unknown.
The lack of monsters doesn’t, necessarily, mean the lack of presence. The Uncanny Valley can be used to stimulate this same effect through the use of NPCs. Characters who are almost, but not quite, human can provoke an eerie sense of wrongness. Disjointed voice and movement or subtly ‘wrong’ facial expressions become haunting, not because of overt monstrous aggression, but because they suggest something is not quite right with what we are experiencing (Tinwell et al., 2010). This uncanny feeling is what lingers in the mind.
There is a theory,Terror Management Theory, which argues that it is the fear of death that underpins much of our natural human fear. Horror games manipulate existential anxiety, they remind us that failure is fina and that the impenetrable darkness of death is the reward for a mistake, It’s not actually the monster we fear, it’s the shadow of our own mortality, lurking in the game world like a second presence that chills us (Scrivner, 2021).
Implied Horror in Practice: How Games Use Sound, Space, and Silence Against Us
Skillful games designers understand that the silence can scream. A well-timed pause in audio, or a faint knock can prime the player’s nervous system more effectively than a visible monster or zombie.
Sound Design: A distant growl, or a heavy breath in our ear, these things build fear through implication. The silence itself can be loaded with tension (Roux-Girard, 2010).
Environmental Storytelling: An unexplained blood trail, an overturned child’s crib or a mysterious flickering light could all suggest the potential of violence or a malevolent presence without the need to show it. The player connects the dots, telling their own version of the story in their mind and that story is often worse than any scripted event (Parrish, 2021).
Psychological Gameplay: If we limit vision, movement, or power the player can be made to feel exposed. When the player can hear but not see what’s coming, their brain is free to conjure monsters that are more personal than anything the designer can imagine. The ability to use this skill in an artful way is the true power of implied horror: with this skill in the tool kit, the game designer can make the player a co-author of their own fear.
Implied vs. Direct Horror: Why Less Is So Much More
The jump scare, the grotesque reveal has its place for some. But such moments are often fleeting and pass quickly. Implied horror lingers, it engages our deepest and most personal fears, allowing the brain the freedom to fill in blanks, under horror game circumstances thes blanks often amount to worst-case scenarios, and, as we know, worst case scenarios are a very personal thing built from our in built and learned phobias and fears, these phobias and fears are unique to each of us and triggering them generates a fear that has the power to stay with us long after the game is over (Shackman et al., 2022).
An enemy monster shown clearly is a thing that can be defeated or outrun, once it is beaten, it is beaten. However, an enemy that might be there? That’s more difficult to escape. Implied horror is, by its very nature, unresolvable. You can’t fight what you can’t see, you can’t defeat what might be there, the monsters in your head… those are the REAL monsters..
IThis is an idea that seems to gain universal agreement from Critics and scholars alike: suspense and suggestion are more artful tools than overused shocks. When used well, implied horror doesn’t just scare, it haunts us (Parrish, 2021).
Conclusion: Fear That Lingers in the Mind
More effective horror games can be created if the design decision is made to not show the player everything. If we let the silence speak, let the shadows whisper, and let the player scare themselves, games can be made that haunt the player after they finish playing. That’s the genius of implied horror.
References
Tinwell, A., Grimshaw, M., & Williams, A. (2010). Uncanny behaviour in survival horror games. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 2(1), 3–25.
Scrivner, C. (2021). Morbid Minds: Are We Really Terrorized By Thoughts of Death? Psychology Today.
Bergland, C. (2016). Fear of the Unknown Compounds Many Anxiety Disorders. Psychology Today.
Shackman, A. et al. (2022). Brain Study Ventures Into Fear of the Unknown. University of Maryland News.
Parrish, J. (2021). Less is more: The horror of suggestion in Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People. Horror Studies, 12(1), 83–95.
Roux-Girard, G. (2010). Listening to Fear: A Study of Sound in Horror Computer Games. In M. Grimshaw (Ed.), Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction.