Horror Games! Horror Games! Horror Games!
I don’t think this is any surprise but, I love a good scare. Horror movies, video games, books, comics, love it all. So you’d think I’d be pretty immune to scary stuff, right?
Hahahahaha. Haha. Hahahahaha. Hahaha.
Turns out, not so much! I’m definitely a victim of the cheapest jumpscares. I even get scared watching stuff I’ve already seen. But, you know. I keep watching, so I only have myself to blame.
All that is to say, I have a lot of passion when it comes to making a spooky atmosphere for a game I’m running! Here’s some of my favorite tips for building a nice, creepy gaming session.
A quick note: I’m a firm supporter of respecting player boundaries, and making sure I don’t create or include content that will make someone uncomfortable or unwilling to keep playing. Before you spend too much time building your perfect scary session, make sure you know you won’t have anything that will genuinely make anyone upset. And trust me, there’s more than one way to scare a cat.
This may seem like a gimme, but if you’re running an in-person session, a very easy way to get your players ready for some scares is to create a creepy environment. Use flickering electric tea lights, have some quiet but creepy music playing in the background. You don’t want to be so overwhelming that it distracts from the game, but with even just a little you can get the scary party started. Even if you’re going to be playing remotely, feel free to lean into the imagery of your setting here; let your players know that the graveyard was filled with inky shadows, the tree in the wind was groaning like a demon in hell, or that the castle loomed like a great beast in its lair.
Nothing kills a horror story like oversaturation. Horror is all about the catharsis; the story builds up anxiety, ebbs and flows with some minor jump scares and creepy encounters, and it all builds up to an epic climax. You can’t really control game play the same way a movie does (nor should you try!) but try to run each session so that there is more of a natural escalation. Especially if your players are going to be expecting a horror encounter, they’re going to be coming in with some heightened tension. Give your players a chance to immerse themselves so that the stakes will be higher when the situation gets more dire.
Fear is based in the unknown. And an easy way to tap into that is to keep people guessing whether or not The Scary is about to happen. Say your game session is going to be spent exploring a giant, old house. A horror classic, because it lends itself so well! There are so many little nooks and crannies to explore, and who knows what lies behind every single door? (I mean, you probably do, but they don’t!) You want to encourage people to try to look around and interact as much as possible, so have some sort of incentive (a puzzle to solve, possible treasure to find) but also, feel free to sprinkle in a lot of fake outs - a false door, an empty jewelry box, runes carved into the floor that don’t actually do anything. That way, when people do find something scary, it’ll be a genuine surprise.
Were these helpful? I've actually got a full list of 9 tips available on my ko-fi for my Lil Gheisties tier supporters! If you're interested, please check it out! https://ko-fi.com/post/Idea-Generator-Spooky-Campaign-Tips-K3K7LZ5S5
