What makes something scary?

After some consideration over the last week, I have decided that going the horror route was the way to go. This led me to doing some research to learn more about the genre and what makes certain pieces of media within it more effective than others. I found myself looking on YouTube when I found a video that could be useful to my research. The video was titled "Kairo | anatomy of the scariest scene ever" and it analyzed/broke down a horror scene to see what made it so effective. 

                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfoU_Z1uVfc

After watching the video, I felt I learned a lot about the different strategies in making something scary and a little about the psychology behind fear. Some of the points I took away from the video are the following-

• creating a vulnerable space for the protagonist
• framing the antagonist as part of the background
• defying the typical conventions of a horror film (no jump scares/jump cuts)
• frightened by sudden sound/ appearance is temporary surprise not fear
• fear is in ambiguity, the unknown, uncanny valley
• lack of sound can be used as effectively as sound

Ultimately, if there was only one thing I could take away from the video, it would be that ambiguity and the uncanny valley are very effective tools for invoking fear.  Small subtle details that make something just feel off just creates this uncomfortable feeling that lingers in yourself.  Resorting to sudden loud noises or jump scares may work at causing surprise but they also break the tension that helps make something scary in the first place.