User blog comment:ChristianWallis/Is the Written Word Scary?/@comment-26399604-20160824160707/@comment-26399604-20160824172105

It's hard to say...

I will note that I'm at the climax of a novel I am currently reading. At this point, there is vast array of chaos erupting: characters are literally fighting for their lives, people fleeing to reach sanctuary, all the while, the clock is ticking on impending doom.

In the midst of all this chaos, another element (a negative one) is thrown into the picture - one I did not expect to see (at least not at this moment). Like the character who made the discovery, I was genuinely surprised.

I was so immersed into everything that was going on - so invested in the characters that what they felt was relayed to me.

I feel if: anticipation, anger, or any emotion can be felt, then jump-scares are a possibility in written word as well. That "surprise" notation was probably the closest I will ever get to an actual jump-scare (note that isn't a horror story). In truth, that might be the extent of one in any written word.

I don't think it will ever come to a moment where you read a passage and toss your book (or smash you're screen) out of being startled. However, I like to believe the concept can be achieved in general. I think the method to do so hasn't been discovered yet or there is someone who has and they haven't been discovered yet.