User blog comment:Bountybear/What makes something scary?/@comment-28938497-20150115134647

Gore isn't scary by itself, but pain and death are both scary concepts, and gore is a by product if those things are taken to extremes.

A room full of gore in a setting where that shouldn't be expected would also shock and suprise the reader, but gore isn't scary or creepy considered at an element. You'd be better off having a room full of novelty clocks all ticking loudly, than a room full of gore. Much creepier. Also makes you ask more questions.

That's the key to horror; surprising and confusing the brain. Making it feel that things are wrong because it can't immediately make sense of them. That's what separates it from an action/thriller film where an unarmed woman is getting chased by a bad man with a gun. That's what separates it from a chick flick where a woman dreads and fears making a speech because she left her notes at home. It's not just showing the reader a frightened person. It's making the reader frightened too.