User blog comment:The Soul Fister/Does Creepy necessitate the supernatural/@comment-26030957-20180302052727

How much Poe was supernatural? Not that much if you think about it. All his classics like Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat, Hop Frog, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, none supernatural.

And so much King. Off the top of my head, some favorites, APT PUPIL, MISERY, SURVIVOR TYPE, RAGE, RITA HAWORTH AND THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Tons more.

Horror is an attitude. A state of mind. A tone and voice and set up where you take the reader on disturbing carnival ride. The supernatural is definitely secondary to the trip. If you want to use it, that's great. I love it. But in the end you are falling back on story and character and theme and voice and tone and feeling. And lastly, of course, denouement.