User blog comment:GotPunked/Gathering Information and Opinions on Pasta/@comment-28938497-20141128205852

Pastas, and horror in general, needs to shocks the brain. It's not about the main character, or the monster. It's all about the reader, and what they're made to feel by this story.

Some pastas do this by building up expectations and then adding a jarring twist (The painting's actually a hole in the wall with a monster on the other side, the kid's show's actually a front for child abuse). Others by playing on the instinctive fears of humans (predators that can't be fought, harm coming to children), or more common personal fears (Clowns, dolls, spiders, ect.). Often there will be scenerios, themes or motives that the brain finds...'wrong'. (Hence insanty and/or the supernatural usually being present)

Common pasta pitfalls are usually based around a general theme of simply forgetting to scare the reader. Bad OCs. Too much focus on trying to create a memorable monster instead of atmosphere. Trying to use common cliches without realizing why they became so widely used, ect.