User blog comment:ChristianWallis/Is the Written Word Scary?/@comment-10789912-20160825175104

Written word is far superior to film, and I'll take the honor of explaining why.

The largest point is rather obvious. As stated previously, horror is all about doing what other genres can and will not. It's about evoking emotions most genres vigilantly avoid. All forms of literature often imply or hold a deeper meaning, but in horror, this deeper meaning can be surreal. Darker. Macabre. Most important of all, proper horror can not coexist with censorship.

Censorship is the bane of horror. Horror authors often write their darkest thoughts and fears, sometimes bringing in their darkest fantasies. These may range from the hyper-taboo, to the grim, to the terrible. You can not censor these and have them hold an impact. No form of media is as open and as slaughtered by censorship as film. Where film can be restricted, altered to fit a wider audience, and even outright banned, writing has managed to hold more ground against this. Whilst it is true that horror has and will always be misshaped and altered for this same purpose, writing has a hell of a lot more of a chance to remain untouched, or to even outright reject censorship as a whole.

Horror has the ability to be both the most cliche genre we know, and the most original genre we know. Let's be honest about why most of us write horror- out of all literary genres, horror gives the most freedom. Horror allows you to write down exactly what's in your mind, word for word, without having to worry about being blacklisted from magazines and the like for being too "NSFW" or "Adult-centric"-and when we want to share our image without altering it or having to comply to the watered down pussified views of others, we naturally come across a community like this. One that allows us to share and create. Without censorship. -

I read Creepypastas to get a grasp of other's creations. Horror doesn't really phase me on a fear-based level, as you said, but instead gives me a window to view someone else's imagination and horrible thoughts. I read Creepypastas because I've grown up with horror my entire life, and when properly captured, it's a fun and memorable experience.

As for jumpscares, for a jumpscare to be good, it must be expertly done. Almost every single jumpscare is a cheap startle-tactic without a cliche silent build-up and a loud shriek just so people say they got scared. A good jumpscare must be done in key with the atmosphere of the film/game without momentarily altering it. It must fit it. A good example of a game with good jumpscares is Doom 3. The fuckers just so happen to startle you when you turn corners and when they jump from the ceiling- and it's your fault as the player for not noticing them beforehand. Or, for a more straight forward example, the mirror scene in Doom 3 as well.