Hi Dark, I can sort of relate to that in a way. When I was a kid a lot of movies that were rated R, were suppose to be too scary for kids, weren't. I watched most of the horror thrillers by the time I was 10 and most of them didn't even effect me. I think a lot of it is I knew that it was all fake so that ultra rational side of me kept me from being terrified of things that weren't really happening.
The original Halloween movie was sort of scary to me back then, but now I am older I can point out exactly why I was scared by it. In the original movie it was more about suspense than killing people and there were many scenes where you thought Michael was going to jump out at the girl, she looks and there was nothing there, which was unsettling because in your mind you expect something scary and there isn't anything. Then, just when the girl thinks the coast is clear here comes a hand with a knife in it to stab her. That sort of suspenseful build up was scary enough, but the music also helped drive the tension up too. However, by and large a lot of those movies didn't bother me as a kid. Even if there was a scene or two that unsettled me in those movies I didn't wine or blubber like a baby. I somehow just reminded myself it wasn't real and got over it. In fact, the only movie that really scared me as a kid was Night of the Living Dead. I know it is pretty stupid of me, but I was terrified of death I guess and the idea that dead people would come back to feast on the living was terrifying beyond belief. No amount of telling myself it wasn't real could convince me of that reality. I didn't go to funerals or graveyards for a couple of years after seeing that movie, because I was certain a zombie would shamble out of the trees or something and carry me off and eat me. LOL! However, the point is I know what you mean. We all have our own personal fears, things that trigger our fight and flight responses,and its not the same for everyone. That is why some horror movies do it for some people and some don't. Same goes for games I suppose. The only game I can definitely say gave me chills was Silent Hill for the Play Station. Its very disturbing on a mental level, and besides warping reality they use a lot of imagery that acts upon your psyche. I don't know of a way that the same effect can be done in audio but I suppose it could be done. The problem is describing a scene isn't the same as seeing it. For example, you might be in a room seeing blood dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls and pooling on the floor. Describing it might be a bit disturbing for some people, but reading about it is not as mentally disturbing is seeing it on your TV screen. There is something truly disturbing about seeing blood dripping that makes my skin crawl, but reading about it in a book or game does nothing to me. So I haven't a clue of how to give a blind gamer that same disturbing effect of unease and terror. Cheers! On 10/6/13, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > Well even in the horror genre there is such a wide amount of what a person > finds scary and how various elements are combined. For example, you mention > > the nightmare on elmstreet series as slasher. Yes, they are about a killer > with a glove with knives on the fingers who likes slashing up kids, however > > equally there is the fantasy aspect of him being dead and coming back from > beyond the grave to attack people in their dreams. > > I actually watched the first Four Freddy Cruger films when I was 10, and > found them not the least scary, indeed it was their fantasy elements that > interested me more than the gorey deaths. > > Bare in mind I'd also watched the Alien films, Terminator, Robocop, etc, > indeed my mum went with me to the video shop to wrent Alien 3 and the man > behind the counter said "do you know this is 15 rated" where upon my mum > just said "oh yes, ---- it's fine!" > > Actual films or books for that matter that scared me could be very > different, princeply because what I tended to find scary weren't the sort of > > things which horror writers tended to often put in films. One of these is > intense pain. > > I don't mind watching a fight or seeing someone quickly and bloodily > murdered, but I tend to find someone being tortured or dying slowly really > bothers me. This often meant that I found kids series and films, in which > the evil villain would torment people with the famous agony beam, more > disturbing than something like Freddy Cruger's creative murderings. > > This should explain part of the reason why I found Shades of Doom so > atmospheric, since I was effectively running through the dark away from > monsters with highly interesting sounds, and if those monsters got me my > character would suffer a very painful death, ---- indeed I remember the > first time I triggered the Gelatinous blob on stage 2, and suddenly having > something with that crackling, burning slime sound coming for me, something > > which took all my amo, and kept on coming until it got and murdered me was > pretty unsettling, ---- though in a good way, interestingly enough, I used a > > double headphone hookup to display shades to a friend of mine who is a major > > fan of the graphical doom series and of horror in general, and he stated he > > found the lack of actual visuals in Shades made it rather scarier for him > than any of the similar graphical games he'd played, particularly since he > was left to imagine! all the monsters and how exactly they attacked and > killed the player. > > Of course, the other thing I sometimes find disturbing is that sort of > warping of reality, that twisting reality out of true just slightly and > making it a little more disturbing, but I can think of comparatively few > films (event horizon is one), that manage this, albeit it is a technique > which writers like Philip K dick, Ray bradbery and Steven King are masters > of. > > I can't however actually think of a game that had this quality, although > since it's something i've noticed in a few doctor who audio dramas it is > possible to achieve in audio with appropriately disorientating sounds and > atmosphere. > > Now there! would be a project for a game developer :D. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
