Why Game Masters Should Understand Terror, Horror, and Revulsion

For those just joining us, I like horror games. Not only that, but I'm also a big fan of introducing horror themes and stories into settings that are not explicitly horror games themselves. So while I've got plenty of World of Darkness content out there, such as Evil Incorporated: 10 Pentex Subsidiaries for Werewolf: The Apocalypse lovers, or 100 Resources and Rumors to Find on SchreckNet for Vampire: The Masquerade players and STs, I've also got modules for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition like The Ghosts of Sorrow Marsh or The Curse of Sapphire Lake. That's in addition to writing horror short stories for years, and incorporating a lot of elements of the genre into my other, longer books.

It's why I wanted to talk this week about how a lot of Game Masters out there misunderstand what makes a horror game work, and to discuss some of the terminology of what makes horror work in a way that might make things clearer, and easier to understand.

And if you need a bit of a guide, grab some of my supplements!

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Dread, Terror, Horror, And Why It Matters

One of the primary mistakes that I think a lot of Game Masters make when they decide they want to run a horror game (whether it's specifically written as a horror game or merely one that will have horror themes and elements) is that they focus on trying to actually scare their table. To shock them in some way, shape, or form.

I want to start this off right now by saying that is precisely the wrong attitude to take to running a quality horror game. It's the equivalent of a movie putting in a lot of jump scares to keep the audience's blood pressure spiking, or including gross-out or exploitative content for no reason other than to make the audience uncomfortable. Your goal shouldn't be to slap your players across the face with what's going on... rather, it should be to draw them into the dark waters, and make them wonder what's swimming in there with them.

No, seriously guys, did you hear that?

This is where we get into the terminology. And while it isn't perfect, this is a setup discussed in Danse Macabre by Stephen King. put it pretty well. I'm paraphrasing, but his breakdown took the following, basic form:

- Terror: Terror points at future events that haven't happened, but which one is afraid of happening. It could be specific ("Oh god, what if the minotaur finds me in this labyrinth?") or vague ("Ships disappear here all the time, and no one knows why... what if we're next?"), but it's future-focused. Might be the distant future or the immediate future, but the situation in question hasn't happened yet.

- Horror: Immediate. Horror is what most of us think of as that point where we jump, we scream, and where the event is here, right now (when the werewolf charges out of the mist, the graboid explodes from the ground, etc.).

- Revulsion: Revulsion is a third category that's usually referred to as the cheap thrill, or the attempt to hit the gag-reflex. It's a quick shock that puts adrenaline in your system, or which attempts to go right for the lizard brain. Revulsion can also be backward-looking, however, where one thinks of things they've already seen or experienced (Kurtz moaning, "the horror... the horror," in Heart of Darkness is a good example).

There are discussions to be had on this, and some people might suggest alternative terminology, phrasing, etc., but I find this structure tends to work pretty well. Also, despite the name of the genre (horror), it's actually more important to cultivate terror in order to make one of these games work... both in the short and in the long-term.

Plant The Seed, And Let It Grow

The thing with a horror game (as opposed to horror the emotion) is that you can't just sit people down and throw a bunch of decaying zombies, masked serial killers, and threats to life and limb down on the table and expect them to have a positive reaction. Or even much of a reaction beyond, "... okay?" A horror game more than almost any other kind of game requires investment from your players. You need to establish the stakes, and make sure they've bought in as completely as anyone can.

And then you need to start priming the pump.

This is the end goal, not your starting point.

As the Game Master, you need to use all the elements at your disposal to begin inducing that necessary terror. Sometimes it can be heavy (the small hamlet on the swamp with the mist rolling in, and locals telling tales about monsters kidnapping people) or it can be subtle (local news reports in the background, or gossip at a frat party about some kind of fracas in one of the dorms), but you need to lead the table down into the muck. You don't start with horror or revulsion, because those things with no build-up is just a jump scare; cheap, forgettable, and often annoying. Horror or revulsion with build-up, though, becomes the thing players talk about for ages once they've put their dice away and moved on to something else.

There's an old saying about horror movies; the monster is more frightening the less you see of it. From Jaws to Alien, there's nothing scarier than the viewer's mind filling in the blanks on their own. The same is true when we talk about horror games. Because terror is often a result of little hints being dropped, or of the temperature being increased bit by bit on the pot that is the game. It's is what you get when the PCs stumble across the band of renegade orc warriors they were planning to fight, only to find them torn limb from limb by something far more dangerous. It's what happens when they meet an NPC with just enough knowledge to be afraid of what's coming, and who tells them it's already too late... if they know this much, they've been marked. It's what starts making them paranoid that the terror hasn't come upon them yet, but knowing in their hearts that it will... sooner or later, it will.

The benefit of terror is that it acts like a marinade for the horror to come. If you just took your monster reveal, or your big scare, and served it up all by itself, you probably wouldn't get too much of a reaction. But if you spent some time marinating your table in terror, making them listen to legends, having them hear the screams, watching as they tried to go deeper and deeper only to wonder too late if they can turn back, then even a minor horror is going to be enhanced by all that lead up.

Something to think about when it comes time to run a "horror game" and you want to have clearer language. Because while it might be more accurate to say you want to run a game with dark themes relying on building dread as the PCs circle ever-closer to the reveal of horror, and then have to live with what they experienced and survived, that isn't the way a lot of us talk about what we expect from a game.

But clear communication can often be a big help in getting you from concept to execution!

Also, for those looking for more GM advice, don't forget to take a flip through 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master!

Need More Horrific Supplements?

For all the folks out there who need some extra resources and tools for adding to their games and settings, I've been putting out all kinds of horror-related content the past few years. In addition to the examples in the intro, consider checking out:

- 13 Fiends: A Baker's Dozen of Devils: If you want unusual outsiders just waiting to make bargains with the unwary, then this one has you covered. References to it also show up in 100 Cults to Encounter, for those who are looking for shadowy organizations to pepper your world with.

- 100 Kinfolk Bundle: Kinfolk are the backbone of garou society in Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and this bundle has over 1,300 NPCs for you to fill your setting with! And if you enjoy this game, consider picking up a copy of Tales From The Moot as well!

- 100 Strange Sights to See in The Hedge: An entry for all my Changeling: The Lost fans out there, this one is for the storytellers who just can't pluck out surreal events off the top of their head. It pairs quite well with 100 Hobs To Meet in The Hedge as well as 100 (Mostly) Harmless Goblin Fruits and Oddments to Find in The Hedge should you want a more complete package!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

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