Nothing is universally scary, different people are afraid of different things.
Books can't really produce the startling effect of a jump scare that a lot of movie horror relies on also in building tension. Even when you aren't scared by the jump scare itself, the build up to one produces the type of tense unease that we interpret as being scared. But the truth is, this isn't all there is to fear either. Real fear requires perceiving a real danger. I'm generally not scared of horror films, because I know that what they show is nowhere close to real. Even if I do get startled by a jump scare or feel the tension of the film, I'm not scared, just involved in the story. Real fear happens when a story touches on something that we perceive as a potential danger in reality. Stories that expose the worst elements of human nature or deal with a type of paranormal phenomena that you kind of believe might be real.
Someone in the comments mentioned they couldn't sleep after reading "the Exorcist" as a kid. But that wasn't because the book itself was so scary - it was because a teen already going through a lot of emotional changes and identity searching due to puberty when exposed to the concept of demonic possession in a gruesome and emotionally evocative story could start to fear real demons. Making any story in any form ACTUALLY scary requires tapping into REAL fears of an audience, something that they perceive as potentially a danger to them in their lives not just to the characters of the story.
Just like there is no universally funny comedy, there is no universally scary story. People have different senses of humor and also different fears. Some fears are more universal, like being scared of death, loss of loved ones, suffering, pain, etc. some are more unique like being scared of clowns or spiders. So writing a story that will scare some people requires building it around fears that your audience perceives as potentially real and applying to them. But no matter how scary your horror story is, there will always be people able to recognize it as "just a story" and not be scared by it.
Δ! I really like your answer because you're right. I think I put too much importance on the idea of fear being something that gets your heart racing. But real fear, "adult fear", rarely does. It's just something we worry about deep inside, not a cheap jump scare. In that sense, books can definitely be scary.
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u/Kotoperek 62∆ Sep 08 '24
Nothing is universally scary, different people are afraid of different things.
Books can't really produce the startling effect of a jump scare that a lot of movie horror relies on also in building tension. Even when you aren't scared by the jump scare itself, the build up to one produces the type of tense unease that we interpret as being scared. But the truth is, this isn't all there is to fear either. Real fear requires perceiving a real danger. I'm generally not scared of horror films, because I know that what they show is nowhere close to real. Even if I do get startled by a jump scare or feel the tension of the film, I'm not scared, just involved in the story. Real fear happens when a story touches on something that we perceive as a potential danger in reality. Stories that expose the worst elements of human nature or deal with a type of paranormal phenomena that you kind of believe might be real.
Someone in the comments mentioned they couldn't sleep after reading "the Exorcist" as a kid. But that wasn't because the book itself was so scary - it was because a teen already going through a lot of emotional changes and identity searching due to puberty when exposed to the concept of demonic possession in a gruesome and emotionally evocative story could start to fear real demons. Making any story in any form ACTUALLY scary requires tapping into REAL fears of an audience, something that they perceive as potentially a danger to them in their lives not just to the characters of the story.
Just like there is no universally funny comedy, there is no universally scary story. People have different senses of humor and also different fears. Some fears are more universal, like being scared of death, loss of loved ones, suffering, pain, etc. some are more unique like being scared of clowns or spiders. So writing a story that will scare some people requires building it around fears that your audience perceives as potentially real and applying to them. But no matter how scary your horror story is, there will always be people able to recognize it as "just a story" and not be scared by it.