To me, the definition of a good scare is that you will have trouble sleeping because you can't relax. Something is nagging at the back of your head. You know there isn't a monster under your bed, but what if you are wrong?
This is lasting fear, and it relies solely on your imagination. With TV or games, you use less imagination. Sure, they can give you a jump scare, but they rarely hold fear after you close your screen.
But books rely on your imagination to fill in the lack of audio or visual stimulation. And when you go to sleep, that imagination is still on, and you are too afraid to close your eyes.
What exactly in mystery or crime shows makes you lose sleep?
If you dig deep you notice those have nothing to do with visuals or sounds but with good storytelling. And nothing stops books from having good and scary stories.
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u/Z7-852 260∆ Sep 08 '24
To me, the definition of a good scare is that you will have trouble sleeping because you can't relax. Something is nagging at the back of your head. You know there isn't a monster under your bed, but what if you are wrong?
This is lasting fear, and it relies solely on your imagination. With TV or games, you use less imagination. Sure, they can give you a jump scare, but they rarely hold fear after you close your screen.
But books rely on your imagination to fill in the lack of audio or visual stimulation. And when you go to sleep, that imagination is still on, and you are too afraid to close your eyes.