Horror games are much more common than they used to be: Early on we had Chill, Cthulhu, and Beyond the Supernatural.

Now we have an explosion of CoC derived games, Dread: The first book of Pandemonium, Little Fears: Nightmare Edition, the other Dread and so on.

Have any games--at all--presented you with moments of real fear? I understand a deft GM is needed, but have any games helped?

Somewhat there is a schism here between scarrying the PC and scaring the player. Horror games mostly are only capable of doing the scary rules stuff to the PC.  Yet that doesn't necessarily prevent such moments bleeding back to the player.

What works to tell horror stories to you as a player, whether they scare you or not?

Do any create tension, even if they don't manage fear?

What doesn't work?

What might you like to see?

A dark, isolated place in a storm. Yes, it worked. Call of Cthulhu with 9 players and one candle for each, snuffed as the characters died. When a tenth knocked on the door at 2am with two candles to go, it was spare underpants time.

Quote from: Silverlion;342985What works to tell horror stories to you as a player, whether they scare you or not?

Do any create tension, even if they don't manage fear?

What doesn't work?

What might you like to see?

It's even more complicated than telling ghost stories round a campfire. Sometimes not very often, something just clicks and you're scared. A lot of it is description, mood setting but it's not something that you can achieve on a regular basis. IMO/IME etc

Regards,
David R

It is so dependent on the GM and the players.   I doubt any game design could make it more likely to occur.   Complex system certainly make it less likely, but those games are not about dice and character sheets.

I have reputation for scaring players at con games, but its late night parlor tricks and a lots of stealing for literature and movies.   I use a combos of psycho-gore and psychedelic situations that push buttons and boundaries.  

The MOST important weapon in my arsenal is a table of players who really want to be scared and aggressively suspend their own disbelief.   It's like opening night at a horror movie - everyone paid money to be spooked so they are much more likely to respond to the scary stuff.