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Places of Horror - The Secrets of Scary Settings (2015x41)

: 28, 2015

Horror settings fall into two basic categories: places of disempowerment and places of isolation. Places of disempowerment - such as alien worlds and the bottom of the sea - force us into situations where we don't understand the rules of our environment, and can never tell when our expectations will be suddenly reversed. Places of isolation, like remote cabins and arctic research stations, make sure we know that no one will help us: if we can't find a way to survive, we will simply die. The inherent terror in these settings can be amplified by giving them a haunted past, such an ancient graveyard or an abandoned asylum, or by making the place itself possessed of malice and willpower that's directed against those inside it. Finally, these settings can provide psychological landscapes that reflect someone's inner struggles and fears directly back onto them.