# The most frightening aspect of a character.



## Ban (Nov 27, 2015)

In my main story, which is currently progressing at the rate of a gletsjer, i have many antagonists. These antagonists range from normal or even good, people who just happen to have interests that conflict with my protagonists interests, to people who might as well be considered evil incarnate and many lie in between. I want to focus on the far evil side of the scale and ask you "What frightens you?".

Is the idea of an oppressive tyrant your idea of scary? Or is it maybe a necromancer desecrating the sanctity of death? For me personally, it is terrorism and i think many can agree. The idea that it can happen anytime to anyone just because some crazy person desires to, is very scary to me.

Please be as detailed or brief as you wish. I prefer somewhere in between


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## Mythopoet (Nov 27, 2015)

To me, the most frightening is the kind of villain who truly, viscerally delights in causing pain to people. Because those kind of people are almost always beyond reason. To be in the power of someone like that... I can't imagine something worse.


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## Lvl20wizard (Nov 27, 2015)

I tried to think of fictional characters that could scare me ... and I think the aspects that I find most scary, are of those who are unpredictable and cruel. It borders a little to the unpredictability of terrorism, but I think there are many other ways it can play out. It dosen't have to do with the scale of power in an evil character, I mean, from the perspective of a given MC, a bullying streetbrat with a flair for cruelty can be just as terrifying as any dark lord. I have a few examples: 

Joffrey, from "A Game of Thrones". You do mostly hate this little dolt and want to twist his neck around, but especially from the viewpoint of Sansa, he becomes really terrifying. Here is a spoiled and twisted child who has way too much power, and given his immaturity and growing paranoid insanity, he becomes increasingly more unpredictable and cruel.  

Capa Barsavi, from "Lies of Locke Lamora". This guy is basically a medieval/rennaissance mobster/mafia boss. He is terrifying. He murders and punishes people in terrible ways. He can clap your back one second, and put a knife through it in the next. He keeps a strict order in his gangs. But what really accentuate his terrifying person, is actually his good relationship to Locke. He basically treats Locke like his soon-to-be son in law, which is absolutely horrifying, because you are constantly showed the consequences of betraying his trust, and that his friendship is a fickle thing. 

Roose Bolton, "A Game of Thrones". Now if anyone has played the Telltale games version of Game of Thrones, you know what I'm talking about. This guy... ugh, he is so twisted. In the book he is also fat and ugly, but in the series, and the games, they made him younger, which, to me, makes him more terrifying. He is relatively young and handsome, and jovial (in his own, murderous way), but damn, he is _rotten_ inside. In the game, you have to constantly maneuver with him as the Forrester House (basically a smaller version of House Stark), and he constantly puts you in impossible dilemmas, just to show his dominance. 

So summing up, I actually think it also depends a lot on the POV whether the portrayed character is creepy or not. If the POV is scared of him, convincingly, with good reason, and have some sort of relationship with that creepy character, we will be scared of him or her as readers.


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## Miskatonic (Nov 27, 2015)

Fanatical leaders can be terrifying and loathsome at the same time.

People who are absolutely convinced that they have the solution to make the world a paradise, utopia, etc., and even with all the evidence in the world thrown in their face will never denounce their grand vision, no matter what horrific fate it may lead them to. 

Throw in a ton of charisma, a talent for manipulation, a voice that hypnotizes, and lots of bad stuff can happen.

And to think that what might be even more frightening is the people willing to do anything so that this dream is realized, even if it is impossible. 

The citizens in 1984 are a great example of this.


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## WooHooMan (Nov 27, 2015)

I think the scariest type of dictator is an ideology rather than a person.  That's why, I think, people latch on to Big Brother as the villain of 1984 rather than O'Brien.  People can be killed pretty easily.  They can also make mistakes and care about others.  
People can also be reasoned with.  And if they can't, they're probably too insane or too stupid to really be held accountable for their own actions.
Ideas and images can't be hurt, make mistakes, care about others or really be talked to.  They just exist and influence people.

In short: concepts or circumstances make for scarier villains.

I very rarely, if ever, like human villains who are unquestionably and irredeemably evil.  Those always strike me as among the weaker types of villains.  And when a human villain doesn't act like a human (with morals and depth), I generally have trouble taking them very seriously.  They became more like cartoon characters.
I take to more seriously when a good person does something awful.  The idea of good people doing bad is scary to me.


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## Deleted member 4265 (Nov 27, 2015)

For me the scariest thing is betrayal. When you find out the villain was someone who you trusted and you thought you knew. How do you even trust your judgement or yourself after that? It's a terrifying thought and it can make you your own enemy when you start to doubt yourself.


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## Heliotrope (Nov 27, 2015)

The most terrifying villain, for me, is the ones who can justify everything they do as if it is totally simple. 

The scariest one I have read is Junior Kane from Dean Koontz's novel "From the Corner of his Eye." The guy is insane, and convinces himself through the entire book that he is justified. He kills his wife, and is sick about it afterwards, but then starts to convince himself that he is sick, not from guilt, but because she _must_ have poisoned him... that horrible, selfish, cruel B*tch... He is _glad_ he killed her. She obviously deserved it... etc. 

He is scary.


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## FifthView (Nov 28, 2015)

Similar to WooHooMan, I think that one non-human thing above all is scariest:  Some sort of fatal biological contagion.   Put it in the hands of a shadowy, difficult to find/corner sociopath or psychopath, and especially one randomly targeting the MC's friends, allies, sympathetic background characters (like the young, loving families, etc.), and have no cure for it, and that's pretty terrifying.

The carrier could actually be a type of monster, deranged beast, swarm of tiny not-quite-natural creatures.

For human villains to be scary:  If they themselves aren't shadowy & elusive for both MC and reader, then they need to be extremely intelligent, able to control events on a broad scale.  Something like Light Yagami/Kira from the anime _Death Note_ or any number of villains with far-reaching influence over the political, economic, and social fabric of a society.


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## Tom (Nov 28, 2015)

I've always found loss of control to be the scariest thing I can think of. Thus the worst villain, from my point of view, would be one who uses mind control or other forms of control over other people. And then there's the whole trope of aliens that infect you and slowly take you over...eesh. Or the magic that turns you into a mindless slave...eesh again. Or hypnotism. Guaranteed to make my skin crawl.


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## Deleted member 4265 (Nov 28, 2015)

I forgot to mention shape shifters.

Shape shifters terrify me.


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## NerdyCavegirl (Nov 28, 2015)

Governments and corporations. They have the people and the power to stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and no matter how nefarious, they're so deeply embedded within the population and culture that almost every citizen believes their lies of "it's for the best", and the few who don't are powerless to change anything. The hardest enemy to fight is the one that's all around you but that everyone refuses to see; at least most people start to believe in ghosts and demons after enough evidence, but god forbid you not trust other humans. Contagions are pretty up there too. Not so much because they're fast and invisible, an illness can be survived, but because pandemics are a great way for corrupt governments and corporations to capitalize on the public's fear for financial gain or shits and giggles.


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## Demesnedenoir (Nov 28, 2015)

On the one hand, there are clowns... it's the fake smile that makes them scary, I guess, LOL. John Wayne Gacy would epitomize that.

Ideologues in general are a solid bet. Fighting an idea that can destroy not just you, but your way of life for everyone around you? The existential threat, not just personal.  However, no character I can think of actually "terrifies" me when I read them. Disturb me? Sure. Perhaps I'm just too jaded after all these years, LOL. 

Trickier question for me than it seemed.


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## Tom (Nov 28, 2015)

Demesnedenoir said:


> On the one hand, there are clowns... it's the fake smile that makes them scary, I guess, LOL. John Wayne Gacy would epitomize that..



Gah. Clowns. I have always hated clowns. And puppets. 

I think it's my sensitivity to the Uncanny Valley effect that's to blame; I'm visually oriented and have an...affinity, maybe? to the human face. I just have this knack for noting and remembering the details of every human face I come into contact with, and whenever I'm confronted with something human-yet-not, it freaks me out so much. It just...is wrong. At the most fundamental level. And I react viscerally to that wrongness. 

Call it overreaction, but I like to think it's just a strong survival instinct! XD


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## WooHooMan (Nov 28, 2015)

FifthView said:


> Similar to WooHooMan, I think that one non-human thing above all is scariest:  Some sort of fatal biological contagion.   Put it in the hands of a shadowy, difficult to find/corner sociopath or psychopath



See, I think once you put the unstoppable, inhuman thing in the hands of a person, it looses a lot of its menace.  The unstoppable, inhuman thing is scarier when no can control it.



Tom Nimenai said:


> Gah. Clowns. I have always hated clowns.



I've never found clowns scary, honestly.
In fact, I seriously think clowns are meme-scary.  It's as if people for so long went around saying "clowns are scary" that now everyone just accepts that clowns are scary.  Like, clown scariness has worked its way into our collective unconsciousness.

Which, I guess if you're looking for a scary villain, one that all of humanity has unconsciously agreed is scary would be the way to go.



Tom Nimenai said:


> I've always found loss of control to be the scariest thing I can think of. Thus the worst villain, from my point of view, would be one who uses mind control or other forms of control over other people. And then there's the whole trope of aliens that infect you and slowly take you over...eesh. Or the magic that turns you into a mindless slave...eesh again. Or hypnotism. Guaranteed to make my skin crawl.



I'm going to second this.  In fact, I think this is the best answer in the thread.
Nothing disturbs me more than mind control.  
Likewise, no disease scares me more than Alzheimer's.
Anything that completely changes/destroys who a person is on a fundamental level against their will is really terrifying.


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## Demesnedenoir (Nov 28, 2015)

Well before even Poltergeist the movie put evil clowns on the movie map, as a kid I went to a haunted house, and the only thing tht scared me there was the damned clowns in the parking lot, LOL. 

I no longer think they are scary, but I know many kids of my generation that at least felt uneasy around clowns. I would not be surprised if this didn't have some psychological connection to John Wayne Gacy, who was Pogo the Clown and a noted serial killer of boys in the 70's. Now rodeo clowns, I was always cool with them, LOL.

In the Space To Care study aimed at improving hospital design for children, researchers from the University of Sheffield polled 250 children regarding their opinions on dÃ©cor for a forthcoming hospital redesign; all 250 children, whose ages ranged between four and sixteen, reported that they disliked clowns as part of hospital dÃ©cor.[14] Many of them, including some older children, stated in the poll that they, in fact, actively feared clowns.[15][16] In other studies playing with therapeutic clowns reduced anxiety in children and improved healing in children with respiratory illness.

So, to each their own I guess, heh heh.


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## Metanoiac (Nov 29, 2015)

The scariest character/person to me is the one who can perform evil actions while completely convinced of their "goodness". I think of characters like Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest - one who can mess with someone else's mind, even hurt them physically, and yet smile and coo as if being gently supportive, is absolutely creepy.


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## valiant12 (Nov 29, 2015)

I generally don't find humans ( and other humanoids) scary.

What i find very scary are viruses.  The greyscale from asoiaf. Especially if the last two books revealed that it have some form of sentience. Computer viruses and zombie viruses too.


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## FifthView (Nov 29, 2015)

WooHooMan said:


> See, I think once you put the unstoppable, inhuman thing in the hands of a person, it looses a lot of its menace.  The unstoppable, inhuman thing is scarier when no can control it.



For all intents and purposes, the biological effect is uncontrollable when you have a shadowy, evasive psychopath or sociopath going about and (seemingly) randomly targeting individuals.  From the POV of the MC, the unseen adversary is little different than some abstract called "Nature" or "Chance" causing these things to happen.

Because I generally focus on the fantasy genre, when I think of these biological effects, I think of the villain whose mere touch can start a process of corruption and decay.  Boils, dying flesh, and so forth—not necessarily a self-sustaining epidemic.



> Ideas and images can't be hurt, make mistakes, care about others or really be talked to. They just exist and influence people.



But they do not just exist _sans_ people.  Indeed, the scariest idea or concept you can imagine would be absolutely, 100%, without exception impotent if people weren't going about enacting that idea or having their actions informed by it.  And I think it's easier on a person-by-person basis to confront and combat an idea than it is to counter some biological corruption, especially in a world with limited or no advanced medicine.


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## Ban (Nov 29, 2015)

valiant12 said:


> I generally don't find humans ( and other humanoids) scary.
> 
> What i find very scary are viruses.  The greyscale from asoiaf. Especially if the last two books revealed that it have some form of sentience. Computer viruses and zombie viruses too.



I suppose i am the opposite. I am very interested in politics and history and i wanted to study criminology for a long time (i chose something else). Because of these interests i have read a lot about some legitimately scary individuals such ad vlad the impaler or any infamous modern serial killer. I adice you not to read up about people such as the chessboard killer or Jeffrey Dahmer. 

Fear is now something that i associate with the conflicted side of humanity. A disease is scary because it might end you without you being able to fight it, but it isn't conscious about itself unlike humans. A wild animal will kill you if it sees you as a threat, but it does this out of self-preservation and will not try to mess with your mind. The same can not be said for humans.


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## Ban (Nov 29, 2015)

Thank you all for the advice you have given already and please keep going if you can. I will add another one myself. 

The typical serial killer. As i've stated in the comment above i have a great interest in criminology and i can say that there are a few common factors that the very succesful killers have in comon. They are smart, quiet, charismatic, friendly and almost always overwhelmingly mundane. These people could be anyone. They are like chameleons who can vanish without a trace in our society. This scares me, because anyone could be a killer. Your friendly neighbour working at odd times? Might be a crazed murderer. Your nice aunt who you haven't talked to in a while? Maybe because she's too busy killing people.


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## FifthView (Nov 29, 2015)

Banten said:


> A disease is scary because it might end you without you being able to fight it, but it isn't conscious about itself unlike humans. A wild animal will kill you if it sees you as a threat, but it does this out of self-preservation and will not try to mess with your mind. The same can not be said for humans.



For some time now, I've thought about the appearance of extraterrestrials in this way:

A lot of people imagine an ET-The Extraterrestrial or else advanced/benevolent/disinterested extraterrestrials and look forward to actually meeting them someday.  My own opinion is that, depending upon how first contact happens, the vast majority of humans might be extremely terrified. This would be especially true for any instance of 3-4 ETs just appearing in a field beside your home or walking into view from a wooded area.

You can look at it like this.  Imagine you are at home and up early for the day, with the sun just beginning to rise, with your spouse and children still asleep.  While starting a pot of coffee, you glance out your back window at your backyard.  Now imagine seeing one of these things walking about in your backyard:


A familiar neighbor calling to his pet dog.
An unfamiliar, stray dog of a large breed.
A black bear.  Alternatively, a mountain lion.
A group of three unknown young men who look scruffy and are tatted up, walking toward your house.
Three non-human beings walking toward your house, obviously intelligent—extraterrestrials.

To my mind, this is a list ascending in order from least scary to most scary.  Familiarity plays a large role in determining scariness; but, so does _knowing what to expect_.

The neighbor is quite familiar and will probably head back to his house after collecting his dog (who probably got out from the fence.)

The stray dog will probably wander off and, in any case, can't get into the house.  Even if you opened the door, it might be spooked and run away.  Possibly, it could be rabid or just a mean dog, however.  But it's a dog.

The wild predators (bear/mountain lion) can't get in the house but maybe could try if they spot you at the window, and you wouldn't want to open the door while they are there.  You have less knowledge of how they would react to your presence—but, _you know they are wild animals_, so can expect some general types of actions/reactions.

The group of three unknown young men are where they don't belong—your backyard—at a time when they would have no reason to be there.  Are they planning to burgle you, to break in and attack you?  Any group of strangers, _of a certain look_, would be frightening under these circumstances.  (Although a young mother and two young kids might have you thinking their car just broke down or something.)  Not knowing what they are about or planning is frightening.  They could easily break in, perhaps, and for all you know might be armed.

Now, if a group of three human strangers in your backyard, approaching your home, can be frightening, just imagine what it would be like to see a group of extraterrestrial beings in your backyard approaching your home.  These are intelligent beings, so are capable of deciding to do anything.  But because they aren't human, you have almost no real ability to guess what they might be up to.


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## NerdyCavegirl (Nov 29, 2015)

I find it odd that so many people fear sociopaths. xD Then again, I'm about as close as you can get while having a few loved ones and not hurting helpless animals. Only individual entity I fear is sharks, which is because no other animal removes limbs as efficiently, and I have a major phobia of being paralyzed or losing a limb. At least ghosts can float around and phase through walls.


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## Ban (Nov 29, 2015)

I agree with you mostly on that Fifthview, but it think that the unknown factor is not the only thing that determines how scary the situation is. I think that the anticipation of knowing that you will be harmed can make the bear, the dog or the humans scarier than the aliens. If for example i am a black man and the three figures in question are wearing klan outfits then i think i would be more scared of them than the aliens. Simply because i know that something bad will happen if they spot me. The unpredictability of the aliens would unnerve me a lot, but there is still the probability of them being benign. The Klan members don't have that.


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## FifthView (Nov 29, 2015)

@Banten:  That might be a case of familiarity being scary.  Context plays a role, also.   If my boat has capsized and I see a shark's fin approaching, that's a lot more frightening than seeing a boat with three scruffy, tatted young men approaching me, for sure!

My general point was to agree with your assessment that a self-aware, intelligent being can be quite scary precisely because of his/her/its intelligence and self-awareness.  The combination of intelligence and self-awareness adds a layer to unpredictability.  But I guess if you can predict certain danger, that's always going to be more frightening than situations where the danger is far less certain—and yet again, knowing one's own ability to counter that danger also plays a role in scariness.


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## Creed (Nov 29, 2015)

Tom Nimenai said:


> I've always found loss of control to be the scariest thing I can think of. Thus the worst villain, from my point of view, would be one who uses mind control or other forms of control over other people. And then there's the whole trope of aliens that infect you and slowly take you over...eesh. Or the magic that turns you into a mindless slave...eesh again. Or hypnotism. Guaranteed to make my skin crawl.



Very, very rarely does a human character give me the heebie-jeebies in a book, or even in a visual media form. But I'm currently watching Jessica Jones and Kilgrave is intensely frightening. I think this is as much to do with his ability to control whoever he wants however he wants, as it is to do with the music and editing techniques, etc. There's a certain paranoia in the show that affects Jessica, knowing that any character might be following Kilgrave's orders and betray the good guys at any moment. Combine this with the fact that he's manipulating her life in ways she's only just realizing, the easiness with which he ruins peoples' lives, and his complete and utter _obsession _with her.

Mind control is very scary, especially when it's used by an antagonist so smart and determined as Kilgrave.

Also cannibals. And things related to body horror are pretty freaky too, which can include viruses.


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## WooHooMan (Nov 29, 2015)

FifthView said:


> But they do not just exist _sans_ people.  Indeed, the scariest idea or concept you can imagine would be absolutely, 100%, without exception impotent if people weren't going about enacting that idea or having their actions informed by it.



By that same logic, I could say that a serial killer is only scary if there are people around them who could be killed.
Of course an idea is powerless without people.  But as you said: there has to be people.
I don't think the fact that ideas are man-made (and culturally enforced) in any way diminishes the potential threat.  In fact, I think that makes it more frightening.



FifthView said:


> And I think it's easier on a person-by-person basis to confront and combat an idea than it is to counter some biological corruption



Yeah, I agree with this to a point but I guess it boils down to philosophical corruption vs. physiological corruption.  It's sort of the same idea.  They're both scary on the same basis of being an inhuman, non-sentient threat that destroys a person internally.


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## ascanius (Nov 29, 2015)

I've been reading this thread with interest.  For me the most terrifying character would be one who is ruled by chaos, completely unpredictable in the literal sense, and who seeks to inflict pain and suffering in others simply for its own sake.  What I mean by that is there is no goal save for causing pain and suffering in others.  In my WIP, that I've been neglecting, I'm basing my protagonists off this idea.  I think the joker in the dark night came close to the idea, but I want to see what happens when it's pushed farther.


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## Jackarandajam (Nov 29, 2015)

NerdyCavegirl said:


> ...Only individual entity I fear is sharks, which is because no other animal removes limbs as efficiently, and I have a major phobia of being paralyzed or losing a limb. At least ghosts can float around and phase through walls.



I'm going to say sharks marks high on my list, because of the invisibility factor. 
Sure, psychos are scary, but you have the comforting thought that "hey, I have a sword, I'll just chop their heads off."

Sharks aren't like that. No, sir, they are not.

When you're in the water, 
water that's too murky to see into at all, 
and there's that part of your mind, pushed all the way to the back, 
screaming 
that there is something that exists in there that could come 
from any angle, 
at any time, 
at incredible speed, 
that you can't see, 
that will tear you apart with it's teeth, 
underwater,
where down is up and there isn't any air...

I swear I'm not as scared of sharks as I sound, but the IDEA of them, when put into perspective... 
probably embodies what I fear most.
helplessness... 
weakness... 
being assaulted in an environment that deprives me of speed, senses, strength, and protection, by a creature that not only thrives in that environment but far surpasses me on the food chain in it.
No, sir. No, thank you.

A human characteristic? 

Someone, in a position of power, that doesn't understand or accept consequences, 
or has lived without them for so long that the idea doesn't exist to them at all.


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## Ban (Nov 29, 2015)

And still only very few die by shark attack every year and so many by human hands. Be it intentional or accidental, humans killing humans dwarfs sharks killing humans. 

Why i am not scared of sharks is because i know that if they want you dead they will do so quickly. A shark won't torture you unlike what most serial killers often do, which to me is scarier than death itself i would think. A shark won't force you to live by its laws and ideologies unlike humans. A shark won't kill you for fun or just because. Again unlike humans. 

No humans are far more evil and dangerous, because they will not stop at taking your life. Humans can ruin your life, your mind, your body and if you believe in it, your soul.


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## FifthView (Nov 29, 2015)

It's easy to say sharks are no big deal.  Until you are in the water with a great white.

Sometimes we think in the abstract.  In the abstract, some things may seem more or less scary–less, because abstraction literally points at distance from the thing.  Sitting here now, I'm not at all scared of sharks.  I'm about 700 miles away from the nearest shark in the wild, supposing one is near the shore of the Gulf of Mexico right now.  Any sharks closer than that are safely inside an aquarium.  

Things that seem scarier in abstract might be a) things that don't really exist, and b) things that turn out to be manageable, like losing a leg in a car accident and other physical ailments.

I've been wondering if the same considerations apply to human characters in a novel.  They are really abstract for readers.  Can such characters be _truly_ terrifying?  I've wondered if this is why some in this thread have said humans don't seem all that scary–fictional humans.  Put one in a room with a cannibalistic psychopath, tied to a chair, with various saws and knives and so forth on a roll-out table, and he might change his mind about scary humans.  But this really does bring up the interesting question:  whether any fictional character can truly be scary, or do we just fool ourselves into enjoying the idea of scariness that fictional characters inspire.


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## Ban (Nov 29, 2015)

You are completely right that it depends on the istuation. If i'm on a boat out at sea in notorious shark territory than sharks become a lot scarier than any human. But considering that i am currently not under threat of either shark or human (i hope you nver know with those guys) i think i can safely say which one objectively scares me the most.

Can a fictional character be truly terrifying? That depends on the reader's ability to feel for the character and immerse him/herself in the character. I am pretty good at immersing myself in a character so for me people like Joffrey Baratheon or Ramsay Bolton were legitimately scary. Not scary enough to make me stop reading or even come close to that, but certainly frightening enough to unnerve me. I think that is the best that we writers can strive for. Unless we create a terror that goes beyond mere character such as, Cthulhu or Big Brother. These can make us think about our own lives and in Cthulhu's case of how small and insignificant we are. That, i believe, can stick with us for the rest of our lives. Also as i have said i have read a lot on criminals and i think that their horror stories will stick with me, even though i was luckily never affected by them personally.


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## Daughter of Hell (Nov 30, 2015)

*What does the daughter of hell find scary?*

*WHAT DOES THE DAUGHTER OF HELL FIND SCARY?*

It's a good question. You need to think hard about it. For me, I connect to horror easiest by grounding it in humanity and things easily related to. Readers who cannot empathize with a villain probably won't be scared by them. In order to be scared, like, truly scared, you need to look in a mirror and see something that isn't yourself, I think.

So here's a chapter I wrote from my own series. People should read it. Magni is a giant, you ought to know, as is Halli. They're 3 metres tall; something which the reader would know before this chapter. Elsewise, this is Magni's first chapter, I think. The sense of smell is what will scare the reader. When you read this, you will know that the girl who smells like sheep is the main protagonist. She's hiding, and you don't want her to be found. His sense of smell is freaky, but also the way he looks at things. He enjoyed a trip to the beach too. It isn't unrealistic, but he's immediately got something in common with the reader. Little things like that help make the important connections.

*Please note, the below has adult themes/sexual references. Not for pansies, okay. Ye be warned*.

Edited by Sheilawisz:

Hello Daughter of Hell, and Welcome to Mythic Scribes.

I have removed the Scene that you posted here because it goes against the Family Friendly section of our Forum Guidelines, which you can find here: Forum Guidelines.

Scenes like what you posted (and worse) have been shared at our community's Showcase Forum, where they are tolerated if you warn the readers first. However, posting material of this nature is not allowed in the regular Forums of Mythic Scribes.

Thank you!

Sheilawisz


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## valiant12 (Nov 30, 2015)

> Three non-human beings walking toward your house, obviously intelligent–extraterrestrials.



I think at least some people with be happy in this situation.
if i have to choose between having 30 aliens in my backyard and 3 suspicious people i would pick the aliens. 
Unless the aliens are dressed like neo nazi /communist.


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## CupofJoe (Nov 30, 2015)

valiant12 said:


> Unless the aliens are dressed like neo nazi /communist.


SPACE NAZIS!!!!
I'm ready for them...


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## Ban (Nov 30, 2015)

Now that we've thought about general things we find scary in individuals and groups of humans let us get down to specifics. Unless someone wants to add to the afore mentioned general characteristics, which i appreciate as well.

Are there any specific characters you can pin point as being frightening, literary or non-literary. The example that i can think of right now is Ramsay Bolton from George R R Martin's work. The guy is charismatic when he wants to be, but revels in inflicting harm onto others. He is the prime example of a serial killer, but is also blessed with the political status to get away with nearly anything.


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## Tom (Nov 30, 2015)

I find those people who can effortlessly switch between different demeanors very unsettling. Not necessarily frightening, but they do make me nervous. It's like...non-physical shapeshifting. The way they can do a complete 180 to fit a certain situation or person is frankly quite creepy. It's like they're "turning off" one half of themselves and turning on the other.


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## Velka (Nov 30, 2015)

Banten said:


> Are there any specific characters you can pin point as being frightening, literary or non-literary.



Leland Gaunt - Needful Things, Stephen King: seemingly grants the greatest wish of each person in town, but is really manipulating everyone into a homicidal, batsh*t crazy froth

Captain Ahab - Moby Dick, Herman Melville: crazy obsession at its finest, leaves you asking who is the bigger monster

Jack - Lord of the Flies, William Golding: take all the primal childlike desire for control and justice, combine it with no adult supervision or moral compass, and give it a conch shell

Alex, A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess: UGH

Mary Maloney - Lamb to the Slaughter, Roald Dahl: very creepy short story, she kills her husband out of the blue then very cooly determines how to cover it up (bonus points for serving the murder weapon to the police for dinner)


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## Creed (Nov 30, 2015)

Tom Nimenai said:


> I find those people who can effortlessly switch between different demeanors very unsettling. Not necessarily frightening, but they do make me nervous. It's like...non-physical shapeshifting. The way they can do a complete 180 to fit a certain situation or person is frankly quite creepy. It's like they're "turning off" one half of themselves and turning on the other.



Okay, question: Would you generally find it more creepy if they were actually one person and one mind (i.e. psychopath playing nice and then wants to kill you), or if they were actually two minds in one body (i.e. a demon taking over the host at will)?


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## arboriad (Nov 30, 2015)

For me independent of what I've been convinced is scary in a story,  plenty of things are scary.  I think i fear things like mafia, probably because it's so close to home, and once ripped on, inescapable. 

But I also read 'Hostage to the Devil' years ago, and the concept of a being able to possess you, to float through your skin, past your will and rape your soul, ignoring any defences youthought you had, that is truly scary.  At least with other scary things, you don't lose your sense of identity. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


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## Tom (Nov 30, 2015)

Creed said:


> Okay, question: Would you generally find it more creepy if they were actually one person and one mind (i.e. psychopath playing nice and then wants to kill you), or if they were actually two minds in one body (i.e. a demon taking over the host at will)?



I would definitely be more unnerved if it were just one person. If it was two minds in one body, at least there'd be a reason for the person's behavior. Something solid. But with just one mind, that duality in the personality is harder to pin down. There's no easy way to figure out how and why it's there. I don't remember whose it was, but I heard a quote somewhere that said something like, "The things that frighten us the most are the things we don't know." That kind of uncertainty and unease makes for a damn scary villain in my book.


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## ChasingSuns (Nov 30, 2015)

For myself, fear of the unknown is really intense. It's something that I've always loved about Lovecraft's work. Also, villains who are cold and mysterious can be quite frightening. To me, Baelish in Game of Thrones is one of the most frightening individuals, simply because he is so good at hiding his plans and is so cold/ruthless, he becomes unpredictable. And he is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.


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## Miskatonic (Dec 1, 2015)

ChasingSuns said:


> For myself, fear of the unknown is really intense. It's something that I've always loved about Lovecraft's work. Also, villains who are cold and mysterious can be quite frightening. To me, Baelish in Game of Thrones is one of the most frightening individuals, simply because he is so good at hiding his plans and is so cold/ruthless, he becomes unpredictable. And he is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.



The villains in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward were especially creepy.


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## Ban (Dec 2, 2015)

I see that a lot of people are afraid of that which they don't know or can't predict. Be it a poker-faced individual with a twisted mind, an existential horror like Cthulhu or an overarching entity like a secret society governing us. I don't know if the last was mentioned, but i know many conspiracy people are scared of that.

But is an unknown/unpredictable entity scarier to you guys than an established horror? Isn't it weird that we consider an undirect threat like a mysterious figure planning some devious unknown plan more unnerving than a guy with a chainsaw, whose backstory and motives we know? I agree though, right now as i am sitting here Mister Chainy McChainsaw does not scare me, but Mysteryman might a little bit.


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## Miskatonic (Dec 2, 2015)

I'm also reminded of movies where the central character has stumbled upon a cult, secret society or government conspiracy and is constantly being spied upon or attacked by the goons set out by the leadership to silence them. 

The mob/crowd is more frightening than the individuals that are a part of it, more so than when they are by themselves.


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## Creed (Dec 2, 2015)

Banten said:


> I see that a lot of people are afraid of that which they don't know or can't predict. Be it a poker-faced individual with a twisted mind, an existential horror like Cthulhu or an overarching entity like a secret society governing us. I don't know if the last was mentioned, but i know many conspiracy people are scared of that.
> 
> But is an unknown/unpredictable entity scarier to you guys than an established horror? Isn't it weird that we consider an undirect threat like a mysterious figure planning some devious unknown plan more unnerving than a guy with a chainsaw, whose backstory and motives we know? I agree though, right now as i am sitting here Mister Chainy McChainsaw does not scare me, but Mysteryman might a little bit.



Mister Chainy McChainsaw might be best for creating mortal terror and jump-scares.

But the others you've mentioned, they seem to be more psychologically involved. They create unease, eeriness, and at their best a deep-rooted horror that's in your head and you can't stop thinking about at 2am when the lights are off...

Both are scary. Both cause your body to react strongly. But one plays on survival, while the others play on what seem to be collective "existential horror(s)" like, first and foremost, the unknown. If you don't know what they are, who they are, what they look like, what their motives are, what they're capable of... Well, you're left with your own projected fears and a hyperactive imagination.


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## hchoate (Dec 2, 2015)

Devouring Wolf said:


> For me the scariest thing is betrayal. When you find out the villain was someone who you trusted and you thought you knew. How do you even trust your judgement or yourself after that? It's a terrifying thought and it can make you your own enemy when you start to doubt yourself.



I agree to this.


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## thedarknessrising (Dec 2, 2015)

I thought long and hard about what kind of villain terrified me the most. And then it clicked.

When I was a kid, my parents watched a lot of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. One of the biggest antagonists in both of those shows was an entity known as the Borg. The Borg are a collective race, controlled by a single hive mind. They travel the galaxy in the mission to assimilate any race that they deem important enough to lead their race to collective perfection. Once assimilated, all individuality and personality is lost. The victim becomes a mindless drone. The Borg drones can also adapt themselves to attacks, making them virtually unstoppable. 

The Borg scared me so bad when I was younger. And when I got back into Star Trek six years ago at the age of 13, I had to stop watching First Contact because Picard's nightmare about the Borg disturbed me. Today, I'm not as scared of the Borg as I used to be. Probably because I know that it's just a show. But they still make me a little uneasy. I find the whole "losing who you are in the quest for perfection" idea unnerving and a little scary.


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## imagine123 (Dec 25, 2015)

I apologize for resurrecting a dead thread, but I enjoyed reading through the backlog. I'm sure others have mentioned it, but the image that kept coming up for me while reading this thread was an aerial image of someone swimming in the ocean. You can see them, kicking along in aqua waters, but you can also see how, below them, the water becomes darker and darker. Impenetrable.

This is terrifying because there's no way of knowing what's down there. @FifthView's post regarding extraterrestrials is terrifying (incidentally, I'm one of those people who thinks that we should lay low when it comes to extraterrestrial contact).

It all ties back to the unknown, the alien, for me. There are things we know that we know, things we know we don't know, and then things we don't know that we don't know. There can be no preparation against the last category. How can you protect yourself from something when you don't know how, or when, or where it will come for you? How do you protect yourself from something when you don't even know that it exists?

In regards to characters, I've been rewatching the first couple of seasons of Person of Interest that last couple of days. The scene in Identity Crisis (S1 E18) between the serial killer and Harold was unnerving because of how _off_ the serial killer was acting. He acted like someone who didn't know how to act like a person, trying to act like a person. That "not-quite" way of interacting made him an unknown entity.


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## ChasingSuns (Dec 30, 2015)

Mythopoet said:


> To me, the most frightening is the kind of villain who truly, viscerally delights in causing pain to people. Because those kind of people are almost always beyond reason. To be in the power of someone like that... I can't imagine something worse.



I agree with this, although for me, I would have to add a high level of intelligence to the character. Hannibal Lector is considered to be one of the greatest villains of all time, not just because he's a psychopathic cannibalistic serial killer, but also because he is highly intelligent and very well spoken. There's something really intimidating about someone who delights in causing pain, but can also manipulate you and work their way around your mental/emotional barriers. Plus it just adds a very creepy, paradoxical aspect to the character.


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