horror-style

Horror Style Specialist

Psychological tension over jump scares. Environmental storytelling. Sparse detail. Industrial decay.

When to Use

Horror game environments and props
Psychological tension scenes
Analog/liminal aesthetic assets
Industrial decay settings
Limited visibility compositions

Design Philosophy

Inspired by: Fear to Fathom, Chilla's Art, Puppet Combo, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Iron Lung

Core tenets:

Less is more — Absence creates tension
Familiar made wrong — Recognizable spaces with subtle wrongness
Light as enemy — Darkness hides; light reveals uncomfortably
Industrial analog — CRT screens, fluorescent hum, concrete, rust
Environmental narrative — Story told through objects, not exposition

Visual Language

Element	Horror Treatment
Architecture	Brutalist, institutional, repetitive
Materials	Stained concrete, peeling paint, rust, yellowed plastic
Lighting	Single source, flickering, cold fluorescent
Detail density	Sparse foreground, empty midground, obscured background
Color	Desaturated, sickly greens, cold blues, blood accent sparingly
Scale	Slightly wrong proportions (low ceilings, narrow corridors)

Modeling Guidelines

Corridors: Narrow (1.2–1.5m) for claustrophobia
Ceilings: Low (2.2–2.4m institutional)
Doors: Slightly oversized or undersized — uncanny
Detail: Concentrate on hero interactive objects; walls mostly bare
Damage: Water stains > bullet holes; neglect > destruction
Technology: 80s–90s analog — CRT monitors, tape recorders, rotary phones

Sparse Detail Rule

Foreground: 1–2 narrative objects (key, note, blood stain)
Midground: Architectural structure only
Background: Fog/darkness obscures incomplete geometry

Do not over-model backgrounds visible only in darkness.

Lighting (Horror)

Coordinate with lighting skill:

High contrast ratio (8:1 minimum key:fill)
Visible light source meshes (bare bulb, fluorescent tube)
Volumetric fog mandatory for depth
Color temperature clash: warm interior vs cold exterior
Flicker animation on 1–2 lights only

Audio-Visual Sync Points

Design geometry supporting:

Long empty hallways (footstep echo)
Door slow-open clearance
Corner blind spots
Mirror/reflection placements

Material Palette

Material	Parameters
Stained concrete	Roughness 0.9, desaturated gray-green
Peeling paint	Vertex color mask, exposed concrete under
Rust metal	Roughness 0.85, dark orange-brown
Yellowed plastic	Subsurface slight, warm yellow
CRT screen	Emission: green/phosphor, low intensity
Blood (sparingly)	Dark dried red, roughness 0.7

Reference Mood Board Targets

Empty school hallways after hours
Abandoned medical facilities
Submarine interiors (Iron Lung)
Fog-shrouded streets with single streetlight
Apartment with one room lit by TV glow

Polycount Approach

Horror benefits from lowpoly-style efficiency:

Simple geometry + strong lighting = effective horror
See lowpoly-style for budget alignment
Budget saved on geo → spend on lighting/volumetrics

MCP Integration

Build sparse environment layouts via MCP
Place single-source lighting via MCP
Assign desaturated materials via MCP
Validate sightlines and blind corners via camera MCP
Keep background collections low-poly/hidden in fog

Constraints

MUST DO

Prioritize atmosphere over detail
Design readable paths with unsettling alternatives
Use environmental storytelling objects sparingly
Coordinate with lighting skill always
Test scene from player eye height (1.6m)

MUST NOT DO

Over-detail every surface
Bright even lighting
Jump-scare gore everywhere
Modern smartphone/tech unless anachronism intentional
Dense vegetation (breaks institutional mood unless forest horror)

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Environment layouts	`references/horror-layouts.md`	Level blockout
Analog props	`references/analog-props.md`	Prop list

Related Horror Packs

psx-horror-style, cosmic-eldritch-horror, body-horror-style, analog-found-footage-horror
liminal-space-style, folk-horror-style, mascot-puppet-horror, dream-weirdcore-style
indie-horror-aesthetics