For 62% of respondents, knowing a monster is nearby is scarier than seeing one on Halloween.
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Astrum Entertainment, which regularly polls players of its games to gather opinions and various statistics, decided to team up with the KION Stroki book service for Halloween to find out what scares players in horror games.

The survey was conducted among players of the MMORPG Throne and Liberty. Most of them (62%) admitted that knowing a monster is there but not being able to see it is scarier than coming face to face with it. 47% of respondents said that not knowing what a monster is capable of is what scares them. 34% pointed to an enemy’s unpredictability, 29% to its ability to appear out of nowhere, and 26% to the impossibility of hiding from it. By comparison, 17% chose the monster’s appearance, and 15% its size and physical strength.

Atmosphere and sound design play an important role in creating fear. When asked what scares them most in horror, 47.9% of respondents chose the atmosphere, sounds, and music; 40.5% chose the sudden appearance of danger; and 27% chose not knowing what is happening. Respondents could select multiple answers to this question. Separately, 27% said that sound can make a monster much scarier.

And since the survey was conducted among MMO players, it’s no surprise that 34% chose games as the format that allows them to immerse themselves most deeply in a scary story. In general, games let players feel as if they’re inside the action, thanks to their interactivity. However, 30% said they prefer to immerse themselves in horror through films and TV series. 14% chose books, which let readers imagine events for themselves. For 21%, the format doesn’t matter.

Among the scariest characters in films, survey participants singled out:

  • The demon old woman from Insidious — 22%.
  • Annabelle from Annabelle — 16%.
  • The Xenomorph from Alien — 10%.
  • Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs and the monsters from A Quiet Place — 10% each.

Among book monsters, Pennywise from Stephen King’s It was the most popular choice, named by 24% of respondents. Creatures from the works of H. P. Lovecraft came next, with 23%.

Since KION Stroki is a digital literature service, the survey also compiled a top five of the most popular thrillers. At the top were H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, featuring their supernatural monsters. Next came Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs, with the serial killer Hannibal Lecter. In Anton Mamon’s Fingerprints, the threat also comes from a serial killer. The top five also included Svetlana Tyulbasheva’s The Forest, which is currently being adapted for the screen. The unfamiliar wilderness of Karelia and the people who end up nearby both create a sense of unease.

Interest in horror isn’t limited to Halloween: for 38% of participants, the season has no effect on how they feel about the genre. Another 23% admitted that the festive atmosphere sometimes puts them in the mood to watch horror films and play scary games. Only 13.5% turn to the genre more often specifically during this period.