#like the type of backrooms monster that doesnt work is one thats visible. at all really

[caramel-mousse]

This is completely brought on by the last post but it really bugs me when people are so insistent that a story needs Monsters or Extra Terrestrial Beings to be scary.

The two examples used were Infinite Ikea and the Backrooms but like. At very least to me the addition of monsters just makes the story go from really good to fucking boring so quickly.

The horror is being stuck in an overly familiar place that you would expect to have an exit and being unable to find one. It's being seemingly infinitely lost in a place you would normally be able to traverse with no issues. It's like... weaponizing the familiarity of places you know and making what was once thought to be safe, possibly dangerous.

You put a monster in it and you just turn that whole idea into just "What if you were in the Minotaurs labyrinth would that be fucked up or what"

#unnecessary hill to die on #yadda yadda yadda #i think when a monster in a setting like this works vs doesnt work is when it ADDS to the mystery versus possibly provides an explanation #like the type of backrooms monster that doesnt work is one thats visible. at all really #like idk if it was a part of the original post or i saw elsewhere but a concept i saw for a backrooms monster i liked was #one where you only heard whatever monster it was chasing/stalking you. you did not sed it you dont know what it is. but you know to run #because it ADDS questions! 'what the fuck is that' 'where am i' 'why is it here' 'why am *I* here' - fantastic! unsettling! uneasy! #monster is [killer office worker/killer hotel staff/aliens] - oh its [haunted office/haunted hotel/some alien experiment or something] #<- while not DIRECTLY giving an answer as to why you could make up reasons to explain it. which makes it known which isnt as scary #but like. the questions have to kinda coherent to? like 'killer santa in infinite ikea' just sounds ridiculous. youre just thinking 'huh??' #i think if you wanted to make the employee monsters in infinite ikea more interesting theyd work better if they seemed normal until night #bc having them always be monsterous kind of immediately sets the tone to horror instead of a buid up? #like you go into the establishment. see this Too Tall guy with no face and go ''welp. im fucked'' #instead of the build up of what you thought was normal to be not normal #im getting tired thinking too much imma quit now