The fact that he is associated with tires and the road could be a spooky aspect. In a horror story, he could be chasing someone down a lonely highway at night, his big body bouncing along the road, and the screeching of tires adding to the horror. Also, since he's so large and bulky, he could easily overpower someone, which is a terrifying thought.
The Michelin Man's appearance itself can be spooky. His large, white, inflated body and big smile can seem really eerie in a horror context, like a distorted version of something that was once friendly.
The unpredictability. A smile usually indicates friendliness or happiness, but when an old man smiles in a horror story, it goes against that expectation. It's like a false signal. You expect him to be benign, but in fact, he could be harboring evil intentions.
It's the contrast. An old man is often associated with wisdom and kindness, but a smiling old man in a horror story goes against that expectation. His smile might be a mask for something truly terrifying, like a sadistic nature or a connection to the undead. It plays on our trust of the elderly and twists it into something horrifying. For example, he could be luring people in with his smile, only to subject them to unspeakable horrors.
In the 'No Man's Sky' story, the alien horror can be seen in encounters with hostile alien species. Some aliens attack on sight, and their strange and often menacing appearances add to the horror factor.
A woman received a takeaway of tandoori chicken. When she opened the box, the chicken was covered in a strange green slime. She thought it might be some new sauce but when she touched it, it was cold and gooey like something out of a swamp. She immediately threw it away, feeling a sense of dread that she might have been poisoned if she had eaten it.
The creepy Colonel Sanders statue. It's always there, looking a bit too serious. In a horror story, it could come to life and start chasing people around the store with a menacing look on its face.
One spooky event could be when a child is playing with sparklers on Diwali night. As the sparkler fizzles out, the child looks up and sees a ghostly apparition of an old woman standing right in front of them. The old woman is dressed in traditional Diwali clothes, but her expression is menacing. She reaches out a bony hand towards the child, and the child is too terrified to move.
Ghosts. For example, a ghost of a past resident who died a tragic death in the place where Esmeralda is could be haunting her. It could appear as a translucent figure or make strange noises like moaning.
Maybe Dhoni is walking alone in an abandoned cricket stadium at night. The echoes of his own footsteps seem louder and more menacing. Suddenly, he hears the sound of a cricket ball being hit hard, but there's no one else around. The sound gets closer and closer until he feels a cold breeze pass by him, as if an invisible player has just run past him.
A boy saw a shiny bag on the street. He picked it up. Inside was a doll with one eye missing. As he stared at it, the doll's mouth started to move, whispering 'you're next'. He dropped the bag and ran, but the bag seemed to float after him. Everywhere he turned, it was there, until he hid in a locked room. But then he heard the bag scratching at the door, the doll's voice still echoing in his head.
Well, the idea of cursed objects at the wharf can be really spooky. Maybe there's an old chest that was salvaged from a sunken ship, and anyone who touches it is haunted by bad luck or strange visions. Another aspect could be the use of the wharf as a place for dark rituals in the past. The residual energy from those rituals could cause strange happenings like lights flickering, objects moving on their own, and a general sense of unease. And of course, the idea of a vengeful spirit of a pirate who was executed at the wharf and now haunts anyone who dares to set foot there at night.