The use of psychological horror. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's own guilt and paranoia drive him insane. This makes the readers feel the creeping fear as they get into the mind of the unhinged narrator.
'The Cask of Amontillado' is also quite famous. It's a tale of revenge. Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs under the pretense of tasting a rare wine, Amontillado. But in fact, he walls Fortunato up alive in there, leaving him to die in the cold, damp, and dark catacombs.
In stories like 'The Purloined Letter', the lack of scariness comes from its detective - story nature. It's all about outsmarting the culprit and solving the mystery of the missing letter. There are no supernatural elements that are designed to scare the reader, just a clever plot and smart deductions.
One of the most famous is 'The Tell - Tale Heart'. It's a story about a narrator who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while he's actually obsessed with an old man's 'vulture - like' eye and eventually kills him.
Maybe it's the unknown elements in 'the appointment scary stories'. Often, when we don't know what's going to happen next, it creates fear.
The element of truth in these stories makes them scary. When we know that something really happened, it becomes more terrifying. For example, if a story is about a real murder case with some unexplained aspects, like the killer was never found or there were strange circumstances around the crime. It makes us feel that such danger could be lurking around us too.
The fear of the supernatural that these stories play on is what makes them so scary. Since we live in a world where the natural laws seem to govern everything, the idea of a goast that defies these laws is deeply unsettling. It challenges our understanding of reality and makes us feel vulnerable.
Alligators are unpredictable. In stories, they can be lurking quietly in the water or the mud, and suddenly lunge at their prey without warning. Also, their powerful jaws are a big part of what makes them scary. Once they clamp down on something, it's very difficult for their prey to escape.
The unknown elements in Denis scary stories are likely to be very scary. Our minds tend to fill in the blanks with the scariest things we can imagine when we're not given all the details. Also, the atmosphere created, like a gloomy setting or a sense of isolation, can heighten the scariness. If the story is set in a deserted place where no one can hear the characters scream, it adds to the fear factor.
The realism might make them scary. If they are true, it means these events could potentially happen to anyone.
The use of atmosphere. For example, in many stories, it's often a dark and isolated setting like an old abandoned house or a desolate forest. This immediately makes the reader feel uneasy.