Supernatural events like strange noises, apparitions, or objects moving on their own are really frightening. Imagine you're sitting at the Thanksgiving table, and suddenly the cutlery starts floating. It completely disrupts the normal, happy atmosphere of the holiday and sends chills down your spine.
Haunted locations play a big role. For example, if a Thanksgiving dinner is held in an old, dilapidated house with a history of tragedies. The very atmosphere of the place, with creaking floors and cold drafts, can add to the horror. It makes people feel like they are not alone, and there are unseen forces lurking.
The distortion of the Thanksgiving symbols can be terrifying. Like when the turkey, which is a central part of the celebration, becomes something menacing. Maybe it comes to life in a grotesque way or has some sort of dark power. Another scary element is when the family bonds that are supposed to be strengthened during Thanksgiving are instead torn apart by the horror, such as family members turning on each other because of a curse or an evil influence.
The atmosphere created by the rain is also terrifying. The sound of the rain can be very ominous. It can drown out other noises, so when there's a strange sound, you can't be sure what it is. And the wetness and the grey skies make everything look gloomy and foreboding, just like in those stories where people see strange figures in the rain.
There could be a story of a Thanksgiving where all the travel plans went wrong. Flights were cancelled, cars broke down on the way to grandma's house, and people were stranded in strange places. By the time some of them finally made it, the holiday was almost over and everyone was stressed and frustrated.
The unexpected twists are really scary. For example, when a seemingly normal Valentine's gift turns into something evil. It goes against the normal expectation of love and happiness on Valentine's Day.
One Thanksgiving horror story is about a family who invited a mysterious stranger to their dinner. As the night fell, strange noises started coming from the attic. When they went to check, they found the stranger had disappeared, but there were strange symbols drawn all over the attic walls. It was as if some dark ritual had been started.
My scariest Thanksgiving was when we found out that the stuffing in the turkey had gone bad. As soon as we started eating, everyone noticed a strange smell and taste. We all ended up getting sick later that night. It was like a horror of food poisoning.
One scary Thanksgiving story could be about a family who during their Thanksgiving dinner noticed strange noises coming from the attic. As they investigated, they found an old diary that told of a curse placed on the house long ago. Whenever a big family gathering like Thanksgiving occurred, bad things would start to happen. They started seeing shadowy figures and things began to move on their own.
The unknown is the scariest. In 'as is horror stories', things are often left in their natural state, so you don't really know what's lurking in the shadows or what's causing those strange noises. It's that sense of not having all the answers that makes it terrifying.
Isolation is also a key element. When characters are alone in a spooky place, like an abandoned asylum in one of the stories. They have no one to turn to, and that makes the situation even more terrifying as the horror unfolds around them.
The unknown is one of the scariest elements. When things are not clearly defined, like a strange figure in the fog in some stories from '1001 horror stories', it makes our imagination run wild. We start to create the most terrifying scenarios in our minds.