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Hey guys, it's Mason here, I am need of your help once again. I am creating a hidden sci-fi horror. I am only going to give you a little bit of info, I don't want spoilers!

So, it's about some astronauts fighting aliens on a space station. There, I said it. But what I need help is creating a "horror feeling" that makes the reader not help but feel a bit eerie. All suggestions help!

I think you just explained Alien Isolation.

It's different in ways. You'll see ;)

Because... Aliens.

I'm looking forward to reading it! :D

I'm not really great in the horror genre, so... um... I'll just give you what I think would work.

Sooo, you could freak the player out by being alone 24/7 throughout 90% of the game. That will get to the player.

ORRR you could make the aliens shapeshifters and have the crew slowly be taken out... that'd cause paranoia too.

Hmm....that is a good idea but I.....hmm.......wait, I think I can do something......

Silence and mystery is a good element in horrors. You could give the space station a large amount of dark areas due to power failure, plenty of vents to give the aliens ability to move around. See what the aliens look like. Either sending them into the uncanny valley and making them close to humans but making something off about them, or if you're going for the classic Alien type alien, predatory features would match up well with strange features completely, well, alien to earth.

@Steve24833

Yeah but dark horror is difficult to do well with written words.  In a film or game, you've got the visual of unrelenting darkness, with the viewer constantly on the edge of their seat searching the screen for any signs of activity.

In a book there's no way to replicate that.  Okay, so it's dark.  And anything the character sees, the reader's attention is immediately drawn towards.   You can't have the "where is it, am I missing it, is it about to jump scare?" aspect.

Another thing rarely done well is monster creation/description:  The story either crashes to a grinding halt while the author meticulously catalogs every anatomical feature of their creation; or the extent of description is "it looked like (insert video game character here) but with (added peculiarity)"

Come to think of it, that's not just monsters, that's pretty much how all sorts of description works.

Make the aliens stronger than the humans, and make sure they have to find clever/stealthy ways to kill them. An enemy isn't scary if you know you're going to win.

Ah yes, they do. So far I have Jackals, Crabs, and Crawlers. Jackals are basically Xenomorphs with a few added powers, Crabs are basically head crabs as they jump on your head and infect you, and finally Crawlers, which have enormous claws that can grab and shred the players. Looking for more. So far I have about, lemme see......20.

Don't explain all that unless you really have to. It's better when we have no idea what they are. Like the little bug monsters in Cloverfield.

Yeah, I am just sharing the bit with you to get a grasp of what I am pulling at. Most are able to kill, but they evolve into different forms, and some are even indestructible.

Well crud. Now I've spoiled the mystery for myself.

Believe me, that's not even the beginning. This will be one HARD horror game :)

That's what he/she/they said.

He he, I hope you like it lol.

Just from an originality standpoint, it's not a great sign that you can explain all your creatures as "basically some other preexisting monster."

And don't add time travel. Time travel will destroy everything. stupid paradoxes...

The real horror comes from worrying about our characters. Look at Steve's recent game. He makes us vare about all of the characters, and worry about their lives. Secret of Daphne does the same, though it's centered around the mc and no one else.

Dont put too much into it. Cthulu is scary when he's by himself. Not when every elder one is showing up to hang. Then it starts getting silly an sounds more like a shooter. Which is definitely not how you want your horror to go.

Okay, I will try and show the readers the personality and the "inside" of their traits and person.

Okay guys, I have an important question.

Should I tell the reader the "incident" on the Titan Space Station before it goes to the main characters? What I am saying, is should I write down the astronaut's retail of their dissapearence before I go to the main characters?

And this sounds a bit weak, but what is your suggestion for the storygame's name?

You probably won't be able to gross out the reader using lengthy, gory descriptions; that's tricky to pull off (a good example of this done right would be Guts, and  a good example of this done wrong would be most zombie novels). Instead, make use of themes like isolation and the unknown. 

Such as a quick dissapearence? Then suddenly, they notice <Insert vanished person's name> is gone and they turn around, seeing a huge raptor monster snarling at them? 

Look at this scary stuff.

I think that's scary enough.