Comedian Kevin Pollak has a line with his impersonation of actor Christopher Walken that has become part of my everyday vernacular. Pollak discusses how Walken talks with an unconnected line of thought, immortalized in the line “Frankenstein never scared me, marsupials do, cause they’re fast.”. This response to being asked about his most recent movie. “X never scared me” is my go-to reply to all supposedly horrifying pieces of fiction that did not successfully unnerve me. Visual novels, with their focus on character interaction, character point of view, and often expanded length should be a diamond-mine for horror. Not including a few instances, this potential marriage has left me wanting. The best example is Gore Screaming Show, as “The Gore Screaming Show…never scared me”. 

Cards face up on the table: “scary” is such a high bar (instances that could be counted with one, maybe two hands) that eliciting actual fear and dread is a line horror should not have to jump over. Instead, horror needs to be interesting. Interesting is needlessly broad, but examples of good horror involve providing creative and potentially destructive forces and spaces for taboos and complex societal issues to be examined and mangled, usually by following the journey of one or multiple otherwise regular people. None of this is intended as a value judgement; horror that has zero higher aspirations and will gladly remind the audience of such has a place. Unfortunately, Gore Screaming Show takes itself far too seriously to let it slide (even though it’s an erotic game, it designates enough time for world building and character motivations).