Making it weird
Often, horror is an effect of the weird. Watch a trailer for Santa Ragione’s next game, Horses, and it’s the surreal nature of the concept that’s immediately chilling. On one hand, you have a staple of cosy gaming, a farm that needs to be looked after. On the other, you have the stark pallor of black-and-white imagery, and ‘livestock’ in the form of men clad in nothing except the equine masks pulled over their heads. The normal is made strange, and while we don’t know exactly what’s happening in this scenario yet, it’s far from wholesome.