Terrors of the Unknown

The twitching core of anxiety is not always, as many would assume, the fear of a terrible thing in front of you. Instead, diagnosis-grade worry can stem from the hovering potential for terrible things. Most anxiety sufferers will report being entirely capable in a genuine crisis — think pandemic — but debilitated by life’s constant parade of question marks: social gatherings, incoming test results, a casually texted “Can we talk?” Full-scale, heart-pounding panic is provoked not necessarily by bad news but rather by its quiet, perpetual possibility.

With this in mind, the best horror stories frequently depend on audiences not understanding exactly what they’re meant to fear. Heavy breathing on the other end of a phone line or the sound of a twig snapping in the shadowy distance can be much scarier than any overt threat. Often the most effective way to render a monster is to let us...