Field Notes
Dispatches from the Dark
Long-form writing on the craft of fear: horror game design, maritime folklore, sound, pacing, and the slow work of building The Lighthouse Keeper alone.
Why Fog is an Effective Tool in Horror Game Design
Fog shrouds the world in mystery, heightening tension and fear. It's a perfect atmospheric device in horror games, enveloping players in the unknown.
30 June 2026 · 2 min read
Why Are Lighthouses So Unsettling? The Psychology of Isolation
A lighthouse exists to keep people safe. So why does the image of one, alone on a rock at night, fill us with dread?
24 June 2026 · 4 min read
Psychological Horror vs Jump Scares: What Actually Frightens Players
One makes you flinch for a second. The other follows you to bed. Here is how dread and shock really differ, and why a game needs both.
17 June 2026 · 4 min readLight and Darkness as a Survival Horror Mechanic
Every player already believes that light means safe and dark means danger. Survival horror turns that belief into a system with a price.
10 June 2026 · 4 min read
Drowned Spirits and Sea Monsters: The Folklore Behind Maritime Horror
Sailors have always known the sea keeps what it takes. The folklore they left behind is still the richest vein in horror.
3 June 2026 · 4 min readHow One Person Builds an Atmospheric Horror Game
You do not need a studio to scare people. You need restraint, a single strong idea, and the discipline to test it on someone who does not love you.
27 May 2026 · 4 min read
The Sound of Dread: Audio Design in First-Person Horror
Players think they are scared by what they see. Most of the time they are scared by what they hear, or by the moment the sound stops.
20 May 2026 · 4 min readWhy Scarcity Is Scary: Resource Management in Survival Horror
Give a player plenty and the horror evaporates. Take it away one unit at a time and every small choice becomes a source of fear.
13 May 2026 · 4 min read
Setting as Character: Why the Place Makes the Horror
The monster gets the poster, but the place does the work. A great horror setting is an antagonist that never has to move.
6 May 2026 · 3 min readThe Slow Burn: Pacing Tension Across a Night of Horror
Relentless terror stops being terror within minutes. Real fear has a rhythm, and the quiet stretches are doing more work than the loud ones.
29 April 2026 · 4 min readFolk Horror vs Cosmic Horror at the Water's Edge
One fears the old beliefs that never died. The other fears a universe that never cared. On a lonely coast, the two traditions meet.
22 April 2026 · 4 min readDesigning a Monster You Rarely See
Show the monster too early and the fear has a ceiling. Keep it just out of sight and the player will build something far worse than you could.
15 April 2026 · 4 min readThe Flannan Isles Mystery: Three Keepers Who Vanished
A tidied kitchen. A stopped clock. Three experienced keepers gone without a trace. The Flannan Isles vanishing has refused to be solved for over a century.
8 April 2026 · 5 min read