In a genre swarming with nightmarish creatures and all kinds
of visceral grotesquery, there’s plenty of horrific imagery in horror cinema for
audiences to lose sleep over. From intensely sickening body horror to a
collection of chillingly imaginative stories, there’s no shortage of iconic and
frightening moments to be found in this genre.
When it comes to crafting the most terror, sometimes showing
less (or even nothing at all) can be vastly more effective than any amount of
blood can achieve.
A large part of the tension that makes films scary is rooted in the unknown. It’s not knowing where the ghost is hiding in the darkness or - arguably even scarier - not even understanding what exactly the threat is.
Typically, these moments of suspense are eventually resolved –
often with a jump scare – before moving on to the next scary scene. However, it’s
frequently the questions that are left unresolved that stick with viewers
longer.
With no other choice but to let our imaginations fill in the blanks,
these are the horrors that let us picture the terror for ourselves.