I dont play horror games but the most terrifying moments you encounter is with stuff that isn't really there. My point is that your own imagination is what scares you the most.
For example, for those who are scared of spiders or any insect, when you encounter one pretty close you get pretty scared but your become most scared when what is sweat caused by the moment causing irritation in your skin which your own mine tricks you into thinking thats a spider calling on your back right now. So you start moving around bushing your shirt or pants to get the spider which isn't there off.
You can build a true horror game where you never see a creature and it would be a terrifying experience if the creators could feed the imagination of the player to think there is something worst then what there really is.
This is what i believe horror games are not doing and are focusing on combat too much. Really put a monster on the other side of the room and you are equipped with full auto machine gun, the horror is non existence because you are not weak and vulnerable to that monster to be scared of it.
Of Course That's Just My Opinion, I Could Be Wrong
