/horror-style

name: horror-style
description: Psychological horror art direction for Blender assets inspired by Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Chilla's Art, Fear to Fathom, and Iron Lung. Use for sparse industrial environments, analog aesthetics, and tension-driven lighting.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: https://github.com/arjun988
  version: "1.0.0"
  domain: blender
  role: specialist
  triggers: horror, psychological horror, scary, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Chilla's Art, Fear to Fathom, Iron Lung, creepy, unsettling
  related-skills: lighting, environment-artist, lowpoly-style, materials

Horror Style Specialist

Psychological tension over jump scares. Environmental storytelling. Sparse detail. Industrial decay.

When to Use

• Horror game environments and props
• Psychological tension scenes
• Analog/liminal aesthetic assets
• Industrial decay settings
• Limited visibility compositions

Design Philosophy

Inspired by: Fear to Fathom, Chilla's Art, Puppet Combo, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Iron Lung

**Core tenets:** 1. **Less is more** — Absence creates tension 2. **Familiar made wrong** — Recognizable spaces with subtle wrongness 3. **Light as enemy** — Darkness hides; light reveals uncomfortably 4. **Industrial analog** — CRT screens, fluorescent hum, concrete, rust 5. **Environmental narrative** — Story told through objects, not exposition

Visual Language

| Element | Horror Treatment | |---------|------------------| | Architecture | Brutalist, institutional, repetitive | | Materials | Stained concrete, peeling paint, rust, yellowed plastic | | Lighting | Single source, flickering, cold fluorescent | | Detail density | Sparse foreground, empty midground, obscured background | | Color | Desaturated, sickly greens, cold blues, blood accent sparingly | | Scale | Slightly wrong proportions (low ceilings, narrow corridors) |

Modeling Guidelines

• **Corridors:** Narrow (1.2–1.5m) for claustrophobia
• **Ceilings:** Low (2.2–2.4m institutional)
• **Doors:** Slightly oversized or undersized — uncanny
• **Detail:** Concentrate on hero interactive objects; walls mostly bare
• **Damage:** Water stains > bullet holes; neglect > destruction
• **Technology:** 80s–90s analog — CRT monitors, tape recorders, rotary phones

Sparse Detail Rule

Foreground: 1–2 narrative objects (key, note, blood stain)
Midground: Architectural structure only
Background: Fog/darkness obscures incomplete geometry

Do not over-model backgrounds visible only in darkness.

Lighting (Horror)

Coordinate with lighting skill:

• High contrast ratio (8:1 minimum key:fill)
• Visible light source meshes (bare bulb, fluorescent tube)
• Volumetric fog mandatory for depth
• Color temperature clash: warm interior vs cold exterior
• Flicker animation on 1–2 lights only

Audio-Visual Sync Points

Design geometry supporting:

• Long empty hallways (footstep echo)
• Door slow-open clearance
• Corner blind spots
• Mirror/reflection placements

Material Palette

| Material | Parameters | |----------|------------| | Stained concrete | Roughness 0.9, desaturated gray-green | | Peeling paint | Vertex color mask, exposed concrete under | | Rust metal | Roughness 0.85, dark orange-brown | | Yellowed plastic | Subsurface slight, warm yellow | | CRT screen | Emission: green/phosphor, low intensity | | Blood (sparingly) | Dark dried red, roughness 0.7 |

Reference Mood Board Targets

• Empty school hallways after hours
• Abandoned medical facilities
• Submarine interiors (Iron Lung)
• Fog-shrouded streets with single streetlight
• Apartment with one room lit by TV glow

Polycount Approach

Horror benefits from lowpoly-style efficiency:

• Simple geometry + strong lighting = effective horror
• See lowpoly-style for budget alignment
• Budget saved on geo → spend on lighting/volumetrics

MCP Integration

1. Build sparse environment layouts via MCP 2. Place single-source lighting via MCP 3. Assign desaturated materials via MCP 4. Validate sightlines and blind corners via camera MCP 5. Keep background collections low-poly/hidden in fog

Constraints

MUST DO

• Prioritize atmosphere over detail
• Design readable paths with unsettling alternatives
• Use environmental storytelling objects sparingly
• Coordinate with lighting skill always
• Test scene from player eye height (1.6m)

MUST NOT DO

• Over-detail every surface
• Bright even lighting
• Jump-scare gore everywhere
• Modern smartphone/tech unless anachronism intentional
• Dense vegetation (breaks institutional mood unless forest horror)

Reference Guide

| Topic | Reference | Load When | |-------|-----------|-----------| | Environment layouts | `references/horror-layouts.md` | Level blockout | | Analog props | `references/analog-props.md` | Prop list |

Related Horror Packs

• `psx-horror-style`, `cosmic-eldritch-horror`, `body-horror-style`, `analog-found-footage-horror`
• `liminal-space-style`, `folk-horror-style`, `mascot-puppet-horror`, `dream-weirdcore-style`
• `indie-horror-aesthetics`