In the first disturbing story, the haunted doll story, it's the combination of the doll's appearance - the cracked porcelain face - and the unexplained, unheard - by - others high - pitched laughter that scares. It plays on our fear of the inanimate becoming something more. The cemetery story is scary because of the cultural associations we have with cemeteries as places of the dead. The cold mist around the grave and the figure emerging from it play on our primal fear of the supernatural. In the derelict asylum story, the rumors of inhumane experiments and the real - life horror that could have happened there create a backdrop of dread. The sounds of screams and chains rattling and the figure in a straitjacket running at you all add to the horror. It's about the idea of a place filled with pain and suffering.
For the first story, the sense of the unknown makes it scary. Like the shadowy figure in the abandoned house, we don't know what it is or what it wants. In the second story, the unexpected and the grotesque are key. The pale face rising from the well when you expect just a splash is terrifying. For the third story, being trapped and surrounded by the dark figures in the cabin creates a feeling of helplessness. All three stories also use elements of isolation. Whether it's the boy alone at the abandoned house, the girl by the well, or the hiker in the forest cabin, being alone in a spooky situation amps up the fear.
The first story about the family in the new house is scary because it involves a violation of the safety of the home. Walls are supposed to be solid and protective, but the withered hands reaching out from within shatter that perception. The lake monster story is scary because it plays on our fear of the deep, dark water and the unknown creatures that could lurk there. The feeling of something large and slimy brushing against your leg in the water is a very primal fear. The old theater story is frightening because it involves a spirit that is tied to a place. The singing and the appearance of the ghostly actress on stage when no one else is there gives a sense of the afterlife and the idea that the past can still haunt the present.