The appearance can be a factor. For example, if the horse has glowing eyes like in some horror stories, it immediately gives off a spooky vibe. Horses are large animals, and when they act in an unpredictable way, like suddenly charging or rearing up for no obvious reason, it can be very frightening.
Yes. The Headless Horseman is a somewhat related famous story. While it's often depicted as a headless man on a horse, the horse is also a part of this spooky legend. It rides through the night, scaring those in its path. The horse seems to move with an otherworldly speed and grace, adding to the overall scariness of the tale.
Sure. There was a story about a haunted stable. At night, the horses would neigh in terror for no apparent reason. People said they could see a shadowy figure moving among the stalls. It was said to be the ghost of a long - dead stable hand who had met a tragic end there.
Ghosts or spirits are often in horse scary stories. For example, spirits haunting stables or tormenting horses. Another element could be the horse being in a spooky location like a dark forest or an abandoned field. These places add to the overall sense of fear and mystery in the story.
One scary horse ghost story is about a black horse that haunts an old stable. Legend has it that a cruel stable master once mistreated the horse there. Now, at night, people can hear the sound of hooves and the horse's angry neighs coming from the empty stable.
There are tales from different cultures. In some Native American folklore, there are stories about horses that have a special connection to the spirit world. These horses might be seen as messengers of the spirits, and their appearance could signify something either good or bad. For example, if a horse with a strange marking appears during a time of trouble, it could be seen as a warning from the spirits. The way these stories are told, with the horses as central elements in the supernatural context, makes them quite scary.
The horse drawing by Steven Gammell in Scary Stories is often considered scary because of his unique and somewhat distorted style. His use of lines and shading gives the horse an otherworldly and menacing look.
In these types of stories, the theme of isolation can be quite common. The new horse might lead the owner to an isolated place where strange and scary things start to happen. There could also be a theme of the horse having some sort of otherworldly power. For example, it might be able to communicate with the dead or have the power to control the weather in a menacing way.
The horse drawing by Stephen Gammell in Scary Stories is scary perhaps because of the context within the book. The overall eerie atmosphere of the Scary Stories series makes everything seem more menacing. The horse might be depicted in a way that doesn't conform to our normal perception of a friendly or docile horse, like it has a wild look in its eyes or an unnatural stance.