About horror-style
horror-style is a visual-design skill for horror environments and props, aimed at creators building psychological tension. It favors sparse detail, industrial decay, unsettling familiar spaces, and environmental storytelling over jump scares.
Key features
- 01Psychological tension over jump scares
- 02Sparse environmental detail
- 03Industrial analog visual language
- 04Unsettling familiar spaces
- 05Lighting and material guidance
- 06Layout and sightline considerations
Use cases
- 01Designing horror game environments
- 02Creating liminal or analog-style assets
- 03Planning dark scenes with blind corners
MCP support
The skill describes using MCP to build sparse layouts, place single-source lighting, assign desaturated materials, and validate sightlines with a camera MCP.
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
$
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/horror-stylein Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Bundled filesreferences/analog-props.mdreferences/horror-layouts.md
Details
From the project READMEHorror 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:
- Less is more — Absence creates tension
- Familiar made wrong — Recognizable spaces with subtle wrongness
- Light as enemy — Darkness hides; light reveals uncomfortably
- Industrial analog — CRT screens, fluorescent hum, concrete, rust
- 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
- Build sparse environment layouts via MCP
- Place single-source lighting via MCP
- Assign desaturated materials via MCP
- Validate sightlines and blind corners via camera MCP
- 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-horrorliminal-space-style,folk-horror-style,mascot-puppet-horror,dream-weirdcore-styleindie-horror-aesthetics
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