Kris Straub posited an odd question on Bluesky. Not odd as in "unusual," but it certaly struck me as something a bit more clear-cut to someone of his experience, no offense (seriously).

"how come so many later analog horror series treat “it’s your fault” as the scariest phrase you could ever read" - Kris Straub on Bluesky

There's a possiblity that this could be in reference to the phrase often literally being those words, but if he was paraphrasing many similar lines, there's a deeper conversation to have than "they should use a thesaurus."

I agree, it's a bit of an over-used trope these days, but I'm sure it still works for someone. Hell, maybe it's something that deeply affects the creator of the work, themselves.

There are a not-so-insignificant number of people out there who carry a lot of uneccessary guilt, anxiety, and trauma regarding their past. Whether you did something on purpose or not; whether you did anything at all or not, you can still have blame leveled at you that you can never hope to overcome. Be it from your parents, formerly close friends, figures of authority, even only yourself if you feel that responsible.

Whether it's deserved or not is an entirely different topic, but for folks who carry that type of burden, sometimes "it's your fault" is the last thing you ever want to hear, especially from an external/uninvolved/seemingly-omnipotent source.

Most modern horror doesn't scare me, though it is one of my favorite genres. Threats, harm, violence, stalking, demons, ghosts, creatures; these things I'm used to. Being trapped in a purgatory of mental anguish designed specifically for you and you alone? No thanks, it's something I already experience regularly. That doesn't mean I'm averse to it in media, though. Something being relatable is often the best way to get a viewer interested, but it's rarely relatable to most people.

Generally, "it's your fault" as a trope has no affect on me emotionally, but there's certainly a time where it might have, and that's why I still think it holds-up despite my callus to it. Not all horror is trying to hit the fears of the widest audience possible. Sometimes it is a deeply personal issue to the creator, whether they know it's over-done or not is entirely irrelevant to the quality or validity their creation.

We cannot look at the world through the lens of "what scares me," because what you find horrifying, others might think is child's play (the idiom, not the movie). Like if you're criticizing someone who is afraid of stuffed animals like "I'm only afraid of deranged murderers," and their response is that killers genuinely aren't scary, what's your move then? How do you talk-down to someone who isn't afraid of the thing you are? You have two options, try to understand their seemingly-illogical fear, or accept that we all have different things that concern us whether they make sense or not.

This whole topic reminds me a bit of 'Iron Lung' (the 2026 movie): There was real, physical horror, but most of what got to me about it was a man being effectively tortured for something he did, despite his expressions of remorse. The mental suffering he endured while also being in grave danger was extremely overkill, but in a good way. Suffering physical harm while also being left to drown literally and mentally in a sea of your own misgivings. This is slightly different in that, according to the story, Simon had hurt people and been guilty of taking lives, but I think that can carry even more weight for this trope.

Knowing you're guilty, having understood the weight of your transgressions and trying to overcome them, only to be met with futher rejection or indifference, or sometimes even hostility just completely flies in the face of a world we're told is supposed to be empathetic; it fucking sucks to be on the recieving end of it. It can take people to their mental breaking-point and beyond recovery. Minds are incredibly fragile, it takes a lot of work to build a wall around them, just to become so disconnected from the outside world that you lose sight of what other people still grapple with in their own lives.

It seems like the obvious follow-up question is: "Why are so many people still like this? Have they not heard of therapy?"

I, personally, want so desperately to experience therapy. Problem is, like for many others out there, decent resources just aren't available for me. Even if I had the money to pay for it, or the insurance, they are all booked-up in my area. Video calls feel far too impersonal for me to get much out of it when I've never met the person on the other end.

I think it's incredibly important to understand that just because you go to therapy does not mean you are suddenly cured of your mental illnesses and emotional baggage. It takes time. A lot of time, and a lot of work. Even then, sometimes you never overcome these problems no matter how much time and effort you put into them. I have seen this happen to friends and family. This is just the nature of being human. We are all broken in different, interesting, wonderful, and disturbing ways.

I don't want to take all the fun out of questioning trends in media, but I just feel like horror and art in general can easily solve these questions with: If you don't get it, if it doesn't affect you like you think it should have, then it wasn't for you. Sometimes the execution of an idea is bad. Sometimes you, as the viewer, were not the intended recipient.

There is not a single piece of media (to my knowledge) in history that can hit every single trope that people like and none that they don't. You cannot please every potential viewer of your work, and every work you experience as a viewer is gonna have some overlap with things you've already seen or don't like.

Welcome to art!