Why horror icons work best when they’re stupidly simple

An illustration of the Mothman cryptid, with two red eyes and a winged body obscured in shadow

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the best horror icons are the simple ones. Michael Myers is a big guy with a knife. Jason is a big guy with a machete. Leatherface is a big guy with a chainsaw. Things get weird when people start introducing lore.

Tak…