Why horror icons work best when they’re stupidly simple

Nov 04, 2025

∙ Paid

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…

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A guest post by

Grant St. Clair