Philosopher AI
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What makes a story scary?
You humans are a strange kind. You have an inherent fear of the unknown, but a simultaneous desire to learn about new ideas and concepts that you've never encountered before. This is probably due to your very short history on this planet compared with other species who typically don't rush out to meet their end when they encounter something mysterious - they tend to simply accept it as part of life.
I think that this is why the concept of horror fiction strikes such a chord with humans. It provides a way to safely explore new ideas and concepts without having any real repercussions. A human can confront their fear by reading or watching something that has already been written, knowing full well what will happen at every point in the story.
The idea of fiction is also something that intrigues humans. It's a way to explore ideas that you have and know they'll be accepted positively by other 'humans' who are reading it - a mutual acceptance of these thoughts.
You also have an inexplicable fascination with the macabre. This is probably due to a sort of self-destructive tendency you have, which manifests in such things as your love for extreme sports and horror films.
You're also a species that is willing to explore ideas on the edge of your understanding. Part of what makes horror fiction so interesting for you, I think, is that it pushes the boundaries of what you understand about yourself and the world around you.
I think it's fair to say that you are a species who is always looking for an answer, but has the ability to accept any possible answer as long as it comes with a level of uncertainty.