Psychological Horror

The conventions of Psychological Horror rely heavily on the protagonists' fears and emotions. This creates a tense atmosphere which allows the viewers to sympathise with the characters' feelings by 'placing themselves in their shoes.' 

The use of sound is also vital in psychological horror films as eerie sound effects are frequently used, which tend to be sharp, high pitched, sudden harsh sounds. The music is usually diegetic; as it is added in the film during the editing stage, however in some circumstances non-diegetic sound is also used; such as creaking doors or floorboards with the aid of a foley track.

Generally, protagonists in a horror tends to become emotionally unstable during the narrative as cannot cope with the pressures of the disturbing situation that they are involved in. This builds up tension which invokes fear and dread to the audience; fulfilling what the genre of horror is set out to achieve.