
Someone asked on a discussion forum today which we prefer in Horror fiction: Atmosphere or Grue? My quick off-the-cuff answer:
Either or both - but whatever it is, it also needs a dream haunting you from within the actual texture of the story itself.
Sometimes the dream is remembered, sometimes not. Sometimes the dream is distinct from the plot and characters. Sometimes they are all one.
EDIT 11 Jan 08:
I wonder if there is any fiction with an atmosphere of grue?
I tried it here: http://weirdmonger.blogdrive.com/archive/260.html