So I'm reading the comments here, getting ready for my group to start this in a few weeks. I keep seeing that this is an 'Asian horror' themed campaign. Can someone explain exactly what that means? Do you have any recommended movies, TV shows, anime that best fits that genre? Sounds like i should understand this particular type of horror to really get the idea across to the players. Thank you.
Halfway through the second book as a player, preparing to GM the first book myself.
Horror in TTRPGs is difficult, I find. In movies you have the visuals that can scare you. Books are one abstraction away, and told stories are even more abstract. The best TTRPG horror stories I have experienced lean into the unfamiliar, the creepy, the unsettling. Something isn't right here, that kind of vibe. You can describe all the gore and severed limbs you want, it won't have the same effect as watching a slasher movie.
Also, Season of Ghosts is very much about spirituality. Kami and spirits are a common sight, much more than in the West. Spirits don't necessarily look like stereotypical ghosts, but might take humanoid form, or something even worse.
With that said, my experience so far with this adventure is more the weird mythological stuff from the Asian continent. It's supernatural and occult unfamiliarity that drives up the creepiness factor. Think Penanggalan, Shinigami, or Noppera-Bo.
I'm not super familiar with example media, as horror isn't my jam, but you can watch Spirited Away to get a good impression of what kind of weirdness you can expect. Also, look through this page to see the kind of spirits and monsters you can expect to encounter.
A quick search also gives me this Reddit thread. I haven't read through all the recommendations, but I see some familiar names that I trust they're good recommendations.
Just finished running this AP. Our players loved it so much.
Western horror tends to emphasize gore and jump scare in a very in-your-face way.
Asian horror memes tend to have have an alien quality of strangeness, unexplained phenomena, creepy stillness, and subverted expectations to create the atmosphere of fear.