What scares you?

[MsHannerBananer]

An old environment or a new environment can be equally scary, should it be put together correctly. People don't fear the environment as much as they fear the unknown. ;P

Jumpscares are more startling than scary, but in the right setting (say, after building up a lot of tension or fear within the player), a well placed scare can really do the trick. And too much story flushes immersion down the toilet. However, if the story contains just the right amount of story, and that story happens to be pretty gruesome, you can inflict a more subconscious type of fear. >D

I can't say for sure about having music or no music. Having a steady stream of music and then suddenly cutting it off terrifies me, however, having a simplistic and minimalistic amount of music in the background that's steady and partially consistent can really do well for atmosphere and building up terror. This song for instance (click me) is just one note, and you can edit it in audacity to add little sounds of your own, or you can script little sounds into the map. It's terrifying.

A lot of people seem to be doing mansions these days, so dungeons and castles. Also, a lot of people seem to be throwing around "You wake up in an unfamiliar or familiar place and gotta find out why". Granted, the game is called Amnesia (hell, even my own FC mod contains that cliche), but give your character a solid reason for doing what he's doing. : D The thing a lot of custom stories lack these days is reality.

Also. Try to avoid key hunts. If you're going to have your character search for a key, or multiple keys, add some additional puzzles along the way.

Good luck with your CS!!