We have to balance the lineality of the known universe with the nonlineality of the unknown universe.
There are a couple of things in there if we're constraining this discussion to horror here.
I've always been attracted to cars, and driving is a completely measurable experience: if you qualify last on the grid, you're the slowest, and if you qualify first on the grid, you're the fastest. So no one can say you're slow if you're fast and no one can say you're fast if you're slow.

