What is suspense?

Suspense is the feeling of anxiety or uncertainty about the outcome of actions in which they do not know what may happen. In the media industry, film writers and directors use suspense to provoke emotion and fear amongst the audience. Alfred Hitchcock (film director) says that an audience experiences suspense when they expect something bad to happen, yet are powerless to intervene to prevent it from happening. A stereotypical scene in a horror film that is suspenseful typically has an eerie, slow-building soundtrack which increases in both volume and intensity as it progresses. It also tends to have scary elements such as darkness and shadows to create feelings of vulnerability and that they are being watched.