If you're looking to enforce a Horror mechanic for H&H, you could always look to the old AD&D Ravenloft or Masque of the Red Death for Fear, Horror and Madness checks. And of course the Saving Roll for such horrible, Eldritch horror that any ordinary man would die on the spot from-even a Hero may run in blind terror or be paralyzed on the spot...
The best way to set a horror mood IMHO is to simply present situations and presentations which unsettle the Players. Those Vampiric Robots from Mercury included in Trophy Case Vol 1 No 2? Those would terrify any Hero I played, and unsettle me a little-if I am a Superhero I can no longer Wreck it, there's a living person inside it-those things are really not fighting fair at all! But if I do nothing they will die regardless...I can't reason with a programmed machine anyway...what manner of inhuman insidious THING creates a machine powered by BLOOD?!?!? Brrr...
*****
You finally tracked down the impostor in your VERY OWN HOME having dinner with your WIFE! He evades your fists like he can read your mind, but he can't duplicate your Electroblasts and now he is down for the count...why is his face melting like that? Dear God, he-IT!- isn't even remotely human! And Carrie, sweet Carrie who would never hurt a fly, shrieks and shrieks and stabs the downed thing over and over with a steak knife, unheeding of the strange fluids spattering over the negligee you bought her during your...honeymoon...Oh Lord...IT didn't...
A week passes and still Carrie won't look you in the eye, and refuses to talk about the incident. It wasn't her fault, does she REALLY think you would blame her at all for what happened? How COULD you blame her, you really don't and she needs to know that but it's like she won't even acknowledge what happened...
Weeks pass, and a routine check-up reveals that you and the missus are going to be parents, just like you both wanted. You ignore the chill running down your spine and hold Carrie close and laugh, you've been trying for children for months now, sometimes slowly in the darkness and sometimes in the evening just...before...dinner. No, NO. NO. This is a celebration of new life, it is YOURS and HERS, end of story...
A fortnight later you return from another successful mission, the hostages safe and the kidnappers caught and Carrie with her robe open and a steak knife pointed at her belly and her eyes unblinking in the dark, her hands gently trembling in indecision. You make no sudden moves, only whispering her name gently, over and over, if she just looks you in the eye you know she will LISTEN.
*****
You adjust your blouse and breathe deeply, grateful for the mint leaves on your tongue that almost completely covers the sickly smell of corruption under the blanket. The autopsy had revealed nothing of importance except that the body was so badly decomposed that it couldn't be Arthur Fields, he'd been declared missing less than a day ago and this body was weeks decomposed, Still, Field's clothing, his ring, even the three gold teeth...no hope for it then, much as you despise the Necromantic spells you have to know what happened, the spirit is safely part of the Source again, it's only an empty shell...
You chant the words and breathe a lungful of your own air through a hollow reed and into the body's lungs. The form of Arthur Fielding flinhes, opens its mouth and begins to speak-too faint, too low to be heard. You lean in closer-
Powerful arms crush you to a rotting torso and NOW the body has enough of your air to speak...its slimed lips to your ear, it tells you everything. EVERYTHING. The way it died, slowly and in pain as others chanted phrases, the final end of pain as the spirit left its body, a glimpse of light-the horrible WRENCH as the spirit was eaten and digested like a sweet dessert. The thing that was Arthur speaks blasphemies to you in the language of Sumer, laughs gently of the triumph and slaughter to come, and the feasting...join us, it hisses, and you will burn bright in service to the Great Deep Lord of Doors...
A bonesaw. they'd had to free you with a blasted BONESAW...hands still shaking, throwing the hot tea over your exposed wrists until a white-faced deputy forces a generous dollop of whisky down your throat-single malt? No matter, you're able to control your hands well enough to get a fresh cup of tea inside of you...you refuse medical attention, you refuse further alcohol, as much as you would like to lose yourself in drink, in the arms of your wonderful young reporter and a dreamless sleep, there is just. No. TIME.
You smooth your skirt and pull the Rose Amulet from your blouse, and steel yourself to contact the Keepers to tell them the horrific news. The Lloigor is coming. The Lloigor has FOUND A WAY BACK IN. THE LLOIGOR COMES!!!
*****
Deep, deep within the Boston basement, you finally find the missing teens. Too late, far, far too late to do even the slightest bit of good.
The Huntsman stands with his back to you, sobbing without shame like a child. Best to let him weep, while you do the only thing you can for these innocents...rubbing the carved moonstone ring and calling upon the aspect of the Hound, letting the power lengthen your face into canine muzzle and powerful jaws...you are assaulted by every horrible meaty scent imaginable, but you memorize them in memoriam of these lost little ones. Then you filter out the harsh chemical scents...yes. The one that doesn't fit to a body or a beaker, the scent of Tsu Shen. You lock that scent away in the hot heart of your hatred, and now you can follow that scent forever.
The Huntsman has stopped weeping now, and stands like a statue unmoving,
"At least", you growl, "we know the secret of his horrid immortality. That's something we can stop now".
The only reply was a slow tightening of the fists, creaking like steel cables.
"He'll...be wearing an Occidental face now. But I have his spoor. Trust me, he will PAY".
No answer.
"HUNTSMAN".
Nothing at all, just a dangerous silence. You decide, in the privacy of this abbatoir, to break a rule.
"DALE WINSLOW! You ride the Huntsman DALE, it does not ride YOU! TALK TO ME"!!!
"I'm...i'm still here Garret. I'm still the Rider. But so help me Garrett, when we find Tsu Shen I WILL take back every single organ he has ever stolen! AND I WILL TAKE MY TIME."
You have a feeling that a terrible, terrible line will be crossed very soon. You make a decision-and flex your talons into view.
"That's fine by me Huntsman-but before you take a single morsel back, the Hound will reclaim his stolen SKIN and HOLD IT BEFORE HIS STOLEN BLUE EYES! After that, i'll hold him down for you".
A faint look of surprise from Dale's eyes even as the Huntsman nods agreement. You and he will cross that line together-after all, what else are brothers for?
*****
Just so you know, my Players and I trust each other very much-even have safe words.
