I usually cheat the whole darkness on horror games not because of the scary factors, but because playing on almost absolute darkness is just not fun. I want to see the game, not to swim in a sea of black.

The scary factor be damned, I'm rarely scared on those games outside the obvious screamers created by something pulling on your screen.

No matter how grotesque the enemy is, when I play a game I put myself on a "gaming" mentality and I'm rarely scared. The enemies are a bunch of hit points which need to be depleted so I can go to the next zone. Getting in the mood make the game harder so I just try to NOT get into the mood and I can later brag about being a tuff guy who isn't afraid of anything.