The psychological horror sub-genre is largely appealing for up-and-coming directors to create as it is usually fairly low budge as most of the effects required to successfully make the horrific effects are more down to the camera angles, lighting and music. If a director is trying to edge their way into the directing business, a psychological horror can help them try to show off their directing skill rather than throwing money around for a giant CGI monster. One of the most renowned directors of our time, Steven Spielberg, his career was largely bolstered by the success of Jaws, in which he used psychological effects where a shark isn't even seen, yet still causing terror.

Psychological horrors usually aim to touch the fears already present in the mind of their target demographic, such as sharks in Jaws, home invaders in Psycho, and clowns in Stephan King's It. Horror could also be create in these instances by taking out any reassurances people with these phobias might have, returning to Jaws for an example, people often say sharks won't or rarely attack human, so we not only implement a shark that attacks humans, but serial attacks by the same shark.

The main threat (Killer, monster, etc) is typically shown or hinted at early on, if a fabled creature is attacking people, you may see someone raving in the streets about their legend, or if their is a murder killing the main characters, the murder may be among the main group. This in particular increases the sense of mystery and paranoia, both for the audience and the characters where both can accuse anyone and could even cause another death while they're busy investigating the wrong person.