Horror
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Not all horror is darkness, ugly or evil. It is something that invokes fear at the deepest human level. It is the most base human emotions that you are trying to reach, shocking your audience or creating tension.
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[edit] Invoking a sense of Horror
Think twice before using clichés to describe things of the dark. This doesn't mean you should never use them, just use them with care. To make a two-dimensionally evil character is relatively easy. They are nasty, and have no 'human' traits (or at least no 'humane' traits, which is what we like to think of as human), and fit all the stereotypes. Dark flapping robes, maybe a disfigurement of some sort, cackling laughter, and rampant insanity. This quickly becomes slapstick.
Use association as a way to suggest the mood of the moment. In your descriptions you should be aware of the weather. In true spleen tradition dating back to Victorian times, autumn weather (storms, lightning, heavy rain, or fog) are considered sinister, as are cats, snakes, shadows and anything black. It has also sadly made it into one of the better known clichés.
You can set the mood/tone by the type of words you choose to use as well as the pace and rhythm of the post. Long flowing sentences tend to feel more calm and peaceful... pastoral. Short terse sentences tend to set up a feeling of tension, anxiety or danger. Anticipation and timing can create tension in way that a room smeared full of blood never can. Surprise your PCs with the unexpected.
Horror consists of life's rules suddenly turning upside down, leaving the character nothing to rely on. The world becomes a place of paranoia because nothing makes sense any longer. Evil is disturbing, this is why it instils fear and revulsion.
Putting PCs into a situation with a moral dilemma can be its own form of horror. The sign of a good player is someone who maintains character, no matter what the situation. Yet even a ruthless and powerful man, may find that they balk at performing some wicked act, whether for personal reasons or a sudden attack of sentiment.
Making those actions, whatever they are, BELIEVABLE is the work of the PC. The mod needs to learn how to nudge them into a position where they must make difficult choices and take actions, just as one would in real life. The consequences and outcomes can be fascinating.
[edit] The Villain of the piece
A true villain with all the right dark tendencies will have a high intelligence, making him a cunning and difficult foe, capable of the most witty repartee (contrasting humour with fear) and able to create a sexual attraction between himself and the main hero.
Even villains are driven by motivation. Revenge, the lust for power, or perhaps a mistaken view on what is good for the nation. Fanaticism can bring its own chill. Remember that open evilness will usually lead to opposition at the very least, with law-obeying agencies trying to capture your villain. Your villain is therefore likely to have learned to be subtle, to talk the talk of court or the class he belongs too, while secretly being driven by selfish motives.
Giving a villain an endearing quality can make him more believable, and in fact even more evil. It makes him more "human" somehow.
[edit] The Dark Paths
There is more than one way to portray darkness.
The most famous example is that of the Dark Arts of Magic. Nearly every form of magic can be abused for evil purposes. Anything suggesting corruption, hate, decay, perhaps even blood magic.
The ambitious intriguer, using PCs for his own quest for power, the ultimate villain is another way of showing darkness. That, however, hardly qualifies as horror. It is simply not pleasant. Unless of course the villain has made a bargain with things not of the light or is using means that pass the acceptable such as blood magic. Then suddenly it becomes sinister.
Then there is the evil or overzealousness in those of the light. Just how holy is the Inquisition? Doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons.
Finally there is pure Evil, the absence of any moral considerations, full of hate. Beings and happenings that have only one raison d'etre: to cover the world in a shroud of darkness making all those on the planet despair. Metaphysically it is the very essence of corruption and hate that forms major and lesser demons. They can still be subtle, sensuous, tempting... yet they are totally dark in their intentions and heart.
