Horror Opener

Write the opening of a horror story with the following parameters:

**Setting:** [LOCATION] (e.g., abandoned sanatorium, suburban house, deep-sea research station, forest clearing)
**Protagonist:** [PROTAGONIST] — age, occupation, why they are at this location
**Type of horror:** [HORROR_TYPE] (e.g., psychological, supernatural, cosmic, body horror, social horror)
**Mood:** [MOOD] (e.g., slow creep, immediate shock, paranoid, surreal threat)
**Target length:** approx. [WORD_COUNT] words (recommended: 300–600 words for an effective opener)

Atmospheric techniques:
- **Dread-building:** Avoid immediate resolution — suggestion is worse than the shown
- **Sensory details:** Cold, smell, unnatural silence, wrong light — sensory impressions as threat
- **The uncanny:** Something is almost normal, but not quite — this break is the core of horror
- **Inner voice:** What does the protagonist think while their subconscious has already been warned?
- **Setting as character:** The place has a history that is felt through details

Narrative techniques:
- In-medias-res opening or calm beginning with creeping unease
- Unreliable narrator as an option for psychological horror
- End of opener: no abrupt cut — a cliffhanger or a terrifying realization

Write the opener, then add 3 possible directions for continuing the story.

Replace placeholders in [square brackets]: [LOCATION][PROTAGONIST][HORROR_TYPE][MOOD][WORD_COUNT]