First of all, everything I saying is in IMHO...I hardly claim to be an expert in this, especially since I'm a only casual gamer who doesn't like my brain excessively fried. I bow to those who have the sophisticated game systems and can actually shoot zombies!

In the first category I tend to think of games like "Shiver" and "Phantasmat", as well as the first two "Ravenhearst" games. In the second...a lot of the "Asylum"-type games such as "Twisted Lands 2" and the latest "Escape from Ravenhearst". Some (like the new "Dorian Gray Syndrome" and "Sacra Terra") have elements of both categories. I admit that I have a soft spot for the more "eerie" ones, though I've enjoyed several of the others as well, especially if there is a good storyline involved.

So what do the rest of my D&E friends think? Am I splitting hairs? Is there really a difference?

Of course there's a difference! Kind of like implied horrors vs. graphic scenes. Both have their place in stories, and sometimes the implications are much more intense than the gore!

That's kind of what I was feeling, though you put it much more succinctly than I did But sometimes some of the more graphic games seem..."clinical". I suppose my soft spot is for the supernaturals, with their mysterious, often sad and tragic, background stories that you can gradually unravel.
The settings can contribute as well, I think. "Dire Grove" got it right, from that beautiful abandoned inn to the abandoned village. But by far I think the best ones for a true D&E settings were "Shiver" with it's sad, lovely town, and "Phantasmat" with the old, mysterious inn and drowned, empty town below. And, of course, a really great haunted house is awesome too!

I like D&E but have about had it with Asylums. Although I don't mind some ugly scenes, Asylum games just got old the first time I played one. I do own two or three. I am tired of Ravenhurst. I bought "Escape". I played it and finished it but mostly hated it. MCF used to be my favorite series but more and more I just don't enjoy those games anymore. I hated "Madame Fate". I don't like carnivals and circuses either. Most of my games are Hidden Object(I own well over 200 games at BFG!) and most of them are dark. I guess Asylums and games that involve cruelty to children are streatching my limit of enjoyment. I can't really explain it though because I am not sure I understand it.

A lot of us are feeling that way, bribling. The public was clamoring for dark & eerie games, and because they sold well, the developers listened... except that everything started looking the same after a while, and we (the public) are getting tired of the same old, same old. That's exactly why there's an anti-ERS-forumulaic-game thread at BF right now.

I love dark & eerie games, but we need a fresh perspective. All of this is exactly the reason why I enjoyed Mystery Stories: Mountains of Madness (our featured game this week!) so much - because it's something refreshingly different, both in graphics and in story.