There are many Web designs that actually work to scare people away from their sites, rather than keep people coming back. These designs should be avoided if you don't want your site to be labeled the "Worst of the Web".
Site Design Shouldn't be Scary
If your site is scary, it should be because it's about Halloween or Freddy vs. Jason. The design should help your readers get into the mood of your page without inflicting pain or annoyance. And by avoiding these common Web Horrors, you keep them returning to be scared by something else.
Blinking images
There used to be an ad on my site (it may be still there) that induced migraines in myself and some readers. This is bad design. Your images should not inflict pain on your readers. Just because you can make it blink doesn't mean you should make it blink.Flash for the sake of Flash
If you're putting up a Flash Web site simply because you just learned Flash, then you should probably reconsider. While Flash is much more ubiquitous now, it is still not 100% adoption, and some people don't like the "rock-n-roll kittens".Sound
Just don't do it.- I play my own music, your song on top is annoying. And if I can't turn it off, I turn it off by leaving.
- Many people work in an office setting. Having sound on your site insures that the boss will find out and they won't be visiting your site any longer from that office.
- Come on! Those MIDI files really sound awful and the other options aren't much better!
All Together Now
For the particularly brave hearted: here's a page putting it all together. You may wonder why I didn't do demonstrations of all the scary designs - well, some things are just too scary!
