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epitome of incomprehensibility
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I don't know, but I have some preliminary thoughts that might apply across the genre spectrum.
1) Internal factors: Unusual sound, instrumentation, texture...
This would be the largest category and the one most related to the music itself. Still, there'd be psychological and cultural elements to this; whether something is unusual-sounding varies by culture, but things like sharp, sudden sounds might be more psychological in evoking a sense of alarm.
Example: the mM7 arpeggio in the Vertigo film theme (Bernard Herrmann) - "unusual" because not part of the "natural" minor scale, and not often used together in harmonic minor (as far as I know). Also, high and fast, suggesting tension.
2) External factors:
a) Programmatic factors: Scary name, lyrics, or accompanying media (e.g. music video).
Example: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (Krzysztof Penderecki). A lot of Penderecki's music from the 60s has similarly unusual sounds (see above), but those don't give me the same impression of fear because the names are more abstract (Anaklasis, Polymorphia).
b) Facts about the musician(s)/composer or process of composition.
I don't have an example that resonates strongly with me, but maybe something like Mozart's Requiem, composed as he was dying (is that more what_makes_sad_music_sad?) or, or, something about the Manson murders? (too late at night to look those up)
c) Personal associations.
Example: You'll probably find this silly, but "Fireflies" by Owl City. Summer camp. New job. I heard another staff member playing this and found it skin-crawlingly creepy. Despite the surreal lyrics and topic of insomnia, it doesn't sound scary to me, now, but at the time? Yeah.
But it's not like the circumstance is actually scary! Yes, I get anxious about doing new things, but summer camp wasn't actually frightening (even our legendary camp ghost had a sweet and/or comical love story behind it). Maybe it's because I heard the song at night, from a distance, and it was a little chilly out. That's the memory, anyway.
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