So the only times hn has been remotly close to scary is pre alpha, alpha 1 and hello guest prototype also kinda unrelated but the best version of the neighbor is problaby in the Books and even AS in some aspects they did Theodore really well imo the games havent potrayed him that well tbh he should be potrayed more of a unhinged menace in hn2 like he is in the Books and the AS
But Anyways Many people like youtubers and such were disappointed with how extremely tame hn1 was in terms of its atmosphere now with hn2 in the devlog era it felt like you were trying to bring horror back kinda but sadly the full game was even tamer then hn1 but then patch 9 released while still not scary it is a step into a more stealth horror focused direction and imo you should continue to go in that direction.