Faith and Fear: Mutually Exclusive?

I have a friend who recently shared with me a story she wrote several years ago. She told me the tale because the main character she had physically envisioned (a deeply disturbed character) is almost exactly the same as someone we both know. Now, even though the real live person is perfectly nice and kind, she can only worry that he's secretly more like the character she created.

On a lighter note, I once pursued a friendship with someone based solely on my perception that he resembled a character in a book I was enamored with (both had similar hair and the live person once acted in a situation like the character in the book--if it helps, the book was Anne of Green Gables). I only fully realized my misplaced expectations when in a later confrontation (he was simply not acting like himself!) I referenced an event from the story, not an event that occurred in reality.

Does this kind of thing happen to other people? Let's say it does. Let's say we all become deeply, intractably connected to characters we create and/or characters we read about. Should this influence what we write or read?

In my personal anecdote, it's just funny and maybe slightly nutty, but in my friend's story there is a deeper question. For her, the story made such an impact because of the deep seeded fear it played on. It begs the question of whether certain genres should be off-limits to apostolics (we are all very aware that the prairie romance genre days are OVER). Can there be a Christian horror novel or does fear run counter to the fundamental principles of biblical teaching and edification? If this were the case it would be the end of some popular end-time novels as well as the sermon text of your average fire and brimstone preacher. I think it might be.

I think Jesus taught hell as a reality, but I don't think He ever intended it to be a scare tactic. Fear is the antithesis of faith, so should anyone who purports to be building faith use fear as a tactic? I tend to think not, but I'm willing to listen to why I should broaden my perspective.

Reading: Bandit by Vicki Hearne