I agree. I came back to TLD after a long break when they published the DLC, and while I was expecting something nice, FA was really something else.

The fog and flash blizzards, combined with the massive space the map has, make it really something different. I've played this game enough though - even if the road is taking you the longer way, boredom and fatigue are not as fatal as getting lost. And getting lost - the one single aspect why I love TLD - is more present in the FA than anywhere else.

It is very different from most of the maps, yet it somehow embraces the best scariest aspects of the game. The main tool of orienteering is vision, which FA just rips away regularly. It makes movement very risky, and this game is about managing risks. It makes you question yourself and somehow keeps on rewarding the risks with locations like no other.

While I don't have a similar experience with horror stories, I completely understand what you mean. The Airfield takes away your confidence. It is not challenging in the way how remote and wild regions tend to be. It makes you question your choices regularly and punishes you slowly, yet repeatedly. It is the only region, where I've ended up realising that I cannot keep on exploring any more - not because of my reserves, but because of how taxing the region is. The Airfield acts with different logic as any other place, and it shows no mercy. Anywhere else you can blame yourself for your mistakes, but in the Airfield, the region really seems to be designed just to fuck with you.