Back when TWW was released, and I was playing it through for the first time, I found this to happen less. I don't think there's any less frightening creatures, or creepy locales than any other Zelda game though. What I'm wondering is, did the cel-shaded cartoon style remove a bit of the fear and dark mood of some of the locations?
I agree with you; it certainly happened less in The Wind Waker. However, the game wasn't defying convention, but instead simply crafting a unique identity for itself. Each Zelda game in succession had done this. Arguably, Link's Awakening was less creepy in a lot of ways than The Wind Waker, due to its even more lighthearted nature. But it's hard to establish any sort of continuous "mood" for Zelda, expect a consistently adventurous tone that could be called childlike. The Wind Waker has that.
For example, places like the Bottom of the Well in OoT, or the Arbiter's Grounds in TP are really quite creepy. Is it because they are more detailed and realistic?
I found the design of Twilight Princess, with its constant shades of brown, low-key music, and vague fogginess, to be not creepy but boring. In fact, there were several moments in The Wind Waker that creeped me out more, such as the appearance of the ReDeads. Nothing quite frightened me in either game the way moments of Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask did, but The Wind Waker actually boasted character, in part due to its style.
Also, Redeads make an appearance in a few titles. In TWW though, Link's reaction to them shrieking is almost one that you'd find in a Warner Brothers cartoon. It's more slapstick. Because of this, does it relieve a bit of the tension of an otherwise frightening scene? Redeads in OoT are downright frightening to me, but the more vicious attack in TWW that they bring on seemed less frightening.
That's one of the things that's actually a staple of the Zelda series. Again, look at A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. In A Link to the Past, enemies run in place as they hover over pits. In Link's Awakening, they're cast in a chibi enemy style--and the bosses often act like spoiled children.
But again, those games don't feel exactly like The Wind Waker. And Link's reaction hardly makes the encounters with ReDeads humorous--immersed as I was in the game, I was able to take his reactions and expressions seriously in what were for him moments of terror.
So, is this due to the style? Do you find that TWW is less frightening due to the graphics and general tone?
Less frightening than what? Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask? Yes, I do. But I find Ocarina itself to be the most atmospheric Zelda title of them all, so that's a difficult comparison--and I wouldn't sacrifice The Wind Waker's adventurous atmosphere just so I could have a few scares. Even assuming it wouldn't require a sacrifice, I didn't miss those moments, like the Bottom of the Well.
And Twilight Princess didn't help me relive them. Not at all.
Also, I wonder why so many people found Ocarina of Time to be in any way "realistic." In my view, it had as much of a style (an anime one) as The Wind Waker, and was the better for it. By comparison, its textures might have been a bit more detailed and three-dimensional, and the environments were probably more believable (which I appreciate), but none of the characters looked more believable.