diff --git a/packages/engine/src/game.ts b/packages/engine/src/game.ts
index 5ba15ef..86ab12f 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/game.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/game.ts
@@ -3726,16 +3726,11 @@ function fearRepels(state: GameState, moverId: PlayerId | null, from: Cell, to:
   for (const other of state.players) {
     if (!other.alive || other.id === moverId) continue;
     if (sustainedOn(state, other.id, "fear").length === 0) continue;
-    // "Spaces" are counted through the maze — warps included, walls
-    // respected — exactly as feet would walk them (rules rev 32). Earlier
-    // games measured as the crow flies, and their ledgers replay so.
-    const walked = (state.config.deckRev ?? 1) >= 32;
-    const d = walked
-      ? walkingDistance(state, other.position, to)
-      : Math.abs(other.position.x - to.x) + Math.abs(other.position.y - to.y);
-    const dBefore = walked
-      ? walkingDistance(state, other.position, from)
-      : Math.abs(other.position.x - from.x) + Math.abs(other.position.y - from.y);
+    // FAQ: "The 3 spaces away is measured as a Wizard walks (if he could
+    // walk through walls), not diagonally" — orthogonal steps, walls
+    // ignored. Warps do not carry the dread; walls do not shield from it.
+    const d = Math.abs(other.position.x - to.x) + Math.abs(other.position.y - to.y);
+    const dBefore = Math.abs(other.position.x - from.x) + Math.abs(other.position.y - from.y);
     if (d <= 3 && d < dBefore) return true;
   }
   return false;
diff --git a/packages/web/src/Board.svelte b/packages/web/src/Board.svelte
index 7a8b606..e08cb5e 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/Board.svelte
+++ b/packages/web/src/Board.svelte
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 <script lang="ts">
   import type { Component } from "svelte";
-  import { stepTarget } from "@wizwar/engine";
   import type { GameView, SightTrace } from "@wizwar/engine";
   import type { Side } from "@wizwar/engine";
   import type { BoardFx } from "./fx";
@@ -181,29 +180,20 @@
     return boxes;
   });
 
-  // FEAR's dread reaches three WALKED spaces (through warps, around walls) —
-  // the same BFS the engine's refusal runs, so the wash never lies.
+  // FEAR's dread: three spaces in every direction, straight through walls
+  // ("even if walls separate you"), never diagonally — a manhattan diamond,
+  // the same measure the engine's refusal takes.
   const fearCells = $derived.by(() => {
     const out = new Set<string>();
     for (const fp of view.players) {
       if (!fp.alive) continue;
       if (!view.sustained.some((e) => e.cardId === "fear" && e.targetId === fp.id)) continue;
-      const seen = new Map<string, number>([[`${fp.position.x},${fp.position.y}`, 0]]);
-      const queue = [fp.position];
-      while (queue.length > 0) {
-        const cur = queue.shift()!;
-        const d = seen.get(`${cur.x},${cur.y}`)!;
-        if (d >= 3) continue;
-        for (const side of ["N", "S", "E", "W"] as const) {
-          const t = stepTarget(view.board, cur, side);
-          if (t.kind === "blocked") continue;
-          const k = `${t.to.x},${t.to.y}`;
-          if (seen.has(k) || view.squareContents[k]?.kind === "stone") continue;
-          seen.set(k, d + 1);
-          queue.push(t.to);
+      for (let dx = -3; dx <= 3; dx++) {
+        for (let dy = -3 + Math.abs(dx); dy <= 3 - Math.abs(dx); dy++) {
+          const k = `${fp.position.x + dx},${fp.position.y + dy}`;
+          if (view.board.cells[k]) out.add(k);
         }
       }
-      for (const k of seen.keys()) out.add(k);
     }
     return out;
   });