That's probably just it. It IS different. Not what they're used to and thus... scary!

But honestly, I think a major factor to the new series not getting well received in America came to the fact that 90% of it got every bad dubbing move you can think of. Screwing up the characters, dumbing down the darker elements, even dubbing out of order. It might've gotten better response had the dubbing actually been taken as seriously as the dubs in the other animes they do watch