When writing a scary story becomes a nightmare - fight on or quit

I've been working on one particular short story for months now. Months. I've written 7000 words, and I'm still nowhere near a satisfying conclusion. I'm not even sure if the conclusion I have planned is very satisfying. I don't think it is. I'm not even sure the beginning or the end are very good either.

What I thought was an idea that promised so much dark wonder is turning into a nightmare. For all the wrong reasons.

I now find myself in the kind of position all writers, and, I suspect artists of all kinds experience. I have a decision to make. Do I fight on and try and salvage something worthwhile from the jumbled mess I've spent countless hours of my time on, or do I cut my losses, accept the idea was never going to work, and spend my time on something fresh and new that will work?

If I give up, does that make me a quitter or a pragmatist? After all, you can't polish a turd. Or can you?

All I can do is follow my gut. It's time to bail on this flawed tale, as infuriating as that feels. It could've been a contender, but it wasn't to be. Would a painter carry on with a picture where their brush had slipped, or they'd applied the wrong colour? No, they'd tear that fucker up and start again.

Time to create something new. And that is why we do this.