Are We Terrible People?
Horror games are no strangers to throwing monsters and jump scares in your face, but do you know what they really do to scare us? They make you do things so horrible, so questionable, that you’re often left wondering whether the real horror was you. Some don’t even give you a choice, sticking you in terrible situations to advance. Refusing usually means you're stuck, and occasionally, the consequences of making a mistake are even worse than following instructions. From mutilating bodies to doing genuinely heartbreaking stuff, these 20 games make you question just how badly you want to see what happens next.
Capcom France (Capcom Co., Ltd.) on Wikimedia
1. Martha Is Dead
During a particularly disturbing sequence in Martha Is Dead, Giulia removes the skin from her twin sister's face and wears it as a mask. It’s not like the game hides anything from you, either. The uncensored PC and Xbox versions make you participate in the gruesome removal, but PlayStation was kind enough to offer versions that remove the interactivity and offer censorship options.
2. Little Nightmares
Throughout Little Nightmares, Six suffers terrible hunger attacks that force her to consume worse and worse things…including a live rat. Eventually, a friendly Nome offers her a sausage, but she unexpectedly grabs the little creature and eats it instead. It’s scripted and can’t be prevented, so you’re left staring at the screen while Six devours someone who was only trying to help.
Bandai Namco Entertainment America on Wikimedia
3. Dead Space 2
Cross your heart and hope to die—stick a needle in your eye? No, literally. Near the end of Dead Space 2, Isaac has to operate a terrifying machine that inserts a needle clean through his peeper. You have to to access information inside his brain, but you also have to control the needle's position while monitoring Isaac's heart rate. Oh, and one little mistake can cause the machine to violently kill him, so no pressure.
Sergey Galyonkin from Raleigh, USA on Wikimedia
4. The Mortuary Assistant
Working at River Fields Mortuary was already jarring enough, but this creepy little game asks that you do all the nitty-gritty of funeral home work: drain fluids, insert tubes, wire jaws shut, and prepare corpses for burial. Unfortunately, your day goes from bad to worse when one of those bodies gets possessed, and the demon can manipulate the environment while you're performing these procedures. Refusing to complete your work is also a bad idea, unless you enjoy consequences.
5. Scorn
In Scorn, you become infected by a grotesque parasite that gradually attaches itself to more of your body. Not bad enough? No problem; you’ll eventually have to operate a horrifying surgical machine to extract it, enduring an invasive procedure that leaves you badly injured. There's no way to complete the journey without confronting the infestation, but even removing it doesn't guarantee your survival.
6. SOMA
One of SOMA's most disturbing revelations comes when Simon transfers his consciousness into another body, only to discover that the original Simon was alive the whole time. You then need to continue controlling the new version while the abandoned Simon is left behind. You can’t advance without making the swap, although deciding whether to leave the previous Simon alive is your choice.
7. Silent Hill 2
James has his own demons, but he’s hardly the only one struggling in this freakshow town. At one point, he encounters Eddie, a deeply troubled man whose experiences with bullying have contributed to his violent behavior. Their final confrontation takes place inside a meat locker, where it’s literally him or you. You might not want to spare him, either; Eddie can kill you and force you to restart.
8. Doki Doki Literature Club!
Hey, you wanted a girlfriend, and here she is. Say hello to Monika, the little animated terror who just so happens to be sentient (not in a good way). To escape her endless conversation and continue the story, you need to locate and delete her character file, effectively erasing someone who's begging for you. Leaving the file untouched means she can keep talking indefinitely, and the main narrative won’t ever finish.
9. Martha Is Dead
Sorry, we’re not done with this one yet. Yes, the skin mask was terrible, but Giulia also slices open Martha's abdomen during a nightmarish vision. We won’t get into the details, but the uncensored versions require you to participate in the whole thing, and while PlayStation editions removed the interactive elements, we all know it still exists.
10. Spec Ops: The Line
Although Spec Ops: The Line isn't a traditional horror game, its infamous white phosphorus sequence is more disturbing than most survival experiences. Long story short, you need to use the weapon against an enemy position to advance, only to discover that civilians were caught in the blast. You can’t bypass the attack through normal gameplay, and the resulting devastation becomes a major turning point in Walker's collapse.
11. OMORI
Escaping OMORI’s strange environment sometimes requires selecting the STAB option from the menu. What does that mean exactly? It means that Omori turns a knife on himself, bringing the sequence to an abrupt end and returning you to another part of the narrative. Although the exact circumstances change throughout the game, this mechanic is a disturbing part of progressing.
12. The Mortuary Assistant
Preparing corpses is only part of the nightmare in The Mortuary Assistant—Rebecca also needs to identify which body has the demon haunting her. That means you’re left to correct markings on the corpse and burn it inside the crematorium to successfully complete the exorcism. Choosing the wrong body can lead to your own possession, so there’s no room for error.
13. Silent Hill 2
If we’re going to talk about Silent Hill 2, we can’t forget the Lakeview Hotel. Don’t assume you were the good guy—walking into this house of horrors forces you to watch a videotape that reveals James himself suffocated Mary with a pillow. There's no way to complete the story without this revelation, which is the whole point.
Konami Digital Entertainment on Wikimedia
14. INSIDE
In INSIDE, players encounter grotesque laboratory experiments involving living organisms, strange machinery, and bodies that respond to electrical signals. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, too. One particularly unpleasant puzzle requires removing a parasite from a pig's body so the animal can stop attacking. Until you do it, you can’t continue.
15. Outlast
While exploring Mount Massive Asylum, Miles is captured by Dr. Trager, a patient who mistakenly believes he's out here performing legitimate surgeries. Trager then restrains you and cuts off two of your fingers. There’s nothing you can do about it, and it happens regardless of your decisions.
16. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Poor Ethan just wanted to find Mia, and instead, he’s in this awful house. He also has to retrieve a D-Series arm from a hidden room to obtain ingredients for a serum. The limb is attached to a deteriorating corpse, and you have to physically remove it before you can proceed. Thinking of leaving it behind? Bad move—doing so prevents the serum from being made at all, and you kind of need it.
17. Scorn
Much of Scorn requires you to interact with enormous devices that appear to be constructed from living tissue. Progression repeatedly involves inserting tools into unfamiliar openings and activating equipment that causes visible harm to its surroundings. Refusing to do any of that only leaves you trapped.
18. Little Nightmares II
Near the end of Little Nightmares II, Mono finds Six transformed into a gigantic creature who desperately clings to a music box. To restore her normal form, you’re forced to attack the music box with a hammer, even as Six screams and reacts violently. There's no way to rescue her without breaking her precious toy, and the events that follow make the confrontation even more upsetting.
RuinDig/Yuki Uchida on Wikimedia
19. Resident Evil Village
Boy, Ethan can’t catch a break. In this one, he finds himself encountering a grotesque, oversized infant-like monster that crawls through the basement while crying for its mother. Already not good, but with your weapons unavailable, your only recourse is to hide under furniture and eventually escape. Getting caught results in a gruesome death animation, and refusing the basement isn’t in the cards.
Victoria Romanova a.k.a. Milligan Vick on Wikimedia
20. SOMA
Toward SOMA’s end, Simon needs to upload scans of his and Catherine's minds to the ARK. Sounds simple enough until you realize that the procedure creates copies rather than transferring their original consciousnesses, leaving the Simon you've been controlling trapped at the bottom of the ocean when the ARK launches. Sadly, there’s no last-minute decision that lets the original Simon escape.
