The Hidden Side of Horror
The scariest video games aren’t always your Silent Hill franchises or standalone flash games—sometimes, the greatest horror comes in unexpected places. A few stories make players dig deep into their lore while others jump scare you without so much as a warning, and we’re here to share our biggest nightmares with you.
1. The Night Folk, Red Dead Redemption 2
Well, it’s a 75-hour Rockstar game, so what did we expect? Certainly not those freakish, hissing bum-rushers out in the bayou! A swamp is creepy enough, but we could have gone without those face-painted weirdos luring us in with phony sobs. Even Arthur and John hate ‘em.
2. Ghost Sighting, GTA V
Poor Jolene Cranley-Evans, stuck haunting the mountains as her former lover runs for mayor. We’re back with Rockstar and their never-ending side missions, this time forcing players to learn all about a horrifying phantom with a tragic backstory. It doesn’t help that you can only spot her at night.
3. White Phosphorous, Spec Ops: The Line
You know, sometimes the worst horror is psychological. There’s nothing more devastating than seeing the consequences of your actions, especially when they’re shown in gruesome detail. Things just get worse and worse the longer the play, and eventually, it reaches an unforgettable scene we’ve remembered for years.
4. Ocean House Hotel, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Oddly enough, this game isn’t actually scary on the surface. Okay, sure, there are a few vamps here and there, but it’s nothing even the biggest scaredy cats can’t handle. That is, until you reach Ocean House. It’s quiet—too quiet—right until vengeful spirits start kitchen fires and whip stuff at your head. Oh, and there are creepy kids’ drawings, too.
5. The Flood, Halo: Combat Evolved
Horrifying monsters deserve a grand entrance, and oh boy, did this thing get one. One of the coolest things about this scene is how it’s completely unencumbered by fancy graphics; it’s just the player and a whole lot of dark screens…right before chaos ensues.
pop culture geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA on Wikimedia
6. A Towerful of Mice, Witcher 3
Geralt may be a big, tough guy, but that doesn’t mean we are! Players everywhere had their work cut out for them in this infamous mission. Not only did we have to go through Annabelle’s heartbreaking story, but we had to maneuver through a haunted tower to do it. Very cool.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe on Wikimedia
7. Cave Diving, Minecraft
Creepers aren’t scary in the daytime. They’re really just bumbling, bug-eyed zombies that are easily wiped off the map. At night, however, and especially in the caves, they’re terrifying monsters that disrupt the silence. Suddenly, this happy-go-lucky game isn’t so kid-friendly anymore.
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8. The Bunker, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
If caves are a bad idea, bunkers are even worse. You don’t spend much time in there, but it’s enough to listen to crackling radios and fight your way through enemies in the dark. The whole sequence almost comes out of nowhere in such a strategy-based game!
włodi from London, UK on Wikimedia
9. Bear Jump Scare, Red Dead Redemption 2
We’re sorry, but we had to jump back to Red Dead. There you are, innocently feeding carrots to your horse, when you stumble upon a new cabin. Who knows what fresh treasures await? Might as well head inside. If you know, you know.
10. Get Out, Donkey Kong 64
Kids’ game or not, caves are never a good thing. Someone should have told us that back in the day. Look for as many golden bananas as you want, but nothing’s worth that menacing “Get out!” Alright, alright, we’re going—just stop yelling at us!
11. Max’s Nightmare, Life is Strange
It takes a special talent to capture so many nightmarish elements in one sequence. The frozen people in the diner. Listening to your deepest fears. Sitting stuck in a snow globe. Perhaps worst of all is having to sneak past Jefferson’s flashlight, and what happens if you don’t.
12. Man-Bat, Batman: Arkham Night
For the richest man in Gotham, Bruce Wayne just can’t catch a break. Granted, your day is probably already shot when you’re just flying across buildings, but that doesn’t mean we needed a freakish man-bat to jump scare us.
13. Squid Sharks, Subnautica
Subnautica is one of those games that only look peaceful. Oh, you’re just roaming around the ocean? That sounds like fun. Well, it’s not! It’s just alien species and terrifying squid sharks that rush your screen at a moment’s notice.
14. Boy of Silence, BioShock Infinite
Wow, we really wish the boy of silence could also be the boy of vanishing. Good luck turning your back in this game because the second you do, you’ll whip around to see this weirdo picking fights with you. And he does it every single time.
15. Lavender Town, Pokémon
Lavender Town appears in many Pokémon video games—and it’s no less creepy in any one of them. It’s so creepy, in fact, that it spawned countless conspiracy theories and creepypastas about the soundtrack. We can hardly blame them; that jarring music still scars us.
16. Ravenholm, Half-Life 2
If the head crabs weren’t traumatizing enough, stepping into their birthplace oughta do it. It’s one of the creepiest and most interesting places in the game, but you’ll have to get through a whole lot of nightmares and ambient screaming to make it out alive.
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17. Monster Piano, Super Mario 64
Mario’s only job is to save Princess Peach and feed Yoshi apples. He never signed up to fight an evil piano with giant teeth as it lumbers after him. In hindsight, maybe we should have seen it coming, but we didn’t, and we hate that thing.
18. Baba Yaga, Rise of the Tomb Raider
If only Baba Yaga was Keanu Reeves. But no, we had to get this monstrosity fresh out of her cauldron. The boss fight is also pretty difficult, so the whole experience was a mess top to bottom. Now we know to indulge in DLC at our own peril.
19. Getting Robbed, The Sims
Let’s all thank The Sims for scaring the bejesus out of us. For a game all about building houses and woo-hooing half the town, all fun went out the window during a break-in. It wasn’t just the creepy robber stalking the sidewalk; it was the awful music.
20. House of Healing, Baldur’s Gate 3
All of Act 2 is already a nightmare, but Malus Thorm’s nightmarish house really topped the cake. As if it wasn’t bad enough to see that poor guy on the table, our team’s surrounded by soft-spoken nurses armed with trepans and syringes. Don’t even get us started on the doctor—that guy never went to medical school.
