Whether it's Halloween or just a normal day, people like to put on a scary movie from time to time. There are different kinds of horror one could enjoy; from gore to psychological and slashers to found footage. Regardless of genre, the point is to scare someone beyond belief. Horror is a niche that not everyone enjoys and sometimes can be hard to get into. I did not get into horror films easily as a child due to gore from movies like "Smiley" which came out when I was younger, but horror video games were an entirely different story. Some of the first pieces of horror media I consumed were video games, and they can help others hesitant to consume the horror genre more open to it as well.
The reason horror games are a good gateway to horror movies stems from research done regarding the difference between watching and playing horror games. In his study on the fear induced through horror games, Kyle E. Madsen from Brigham Young University found, "Physiological reactions of fear are greater during horror-game play than watching." So, horror games elicit a stronger response when one plays them than when one watches them. Therefore, watching a horror game playthrough primes someone's brain to handle a horror movie more easily because they watch someone else experience the fear for them. That's why I believe horror game recommendations are crucial to up horror film viewership.
I got into horror games by watching playthroughs online. As a child, I was—and still am—an avid Markiplier fan and consumed many of his older videos. These ranged from his playthroughs of Amnesia's custom stories like "The Study of Insanity" to his more silly videos focusing on the game "Dumpy Going Elephants." I've enjoyed Markiplier's horror playthroughs over the years, and they've helped me consume horror films that I likely wouldn't have been able to watch. Markiplier helped me get into horror, so maybe some of his playthroughs could get you into horror too.
Some people are still afraid of horror game walkthroughs, therefore they may need recommendations of which horror games to start with. My recommendations for horror games will go from the easiest to the scariest games to watch.
Starting with the easiest of my five horror game recommendations is "Baldi's Basics."
The game starts with the player joining this new, highly pixelated school, and eventually they must obtain numerous notebooks by doing math problems. With each math problem solved, Baldi, the teacher, becomes more enraged and attempts to kill the student. I place this horror game as one of the easiest games to watch as I experienced little to no fear while watching this myself. There is minimal disturbing psychological horror, and the game primarily focuses on jump scares and subtle suspense to induce fear in the viewers, if it's even felt at all. Since this is an extremely pixelated game, it is hard to find any of the characters truly terrifying or threatening.
The fourth horror game is the "Lakeview Cabin Collection."
This game follows multiple characters to survive a '70s to '80s horror slasher situation. The reason this horror game is the second easiest to watch is because I was slightly afraid while watching it, but it did not last as long nor as much as the other games on this list. There is some disturbing psychological horror, jump scares and subtle suspense throughout the game to make the viewers afraid. Although there is gore, the immense pixelation makes it less scary than other games.
The third horror game is "Little Nightmares."
This game follows the player as a lonely child called Six trying to escape a ship filled with cannibals. The people on board are cooking and eating young children to feed themselves. While watching "Little Nightmares," I found myself more disturbed and afraid than the previous two games. The concept itself was enough to unsettle me and the occasional jump scares and quality of the game were extremely immersive. The extraordinary graphics and storyline combine to create a horrifying experience.
The second horror game is "Five Nights at Freddy's."
"Five Nights at Freddy's" is a long horror game series that usually follows a security guard in charge of caring for the animatronics at night. When I was younger, the jump scares, lore and immersion affected me greatly. Of course, once someone is used to the jump scares, it can lose its charm. However, the first-time experience of watching "Five Nights at Freddy's" is sure to raise some arm hairs.
My scariest recommendation is "Sally Face."
"Sally Face" follows the main character Sal as he figures out what is going on in his apartment complex. This game is permanently meshed into my psyche. The game itself has so much personality, suspense, complexity, occasional jump scares and extremely disturbing twists. Although this game does not have the same quality as "Little Nightmares" or even "Five Nights at Freddy's," there are scenes from this game that changed me forever. The player forms a bond with the main character and as the story unfolds, it's almost impossible to wipe the tragedies that take place from the player's memory.
Through all of these games, I find it quite easy to watch horror movies like "The Thing," "Carrie," "Split," "Trap," "Silence of the Lambs" and more. Hopefully, my recommendations can help ease you into the horror genre through a horror game. The world of fright awaits you just behind a horror game YouTuber of your choice.
