Just because ahorrorgame doesn’t perform the best or falls into obscurity, that doesn’t mean these games are bad or don’t have a following. In fact, they have a far more dedicated following than many other fanbases.
Like our favouriteB Movies, these games developed a cult following, cementing themselves asCult Classicsin the genre.
These are games that tend to have little mention or notoriety, becoming more niche titles even if they were initially received positively.
However, for a lot of these games, players either love them or hate them, and the only way to know in your own case is to play them firsthand. Either way, the horror in these games is unique and shouldn’t be missed out.
A Not-Quite-Silent Hill Game
If you everimagined what a Silent Hill game would be likewith multiple protagonists, it would essentially beSiren(also known as Forbidden Siren in other parts of the world). After all, it was written and directed by the same man behind the firstSilent Hill: Keiichiro Toyama.
In Siren, you play as 10 different survivors in 10 different areas, all being affected by a supernatural disaster that ravaged their towns and its inhabitants.
Withunique mechanics like Sightjacking, Siren is a unique experience that not many horror fans have been able to soak in. Sure, it’s likely many have heard of the game, but that’s about it — it’s not like it’s impossible to get your hands on a copy, either. It’s $10 in thePlayStation Store.
With unforgettable atmosphere and complicated storytelling, it’s a good horror game for fans who enjoy the classics.
9Sanitarium
A Point and Click Fever Dream
Sanitarium
Point-and-click gameshave been around since computers have been able to run software, butpoint-and-click horror gamesare a different adventure altogether. In the case of Sanitarium, it ends up becoming a fever dream sequence unlike any other.
After waking up from a coma, you discover that you’re completely shrouded in bandages and locked in a creepy, desolate mental asylum. Throughout the game,you recover your memories, while uncovering the secrets of the sanitarium and what happened to the town.
It’s a unique story, one that I’ve actually not seen replicated in other horror games, and it’s all unraveled with the click of a mouse. There’s a dreamlike, almost hallucinogenic effect on the atmosphere, leaving players constantly wondering what’s real and what’s not. Yet, it seems nobody’s heard of it.
It’s a game that’s more than worth checking out and investing time in, since there’s been no game before or after that’s remotely like it.
8The Suffering
Equal Parts Horror and Commentary
The Suffering
The Sufferingis a horror game where you play as Torque,a prisoner at Abbott State Penitentiary, as everything goes to hell. Your judgement (or your salvation) is dependent on how you play the game, good or evil, and how those choices have consequences.
If you go down the evil route andbecome a monster, literally ripping people to shreds, then you can kiss a happy ending goodbye.
There’s so much story that you miss out on if you don’t do a good playthrough, with an equal amount of commentary on the prison system and how “justice” is served.
Your parents most likely didn’t let you touch this gamedue to the incredibly traumatizing materials that are shown and explored, but that also means many horror fans surprisingly hadn’t heard of the title. No worries if you were one of those players who never heard of the game, because that’s just all the more incentive for you to experience it for yourself.
Here’shoping that Midway gives it the remake treatmentone day, as it would be fantastic to see this game actually be recognized and adored beyond being a cult classic.
7Rule of Rose
A Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale That’s Actually Grimm
Rule Of Rose
The vibes ofPlayStation 2horror games are simply immaculate in a way that can’t be beat or replicated with modern titles.
Even those who are able to perfectly recreate the art style struggle to keep up with the terrifying energy that the classic games — such asRule of Rose— brought to the table.
Rule of Rose, unfortunately,didn’t have the best reviews upon release. However, now, it’s one of the rarest and most difficult PS2 horror games you may get your hands on, having developed a massive cult following over the years willing to pay anything to get a copy. I’m not exaggerating either; I’ve seen listings for a mint physical copy starting the cost in the thousands.
The entire game feels like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, but told exactly as it was written instead of being watered down forDisneyaudiences. It carries a whimsical, yet dark and threatening atmosphere, one that you feel in every corridor and enemy.
I’m just happy that people are now finally starting to love the game for what it is instead of bashing it for nonsensical conservative standards.
A Kaidan Horror Story
BeforeDark SoulsandBloodborne,FromSoftwareactually dipped their toes into the horror genre withKuon, aterrifying Japanese horror gamedone in the ancient Kaidan storytelling format from the Edo Era. However, in Kuon, it’s not just ghosts that players have to be worried about.
The entire haunted estate is filled with vengeful yokai and off-the-wall cultists, who are trying to complete the titular Kuon ritual. You take on three different characters in three different acts, learning the story at a slow, terrifying pace, nor in chronological order.
At the time of release, the game actually had mixed reception due to the gameplay andfixed camera angles. The story itself and atmosphere were played, but many couldn’t get past the tank controls — which, personally, isn’t an issue too difficult to overcome. If anything, the difficult gameplay adds to the fear instilled in players.
Culturally significant and overall horrifying from start to finish, Kuon is an excellent game that’s finally starting to see some of the attention it deserves.
5Haunting Ground
Take Your ESA Everywhere!
Haunting Ground
Not many games involve you having an animal companion, but in the case ofHaunting Ground, yourdog basically becomes your Emotional Support Animalto help get you through tough areas. Thankfully, you can control the canine, so it’s not like you’re dealing with dumb A.I. with your furry companion.
you’re able to have the dog help yousolve puzzles, fetch items, and even fight off enemies. Needless to say, you’re going to want to bring the good boy everywhere.
Haunting Ground was relatively well-received when it came out, but since, it’s often been mixed up with Rule of Rose and tucked away between the folds of time. Not too many people know much about it other than the fact it’s a horror game with a female protagonist and her dog.
It’s a fun and unique horror game that players will feel a light tinge of nostalgia from, in the best possible way. It’s a game that isn’t talked about much anymore outside the die-hard fandom, but here’s hoping that will change.
4Clock Tower
Why Are Garden Shears So Horrifying?
Clock Tower
The Clock Tower series is one that fell into obscurity relatively quickly, especially when the movie adaptation fell through — yet, these are games that are more than deserving of a playthrough.
In it, you play as Jennifer, an orphan trying to evade the terrifyingScissormanas he stalks you,chasing you downto turn you into his next murder victim.
Originally released for thePS1, the Clock Tower games developed a cult following of fans who would love to see this game get the 3D treatment rather than be point-and-click. For good reason, too, since these games arestill likely to mess you up today, even with the dated graphics and sound.
The Scissorman was genuinely that intimidating of a presence, and it’s a shame that we aren’t seeing much of him anymore, especially sinceMascot Horrorhas gotten so popular.
Sure, there’s Clock Tower: Rewind, which is a remaster for a modern audience, but it was rarely discussed or publicized, nor were there any substantial differences to the first game. It’s still point-and-click, still obscure, but still terrifying. Let’s just hope one day we get to see it made into a properly fleshed-out horror game.
3Dino Crisis
How Jurassic Park Would Feel
Dino Crisis
Not everyone was scared of theJurassic Parkmovies, but as a kid, I was terrified of them. Seeing a man get eaten, screaming as he’s ripped out of a Port-a-Potty, was mind-bogglingly traumatizing to where dinosaurs weren’t even cool to me: they were a new phobia.
It just so happens thatDino Crisistakes a lot of clear inspiration from the horror that Jurassic Park teased, and turned it into a horror game unlike any other.
Seriously, what other horror game do you know that hasdinosaurs as the primary enemies?Shinji Mikamiwas genuinely onto something there, but unfortunately, it ends up being overshadowed by his other, more popular works likeResident EvilorThe Evil Within.
Even still, thegame deserves a remake with updated graphicsso players could see the vision and be equally terrified of it. That hasn’t stopped fans, however, frommaking their own remakeon theUnreal Engine 5, so if that doesn’t scream “Cult Classic,” I don’t know what does.
2Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Watch the Sanity Meter
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Sanity metersin video games aren’t uncommon in horror games now, but withEternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, it was the introduction of an entirely new mechanic. In the game, if your sanity meter gets too low, insane things start to happen — seriously, balls to the wall insane.
However, since the game was only released for theGameCube, it’s really impossible to get your hands on a copy now, much less actually get to experience it all the way through as intended. The game genuinely works around your play style, targeting all kinds of things with your save file and even the televisionto drive you mad.
However, this insanity is what the game became notorious for, going all out to make players panic in every possible way. It’s just unfortunate that now, not many players talk about it unless they themselves have had the pleasure of playing it.
Without a doubt, this is a game that I desperately want to see remade; given all the new mechanics and possibilities that horror games are capable of now, just imagine what that would entail when your sanity meter dips too low.
1Deadly Premonition
A Horror Comedy Classic
Deadly Premonition
Deadly Premonition, a gameinspired by the show Twin Peaks, was poorly received when it dropped, mostly due to the amount of abstract, almost comedic behaviour of the protagonist. However, that’s what gives the game its charm, with many players, including myself,adoring the game because of its campiness.
Is it super scary?Not really, in all honesty, the humour tends to overtake that, but the atmosphere is genuinely unique, being equal parts dreamlike and unsettling. Not to mention, with the characters' actions and dialogue, it’s hard to take them completely seriously, like theEvil Deadmovies — yet, that’s exactly what made the game so lovable to its fanbase.
Since then, there have been a couple of other games that have been released, with the cult following eating up every entry and wanting more. Each entry feels more like a fever dream than the last, and it’s spectacular.
I can’t think of any other game that has a more dedicated cult following than the Deadly Premonition fandom, and hopefully, the rest of the world will catch up with this take.
