I loosely order this list to try exposing less well-known titles first.
I do have more of a bias toward games with a good story and characters, which in some of these cases means it may be a game that plays like shit, so just know what you're getting into.
More atmospheric rather than truly scary. Like a lot of these older games its mechanically dated making it a tough play, but it delivers a truly gut-punching story. The art style and music fit perfectly too.
A terrific story of human civilization and the occult, definitely recommend to fans of Lovecraft. Also what an amazing soundtrack. I highly, highly recommend this game.
Disturbing atmosphere and a very interesting stalker mechanic - all of whom are really creepy. Unfortunately due to the dated mechanics its frequently frustrating to play. There is so much potential here for a remake.
A lot of really awesome moments but it can be pretty buggy. Takes a few liberties with the 'Shadow over Innsmouth' source material with a logical escalation of events that make for some quite interesting scenarios. Must play for fans of Lovecraft's Elder Gods lore.
Because of course this game would be on here!
Builds an incredibly claustrophobic and isolated atmosphere. Combat mechanics are terrible but thankfully not compulsory for the majority of the game.
Straight up removes the crap combat, but doesn't quite capture the same feeling of claustrophobia as Overture. Still it progresses the story well and introduces some pretty scary new enemies.
I absolutely love this game - tight gunplay, great AI and it has a few great jumpscare moments too.
Slow-burn, Lovecraftian inspired point and click. Terrific atmosphere but pretty unforgiving puzzles. Entirely story driven.
Dark story, very atmospheric and moody. It started as a mod so the graphics aren't anything special, but the creature designs and their animations are so inspired and make this game pretty terrifying.
Still one of the the scariest games I've ever played.
Nowhere near as scary as TDD. Does a great job of capturing the period.
Just interactive collection of comics, music videos and well known tracks from SH1 to SH4. Its not a game.
My first horror game. A dark, self-contained story with incredible music and great graphics. A truly haunting, almost mesmerising experience. This is a standalone story.
Lays on more of the psychological horror weirdness that only Team Silent can pull off, but is also a better 'game' than its predecessors, although not as good of a story as SH2.
Considered the weakest of the 'core' SH games. 'The Room' itself serves as an RE style safe room and the game plays with that in a lot of interesting ways as the story progresses. It's different to the previous games but is definitely still worth playing for series fans.
I liked it quite a lot. Though you can tell it was developed in the West. Really feels like its own thing.
A classic in every sense. Combat encounters that matter, tense environments and a chilling soundtrack and ambiance. Gradually unlocking and progressing through the mansion is continuously satisfying. I've played this game through to completion too many times to count.
Similar stalker mechanic to the enemies in Haunting Ground except Nemesis is a truly terrifying unstoppable machine and you can't hide. I felt like this game explored the surface locales of Raccoon City just a bit more than RE2 which is why I prefer it a bit more.
Has its moments but its really very scary, more just tense at times. Still a great game to just play with an awesome atmosphere.
Obvious recommendation for fans of Clive Barker. Gunplay is bland and unsatisfying but they do throw in some interesting team switching mechanics with cool powers. But its the art, setpieces and creature designs I reckon are most worth playing it for.
Not really a 'scary game' per say but thematically quite dark. There is actually some really messed up shit in this game. A lot of what makes this game good are its characters.
More visual novel than its predecessor and even less gameplay. Really just playing to the series' strengths.
The inspiration of The Thing and Alien are pretty evident here. This game is also really fun to play and has a lot of great audio that really ratchets up the tension.
The co-op thing sucks (you can play single player) but this game gets way more hate than it deserves. There are some good creepy moments here, but its definitely the weakest of the trilogy.
Terrifying series and a good standalone story. Highly recommend for people interested in more traditional Eastern horror.
A violent, criminal thriller with some particularly tense atmosphere in and throughout the dark alleys and back streets of the inner-city.
Violent, visceral and completely crazy. Has the same foreboding atmosphere as the original; exploring the poverty, grime-ridden, urban decay of the city.
A very polished, high-quality horror experience. Great graphics, great sound design, terrifying enemies and despite being another 'helpless protagonist game' it feels tight and is satisfying to play.
Fantastic adaptation of the original Alien universe. It looks incredible and the Alien's unscripted AI makes it incredibly tense.
This game has some awesome set pieces, particularly for horror fans. I also reckon its pretty fun to play, although quite generic. On first impressions the story may not seem to make much sense, but combined with the DLC it actually develops into a story with a really cool premise.
