The Best Horror Games That Get Scarier As They Go On

In most horror games, players will gradually start becoming more comfortable and courageous as they progress through the nightmarish adventure, considering they will be able to acquire more weapons while also getting accustomed to the enemy AI. However, not every horror title is this forgiving, as now and again, a team of developers will instead design the game in a way where it only becomes more and more terrifying as it goes on.

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This can be achieved in a few ways, such as taking away some of the player’s weapons or even playing mind games on them to ensure they never feel too comfortable when navigating their way through each environment. Additionally, something as simple as adding in a bunch of new and horrific enemies near the later stages of a game can also ramp up the tension considerably. Anyone who wants a horror game that starts fairly tame but that slowly turns into pure nightmare fuel after a few hours of play time ought to check out these excellent games below.

This list contains spoilers!

8

The Evil Within

As Sebastian Ventures Deeper Into Ruvik’s Mind, The Nightmarish Imagery Starts To Feel More And More Real

Third-Person Shooter

Survival Horror

Released

October 14, 2014

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

The Evil Within’s story kicks off with the serious and stoic detective, Sebastian Castellanos, being suddenly warped into a different world entirely, where he finds himself being stalked by a crazed madman with a chainsaw. In reality, Sebastian has been hooked up to a machine called STEM, which has allowed him to enter the mind of a troubled young man known as Ruvik, and it’s fair to say Ruvik’s imagination can conjure up all sorts of horrific monsters.

The chainsaw-wielding butcher at the beginning already gets the blood pumping, but this guy is nothing compared to Laura, a multi-limbed spider-woman who will chase Sebastian to the ends of the earth until she can tear him limb from limb. While The Evil Within‘s final chapter does become a lot more action-heavy, the levels leading up to the late game do a great job at building suspense and fear through the gameplay, and more specifically, the enemy variety.

7

Little Nightmares 2

Little Nightmares 2’s Bosses Gradually Become More Disturbing Throughout Six And Mono’s Journey

Survival Horror

Puzzle

Action

Released

February 10, 2021

ESRB

T For Teen due to Blood, Violence

The first boss of Little Nightmares 2, The Hunter, may not seem all that scary of an enemy, but once players reach the school, they’ll quickly realize just how creative the developers decided to get with their boss enemies when coming face to face with The Teacher. This wicked lecturer can use her elastic neck to snoop under any book or desk that the player might be hiding under, making it hard not to let out a scream whenever she starts picking up Mono and Six’s scent.

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Things only get worse though with The Doctor, and eventually, The Thin Man, whose slow walk and ear-shattering footsteps make him a truly chilling boss to try and run away from. It’s all too easy to jump into Little Nightmares 2 and feel as though the game isn’t going to be all that bad after overcoming The Hunter, which is what makes it such a joy to play since there’s never any telling what kind of ghastly freak is waiting around the next corner.

6

Until Dawn

From Simple Slasher Flick To All-Out Fight For Survival

Systems

Released

October 4, 2024

ESRB

m

Until Dawn may be a horror game, but it honestly doesn’t feel like one for a good few hours. Once the main cast arrives at their cabin on Blackwood mountain, the game dedicates a few hours to introducing the characters, alongside the multi-choice nature of the gameplay. In fact, the game can feel more like a cheesy teen drama show at first, but this is a clever way to make players feel at ease before the true monsters of the game finally arrive to wreak havoc.

After Jessica is snatched away by some mysterious creature, the game kicks into high gear, becoming a horror-filled adventure where even a simple slip up can result in a character’s death. Even when the “killer” of the game is caught, indicating that the adventure might finally be over, it’s then revealed that the kids still need to fight against an even scarier enemy known as Wendigo, making those final few levels real heart-pounders.

5

Dead Space

New Enemy Types And Isaac’s Decaying Mental State Makes Those Last Few Missions Of Dead Space The Stuff Of Nightmares

Systems

Released

January 27, 2023

ESRB

Rated M for Mature for Blood and Gore, Strong Language, and Intense Violence.

Though Dead Space kicks things off with a bang, with Isaac and his ragtag crew being hounded by mutant Necromorphs after stepping onto the USG Ishimura, at least Isaac’s mind is still intact during this early portion of the game. As players venture deeper into the Ishimura while trying to fend off swarms of grotesque Necromorphs as they go, they’ll be putting Isaac in close proximity to the Marker, an alien construction that can manipulate a person’s mind if they stay near it for too long.

As a result, the game plays a lot of tricks on the player in the mid-to-late missions, such as objective markers showing up in scribbled text or random haunting lullabies playing out of nowhere. What also ramps up the scares is the new enemies that are reserved for later in the game, such as the Twitchers, who are able to teleport around the area thanks to their Stasis modules. Anyone who thought the first hour of Dead Space was scary enough hasn’t seen anything until they complete the game fully.

4

Outlast

A Random Visit To An Abandoned Asylum Quickly Turns Into A Horror Show

Released

November 4, 2013

ESRB

Mature // Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Nudity, Strong Language

The first hour or so of Outlast isn’t all that bad as far as scares go. Sure, there are a few flickering lights and a TV switching on and off now and again, but Miles’ journey through Mount Massive Asylum initially seems fairly safe – that is, until Chris Walker shows up. This giant stalker enemy is already a terrifying sight to behold, but it’s not long before Miles becomes target number one for entire groups of crazed inmates, including several key antagonists who are more than happy to torture the protagonist if they can catch him.

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While players will always have a trusty camera to help them see through the dark, at roughly the halfway point of the story, the screen on the camera will take a nasty hit. When paired with the batteries becoming harder to find over the course of the game, it makes this handy tool far less reliable in the late game, amplifying the scares in the process.

3

Silent Hill 4: The Room

The Player’s “Safe Room” Will Slowly Turn Into A Dark And Unnerving Area That Players Are Forced To Return To

Silent Hill 4

Released

September 7, 2004

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes

In Silent Hill 4, Henry’s room acts as a sort of Safe Room where players can take a breather every time they return from one of the Overworld areas, which act as the main levels of the game. At first, Henry’s room is a clean and fairly peaceful area, aside from the door being locked up with chains, but as the story progresses, strange things start to happen. If players don’t pick up enough Holy Candles, Henry’s room will start to become corrupted, with monsters creeping out from the walls, photographs randomly changing faces, and weird strangers looking through the door’s peep hole.

At the same time, the Overworld missions also become increasingly more disturbing as they go on, and by the time players reach the Water Prison World, they’ll be encountering all kinds of sick and twisted monstrosities, such as the infamous Twin Victims, as just one example.

2

Resident Evil

Zombies Who Have Been Taken Down Will Only Become More Dangerous When They Inevitably Come Back As Crimson Heads

Released

January 20, 2015

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Violence, Blood and Gore, Language

No horror game fan will ever be able to forget the first time they saw the zombie turn its head in those first few minutes of Resident Evil. The truth is, though, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as the Spencer Mansion is crawling with a wide variety of spine-chilling B.O.Ws and zombies to face off against as players try to escape with their lives intact. Speaking of zombies, though they may seem slow and easy to avoid at first, if players don’t burn their bodies in time, these enemies will come back as Crimson Heads, who are much faster on their feet, and a hell of a lot more dangerous with their attacks.

Many fans consider the Crimson Heads some of the scariest monsters in the entire series, so if players aren’t aware of how to prevent them from spawning, they’ll be in for quite a shock a little later in the game. The original Resident Evil’s bosses also become ever more frightening as they go along, with Lisa Trevor and Neptune being just two examples of mid-to-late-game mutants who will linger in the mind long after the credits roll for how terrifying they are to fight.

1

P.T.

By The End Of A P.T. Playthrough, Most Players Will Be Hiding Behind A Pillow

Systems

Released

August 12, 2014

ESRB

m

Though P.T. is very short and essentially just a taster of what the fabled Kojima-directed Silent Hills could have eventually become, it is still extremely frightening, and it’s all because of the game’s unique gameplay loop. With no introduction to speak of, the player’s character randomly wakes up in a house with no marker or objective. It doesn’t take long, though, before players realize they’re stuck in a loop, but each time they go through a corridor, things will gradually become stranger and more unsettling.

Lisa, who is the only enemy in the game, will also begin making regular appearances as the player progresses through the game, and if she catches them, it will lead to one of the scariest jump scares in recent memory. It’s a shame that Silent Hills was canceled since if P.T. is anything to go off, it surely would have been a game that only becomes more thrilling the longer it goes on.

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