Tag Archives: horror

I want to try a little experiment. I’ve long been fascinated by horror as a genre. Not specifically in video games, but in many forms. Movies, books, television, and so on. Video games are just an obvious medium to tackle because so much of my life is tied up in them. But that fascination givesContinue reading “Bumps in the Night”

Horror games have long had a problem with the “horror” component. The reliance on a very particular form of horror – the jumpscare – has been the primary mechanic for spooking players. In this essay I examine some aspects for how a different form of horror – a form of tension or dread – can be evoked within a player instead.

Horror as a genre of video games can be both incredibly appealing and a source for a lot of debate. One major point of contention is what is really “scary.” However, I present the argument that trying to argue about what is and isn’t scary is ultimately pointless, as it confuses a very personal experience for a point of objective debate.