Babysitter Bloodbath

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Your first night babysitting, and the madman is out after 22 years.

Platforms: PC
Stores: itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Reviewed by the Hamilton College Spectator as a short, nostalgic slasher in the spirit of Halloween; more than 230 player comments on itch.io; later novelised in Puppet Combo's VHS Terrors book series
Length: a few hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse. The maker recommends playing in 4:3 at 1024x768; on Windows 10 it may need DirectPlay enabled.
Made by: Puppet Combo (formerly Pig Farmer Productions)
Released: 2013

Not on Steam. Babysitter Bloodbath is on itch.io and PC. It is not in the Steam part of the site you came from.

What frightens For 22 years Neokalus Burr stared at a wall in Monroe State Mental Hospital, and tonight he has escaped to carry on his murder rampage. It is also your first night babysitting young Billy: you take calls from friends and invite a boy over to watch scary movies while the masked madman closes in, until you are stalked, chased and must use whatever tools and weapons you can find to survive the night.
Content: gore, violence.

Babysitter Bloodbath is a 2013 slasher horror game by Puppet Combo, sold on itch.io. On your first night babysitting, a madman who escaped a mental hospital after 22 years comes to the house, and a quiet evening of phone calls and scary movies turns into a fight to survive.

About Babysitter Bloodbath

Babysitter Bloodbath came out in December 2013, one of the first games from Puppet Combo, the studio then known as Pig Farmer Productions, which went on to make Nun Massacre, Murder House and Stay Out of the House. It is sold on Puppet Combo's itch.io page for Windows; the maker also pressed a limited CD-ROM edition of 100 copies, and it was later turned into a novel in the VHS Terrors series.

The set-up is pure 1970s slasher. Neokalus Burr has been locked in Monroe State Mental Hospital for 22 years, staring at an empty wall. Tonight he escapes to continue his murder rampage. On the same night you have your first babysitting job, looking after young Billy while his parents go out.

For a while it is an ordinary evening: you look after Billy, talk to friends on the phone and invite a boy over to watch scary movies. Then the madman arrives, and you are stalked and chased through the house and must use your wits and whatever tools and weapons you can find to see the night through.

It looks like a worn VHS tape of a low-budget horror film, with low-poly characters and a deliberately grainy picture, and its controls are stiff in the way of old games. Players who love it praise its tension and its homage to Halloween; others find the controls and setup on modern Windows hard going.

How to play Babysitter Bloodbath

Buy it on itch.io and download the Windows version.
Set your display to 4:3 (the maker suggests 1024x768) so the picture is not stretched; enable DirectPlay on Windows 10 if it will not start.
Look after Billy, answer the phone and get through the evening's chores.
When the killer comes, run, hide and pick up whatever tools and weapons you find.
Do whatever it takes to survive until morning.

Screenshots

Babysitter Bloodbath screenshot: a man greets the babysitter at a dim doorway, with the subtitle Hi Sarah, we're so glad you could come on such short notice

Babysitter Bloodbath limited CD-ROM edition: a masked killer with a bloody knife over a house on the jewel-case cover

Tips

Play in a dark room at 4:3, as the maker intends; the VHS look is part of the fear.
Keep track of where Billy is; he is your responsibility all night.
Pick up anything that could be a weapon before the killer arrives.
If the game will not launch, read the maker's troubleshooting notes on the itch.io page first.