Survival horror Slasher horror Stealth horror PS1 horror Horror puzzle Fixed camera horror

The Fear Business

Rate it

Chase the story of a satanic cult into the manor where Goat Face waits.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (93% of 121 reviews); Finger Guns 7/10
Length: about 5 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse or a controller (full controller support, DualShock and DualSense included).
Made by: Tomás Esconjaureguy (publisher: selewi)
Released: 2024

What frightens TV host Sarah McPherson chases a story about a satanic cult tied to dozens of missing people and ends up locked inside Solomon Manor with Goat Face, a masked killer who hunts her through its rooms; hooded cultists, torture rooms and VHS glitches, with an optional mode full of loud jumpscares.
Content: gore, torture, satanism and occult imagery, strong language, jumpscares (scary mode).

The Fear Business is a third-person retro survival horror game inspired by the 80s satanic panic and found footage films. Journalist Sarah investigates a cult tied to dozens of missing people, records what she finds, and is locked inside Solomon Manor with a masked killer called Goat Face.

About The Fear Business

The Fear Business is by Tomás Esconjaureguy, the maker of The Night of the Scissors and Cannibal Abduction, published by selewi and released on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux in October 2024. The store page estimates the base game at about five hours and says it is meant for players 18 and over.

Whispers of a satanic cult linked to dozens of missing people have spread across the country, and after a wave of layoffs Sarah McPherson, producer and host of a sensationalist TV show, is ready to chase the story nobody else will touch. In the village of Black Hill she interviews the locals and films everything she can in a free first-person camcorder view. Then the trail leads into Solomon Manor, and she is locked in with Goat Face.

The manor is a large Victorian house shown through cinematic camera angles, every room full of items, things to record, secrets and puzzles. You save by blowing out the candles of the devil shrines, but each time you do, the manor gets darker. Goat Face stalks the halls; you hide, or fight back if you dare. A Scary mode adds loud jumpscares and a Deadly mode makes the killer more lethal and unlocks a harder setting still.

Critics called it a solid homage to the horror games of yesteryear, short and bloody, leaning on tank controls, inventory management and limited saves. It suits players of Clock Tower, Puppet Combo's games and 80s horror films.

How to play The Fear Business

Explore Black Hill and Solomon Manor in third person and pick up the items you find.
Switch to the camcorder's first-person view to look around and record footage for your story.
Interview the locals and solve the manor's puzzles to open new rooms.
Hide when Goat Face comes for you, or fight back if you dare.
Blow out a devil shrine's candles to save, knowing the manor grows darker each time.

Screenshots

The Fear Business screenshot: through a camcorder's REC frame, a goat-masked killer raises a bloody knife around a corner of a stone wall

The Fear Business screenshot: red-hooded cultists stand on a rock by a candle in a rainy pine forest at dusk

The Fear Business screenshot: Sarah with a flashlight in a candlelit dining room of the Victorian manor with patterned wallpaper

The Fear Business screenshot: a strange pale sculpture on a cabinet whose nameplate reads The Architect

Tips

Do not save at every shrine: each save makes the manor darker.
Record anything strange; the footage is the point of Sarah's story.
Learn where to hide before Goat Face finds you.
Pick Scary mode only if you want many more loud jumpscares; Deadly mode is for a second run.

Questions

How long is The Fear Business?

The store page estimates about five hours for the base content.

Is The Fear Business on Mac and Linux?

Yes. Steam sells it for Windows, Mac and Linux, and a free demo is on itch.io.

Is there a demo?

Yes, a free demo is on itch.io.

What are the game modes?

A standard survival horror mode, a Scary mode with many loud jumpscares, and a Deadly mode with a more lethal enemy that unlocks an even harder difficulty.