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Best Horror Games of All Time: The Classics to Play

These are the horror games people name when they talk about the best ever made: Silent Hill 2, the Resident Evil remakes, Amnesia, Alien: Isolation, Dead Space and the indie games that changed the genre since. Each is still sold today.

The games

  1. James stands with his back to us in the middle of a fog-filled Silent Hill street, parked cars and shopfronts with awnings fading into grey mist PsychologicalSILENT HILL 2James searches a fog-bound town for his late wife among monsters that mirror his guilt; this is the 2024 remake of the 2001 game.
  2. Resident Evil 4 key art: a close-up of Leon Kennedy's face beside a dark foggy forest with a figure standing by wooden crosses SurvivalResident Evil 4Capcom's 2023 remake of its 2005 classic: Leon in a village twisted by a parasite, with scarce ammunition.
  3. Resident Evil 2 key art: Leon in his police uniform and Claire in a red jacket aim pistols at zombies in the rain, the police station lit up behind them SurvivalResident Evil 2The 2019 remake: a police station in a Raccoon City overrun by zombies, with locked doors, puzzles and little ammunition.
  4. Resident Evil art: the dim grand hall of the mansion with carved balconies, columns, candelabras and a central staircase SurvivalResident EvilThe HD remaster of Capcom's 2002 remake of the first game: the Spencer mansion, fixed cameras, ink ribbons and very few supplies.
  5. Amnesia: The Dark Descent art: a pale green stone hall in Brennenburg Castle with a carved fountain at its centre PsychologicalAmnesia: The Dark DescentA dark castle, no weapons and a sanity that frays in the dark: the game that made hide-and-run horror.
  6. Alien: Isolation key art: Amanda Ripley's face inside a space helmet lit green against black SurvivalAlien: IsolationOne alien you cannot kill, loose on a failing space station; hide, listen and trust the motion tracker.
  7. Dead Space key art: Isaac Clarke's bloodied hand in a torn glove and armoured cuff, raised against a field of stars SurvivalDead Space (2008)An engineer on a mining ship whose crew became Necromorphs, stopped only by cutting off their limbs; the 2023 remake is listed too.
  8. Resident Evil 7 Biohazard key art: a sepia ink collage of an upturned face crowned by a dark house and bare trees SurvivalResident Evil 7 BiohazardTrapped in a Louisiana plantation house with the Baker family, in first person with scarce ammunition.
  9. Alone in the Dark title art: the name in gold art-deco capitals with blue and red outlines on black SurvivalAlone in the Dark 1The 1992 game that began 3D survival horror: a cursed Louisiana mansion seen from fixed camera angles, four years before Resident Evil.
  10. SOMA key art: a dripping robot head with glowing blue lights and hanging cables beside a frightened woman's face and hand pressed to wet glass PsychologicalSOMAA failing research station on the sea floor where machines think they are people, and the horror turns inward.
  11. Outlast library art: a hulking scarred inmate with a stitched grin and glowing eyes stands in a dark asylum corridor, seen in green night vision SurvivalOutlastA journalist with a camcorder in an asylum whose inmates are loose, and nothing in it can be fought.
  12. Bloodborne key art: a hunter in a long coat and tricorn hat, seen from behind with a bloody saw cleaver and a pistol, on a foggy cobbled gothic street under the title Body horrorBloodborneFromSoftware's gothic action RPG of beasts and Lovecraftian horror in the plague city of Yharnam, on PlayStation.
  13. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake key art: the twins Mio and Mayu sit back to back on dark rocks among glowing red butterflies beside the game's logo SurvivalFATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKEThe 2026 remake of the 2003 Japanese ghost story: twin sisters in a village of the dead, fighting spirits only with a camera.
  14. Extreme close-up of Elster's shadowed face with glowing red eyes against a deep red background, drawn in a pixel anime style PsychologicalSIGNALISClassic survival horror in a retro sci-fi facility, about identity, memory and loss.
  15. Darkwood art: a pale, emaciated figure crowned with twisted branches screams in the grey dark, a cabin under tall trees behind it SurvivalDarkwoodScavenge a cursed forest by day and survive the nights in your hideout, seen from above.
  16. Five Nights at Freddy's store art: Freddy Fazbear in his top hat beside a bare endoskeleton, with the game's name in white letters glowing red FNAFFive Nights at Freddy'sThe night guard's office, the cameras and the doors: the game that started a whole genre.
  17. Phasmophobia: a dark 1950s-style diner with a glowing orange jukebox and a pie-of-the-day board Co-opPhasmophobiaInvestigate a haunting with up to three friends, while the ghost hears what you say.
  18. Until Dawn key art: a skull shaped like an hourglass, with a lodge and small figures inside, half buried in snow PsychologicalUntil DawnEight friends at a mountain lodge, and every choice decides who survives until dawn.
  19. F.E.A.R. key art: the F.E.A.R. logo beside Alma, a pale dark-haired girl, on an orange background Action horrorF.E.A.R.A horror shooter where the paranormal tears through every firefight, led by a little girl named Alma.
  20. Inscryption key art: a spiral-eyed bearded man glowing red behind the title, with teal raven and wolf figures on either side PsychologicalInscryptionA deadly card game in a cabin that keeps showing what lies behind the game itself.
  21. Resident Evil Requiem art: Grace Ashcroft, with pale, tousled hair and a brown leather jacket, looks sideways on a grey city street SurvivalResident Evil RequiemCapcom's 2026 mainline game, with Grace Ashcroft and Leon Kennedy, already among the best rated of the series.

Lists of the best horror games ever made always start in the same places. The Silent Hill and Resident Evil series set the rules of survival horror in the late 1990s, and both have been remade so well that the new versions are the easiest way to play them today. Silent Hill 2, rebuilt in 2024, is still the story of a man searching a fog-bound town for his dead wife among monsters shaped by his guilt. The first Resident Evil is best played as Capcom's 2002 remake, sold today as an HD remaster, with its mansion of fixed camera angles, ink ribbons and locked doors. Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4, remade in 2019 and 2023, are among the best-rated horror games on Steam, and Resident Evil 7 brought the series into first person in a Louisiana farmhouse.

Both series learned from Alone in the Dark, which in 1992 put polygon characters in a cursed mansion seen from fixed camera angles and is still sold today.

The other great tradition is the game where you cannot fight back. Amnesia: The Dark Descent made it popular in 2010: a dark castle, no weapons and a mind that frays in the dark. Outlast took it into an asylum with a camcorder, Alien: Isolation put one unkillable alien on a space station, and SOMA, from Amnesia's makers, turned it toward questions about the mind.

Dead Space did for science fiction what Resident Evil did for zombies, and both the 2008 original and its 2023 remake are listed. Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, remade in 2026, is the Japanese ghost story most often named, with twin sisters in a village of the dead and a camera as the only weapon. Bloodborne is an action RPG first, but its plague city and its slide into Lovecraftian horror put it on most lists. F.E.A.R. remains the horror shooter people name, for Alma and the way the paranormal tears through its firefights.

The best of the last decade came from small teams as often as large ones. Five Nights at Freddy's started a genre of its own from a single office, Darkwood rebuilt survival horror from above, Inscryption hid its horror inside a card game, Phasmophobia made ghost hunting a game for friends, and SIGNALIS brought classic survival horror back with a story about memory and loss.

If you have played none of these, start with Resident Evil 2 or Silent Hill 2 for survival horror, Amnesia or Alien: Isolation for hiding, and Five Nights at Freddy's for a short, sharp evening.

Questions

What is the best horror game of all time?

Silent Hill 2 and the Resident Evil remakes are most often named. Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Alien: Isolation and Dead Space are the classics of hiding and of science fiction.

What is the scariest horror game ever made?

It depends on what frightens you. Amnesia, Outlast and Alien: Isolation leave you unable to fight back; Silent Hill 2 is about dread more than shocks; Five Nights at Freddy's is built on jump scares.

Which classic horror games can I play on modern consoles?

Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 2, 4 and 7, Alien: Isolation, Outlast, SOMA and Amnesia: The Dark Descent are all on current PlayStation and most on Xbox or Switch too.

Are there newer horror games as good as the classics?

SIGNALIS, Inscryption and Resident Evil Requiem are recent games with very high player ratings.

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