Some of the best gaming experiences I have ever had are from late night sessions with the lights off, headphones on, immersed in a dark and creepy game environment where directional sounds - moans, screams, creaks and wails - set the hairs on the back of my neck to standing and get my adrenaline, my fight or flight response going.
I know it's just a game, just pixels on a screen, but that doesn't change the impact and more than knowing it's just a spooky movie or a well written suspense novel. And obviously the point of playing games like Thief, Resident Evil, Fear, etc is to be scared, therefore suspending disbelief is in your best interest, at least until a hand reaches out for you from the darkness of your imagination!
I love almost all video games, but scary horror games, like spooky movies and books, hold a special place of honor for me. And I think it's for two reasons: almost everybody likes a good scare from time to time (hello roller coasters) and most games, movies, books that are billed as "horror" fall terribly flat on the "Scare Me" meter, almost to the point of being comical, or just very sad in a pathetic and disappointing sort of way.
Seriously, when was the last time you were good and scared? Not disturbed or freaked out like the Saw series of movies - killing people in more and more outrageous ways is not scary in any way, shape or form, especially when there is next to no story behind the killings. It may be disturbing, but that is quite a bit different from being frightening.
So when you come across something good, something that captures your imagination and immerses you in a spooky world, it is so worth the price of admission. And the good news is, scary video games are not uncommon and are a bit easier to create than a good horror movie or book because they can drop you into the story as the main character, take control when required to move the plot and conflict along, and leave you in a terrifying situation where you know you have to move, you have to get out...but you also know there are bad things waiting for you on the other side of that door, you can hear them shuffling and breathing, scratching and pounding to get into where you are...and you know that they are just the first wave of what could be hours and hours of terror, suspense and stress.
Oh yes, scary horror games are some of the best video games available, across all platforms, you just need to be sure you wait until it's dark and you are alone before you get comfortable, slip on the headphones, and step into a world of terror and fright where everything you do is a life and death decision.
Good luck!
