Diet Horror
Games that maybe aren't considered horror games, but I still like to think of them in the conversation.
18 Games
Incredible dark setting. Love the creepy lore, and the fight against the darkness itself. Yeah, the monsters aren't so frightening, but they do still occupy that horror space. Also, being influenced by so many horror writers' works...
It's still horror to me, DAMMIT!!!
It's still horror to me, DAMMIT!!!
This is horror to me in the same way a 40's monster movie is horror. Yeah, I mean we don't get spooked by vampires that look like Bela Lugosi, or cute skeletons that throw their own bones at you, but we appreciate that they are the progenitors of the genre.
Thicker atmosphere than its originator, and that soundtrack oozes spookiness and tension. That intro man. The fog and the gravestone? Chills every time.
As a kid, nothing scared me more than the box art for this game, and the images that title brought to my mind: "Zombies ATE my neighbors!"
And just looking at that, I imagined the sickest, most disgusting horrifying game of all time. So imagine the shock when I found out, it's just some silly cartoony game. The dude is wearing 3D glasses, for pete's sake. You deceptive boxart, you fucking lied to me! How could you abuse the imagination of a child!
And just looking at that, I imagined the sickest, most disgusting horrifying game of all time. So imagine the shock when I found out, it's just some silly cartoony game. The dude is wearing 3D glasses, for pete's sake. You deceptive boxart, you fucking lied to me! How could you abuse the imagination of a child!
Alone on a space station, it's you vs the machines that want to assimilate you into one of them. One wrong move (like a big red button pressed at the wrong time) means doom for the entire planet, so the stakes couldn't be higher. Shodan and her voice are intimidating, and good lord that fucking game over screen.
Mimics, Nightmares, these enemies didn't get the memo that this "isn't" a horror game.
Like going into a Halloween store when it finally becomes October. Fun horror.
Werewolves? Cosmic beings? A blood obsessed city??? Incredible Gothic scenery? Oh, but you have hack and slash action game mechanics, huh? Yeah, nice try. You're horror.
I ain't down with the devil, because I love me some Jesus! What's scarier, fighting demons, or your the moment your very christian Mom sees you have a game called "Diablo"?
Big daddies are pretty intimidating before you get your full arsenal, Rapture is almost as quiet and spooky as it is impressive to look at.
Yeah, I jump every once in a while when a splicer comes at me. Oh you don't? Wow, look at this badass over here. The very definition of a diet-horror game.
Yeah, I jump every once in a while when a splicer comes at me. Oh you don't? Wow, look at this badass over here. The very definition of a diet-horror game.
Zombies were the scariest thing when I was a kid, and the "of the Dead" movies were sick and disgusting films that traumatized me. (thanks to my brother for watching those) To play a game that emulates those films, it was so cathartic. One of the biggest reasons I love horror games to this day is because this game shows how horror can be fun.
I just wish the rest of the series didn't get so damn carried away with the tone. This first game takes itself seriously, but only in the midst of you having fun in the goofiest way. Story: Dark, serious, has an environmental message, Gameplay: You put the big novelty hat on the zombie and then toss CDs at it. The rest of the series is pretty much just straight up stupid, gameplay and plot. Soft spot for the OG Dead Rising 2 though.
I just wish the rest of the series didn't get so damn carried away with the tone. This first game takes itself seriously, but only in the midst of you having fun in the goofiest way. Story: Dark, serious, has an environmental message, Gameplay: You put the big novelty hat on the zombie and then toss CDs at it. The rest of the series is pretty much just straight up stupid, gameplay and plot. Soft spot for the OG Dead Rising 2 though.
It might not be the scariest game, Zach, but its influence from director David Lynch is very obvious. And just as David Lynch movies might not be the scariest films ever, and may be downright silly at times, you'll still walk away feeling unsettled.
We all shit our pants when we first encountered a Witch, and that Tank music really puts you on edge. Yeah, it's more of an action shooter kinda thing, but it's still dark and moody.
You hate Doom 3 because it did something different, and changed genres when you weren't looking. Yeah, the shooting and the guns are still in here, but you're looking at a survival-horror, FPS hybrid. Years before it was cool. And nobody at the time understood it, so they all shat on it. But not me.
I love you, Doom 3. Do you love me back?
I love you, Doom 3. Do you love me back?
SA-X. That bitch was like Nemesis in 2D. A fitting antagonist for a game that feels creepier at times than the much more commonly appreciated atmosphere of Super Metroid, its predecessor.
Max's never ending downward spiral, the moody comic scenes, narration, the noir tone create a mood that just had me so nervous playing this as a kid. And then with Max's freaky hallucinations, and just how unsettling these junkies can be makes this a certified diet-horror classic.
"The flesh of fallen angels" stuff scared the fuck out of me when I was a kid. The voices on the TVs also scared me. I was scared of a lot of things. But at least not of an 8-bit tiny Mario. And you know who you are!
"The flesh of fallen angels" stuff scared the fuck out of me when I was a kid. The voices on the TVs also scared me. I was scared of a lot of things. But at least not of an 8-bit tiny Mario. And you know who you are!
Demons, and those scrolling face textures
It's pretty freaky and got a lot of mature themes and imagery. Definitely would have freaked me out as a kid. Feels right at home in October.
