It’s that time again: the leaves are changing colors, apple cider is back on store shelves, and giant witches and skeletons are dotted around the front yards of houses. It’s the single scariest time of the year: election season. Oh, and Halloween is coming up pretty soon as well, I guess. So, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about some spooky video games during this spooky season. There’s just one problem: I haven’t played many horror games. For some reason, horror games just don’t really appeal to me a whole lot. It’s not that they’re too scary for me or anything, they’re just generally not my cup of tea gameplay-wise. Luckily, there are plenty of fantastic games out there that are not full-on horror games but still have strong horror elements. Whether horror games aren’t your thing or you’re just a wuss, here are five of my personal recommendations for games that are spooky, but not too spooky.

1. BioShock

BioShock, often considered one of the greatest video games of all time, is perhaps as close to a horror game as you can get without actually being one. BioShock utilizes countless horror elements in its design, especially those in the realm of body horror. The game’s setting, the underwater utopia-turned-dystopia of Rapture, is eerie, claustrophobic, and filled to the brim with creepy enemies that all want you dead. The game’s main enemies, the Splicers, are all addicted to the genetic-enhancing drug ADAM, which has left them deformed and erratic, and they can be quite terrifying if they catch you off-guard. And don’t even get me started on the Little Sisters, demonic-looking little girls who have been brainwashed to have one purpose: harvesting ADAM from corpses. These horror elements combine with one of the greatest stories in all of gaming to make BioShock an unforgettable experience. Although not technically a horror game, BioShock’s gloomy and gory design oozes horror inspiration all throughout. But be warned: BioShock may not be suitable for those who get squeamish around blood and/or needles.

2. Metroid Fusion

Metroid is a franchise that keeps things PG but wears its science fiction horror inspirations with pride. No Metroid game embodies this horror inspiration better than the fourth mainline entry, Metroid Fusion. Practically every Metroid game echoes the Alien franchise of films, from the titular Metroids, deadly aliens with complex multi-stage life cycles, to the series’ main antagonist, Ridley, who is named after Alien director Ridley Scott. However, Metroid Fusion adds another sci-fi horror inspiration to the mix: 1982’s The Thing. The game introduces the X Parasites, a species of vicious organisms that can replicate other life forms by absorbing their DNA. And it just so happens that their newest target is the series’ protagonist, Samus Aran, whom they have managed to replicate. This clone of Samus, dubbed SA-X, appears periodically throughout the game, but you never know when it will show up next. Also, because it is a clone of Samus, it knows all of Samus’ weaknesses, and it will use those weaknesses against her if it catches her. This provides Fusion with a constant, horror-like atmosphere of tension, as you are always on the lookout for when SA-X will appear next. And when it does appear, you’d better run. Fast. Metroid Fusion flips Samus’ role from predator to prey, and it shows just how scary it can be when Samus is confronted with the one thing that can match her outstanding strength: herself. 

3. Half-Life 2

Valve’s critically acclaimed Half-Life 2 is, for the most part, a standard first-person shooter with a heavy emphasis on the in-game physics engine. However, the game’s sixth chapter, “We Don’t Go to Ravenholm,” takes a hard lean into the horror genre. This chapter takes place in Ravenholm, a former mining town that was ravaged by the game’s main antagonists, the Combine, sometime before the events of the game. The Combine unleashed a flood of parasitic aliens known as Headcrabs into Ravenholm, which turned all the town’s residents into mind-controlled (but, gruesomely enough, still conscious) zombies. And the game is not afraid to show just how horrifying this fate is, as the zombies constantly groan in agony and let out haunting screams when set on fire. Over the course of “Ravenholm,” the game’s protagonist, Gordon Freeman, must fend off hordes of these zombies with only the eccentric Father Grigori, the town’s sole remaining survivor, occasionally helping him along the way. This level also serves as a tutorial for the game’s most iconic weapon, the Gravity Gun, which can be used to pick up and throw physics objects. As a result, “Ravenholm” features a wide assortment of physics-based tricks and traps for players to use to fight against the zombie infestation, and it can be incredibly fun to experiment with new, creative methods of killing zombies. “We Don’t Go to Ravenholm” is an eerie but also extremely fun experience that masterfully combines Half-Life 2’s physics-based gameplay with horror, and it easily stands out as one of the most memorable sections in the entire Half-Life franchise. 

4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the Nintendo 64 classic that catapulted the Zelda franchise into the third dimension, is truly a titan in gaming history. It left an immense, lasting impact on video gaming as a medium and continues to be analyzed and discussed to this day. However, one thing that is often neglected when discussing Ocarina of Time is that it can be a surprisingly scary game at points. Instead, its sequel, Majora’s Mask, is often regarded as the scariest Zelda game. However, I would argue that Ocarina of Time can be just as scary as Majora’s Mask, but in different ways. While Majora’s Mask primarily elicits a more psychological sense of unease due to its foreboding, apocalyptic atmosphere, Ocarina of Time instead uses more explicit horror to evoke fear from its players. This can be seen at several points throughout the game, but the most prominent examples are the enemies. Some of the enemies in Ocarina of Time, such as the Redeads with their (literally) petrifying screams as well as the miniboss Dead Hand (pictured above), are genuinely terrifying. I mean, just look at that screenshot. And this game was rated E! You know, for everyone! Furthermore, several of the game’s environments, such as the Shadow Temple and the future version of Hyrule Castle Town, are so grim that they are downright unsettling. While it may not be as overtly creepy as its successor, Ocarina of Time, much like many fairy tales, features undertones of horror beneath its whimsical surface.

5. Minecraft

Minecraft is a game that needs no introduction. Unless you’ve been living under a rock since 2011, you’ve almost certainly played or at least heard of Minecraft. But, as peaceful and creativity-inducing as Minecraft can be, it can also be a profoundly isolating and unnerving experience. The most obvious example of this lies in Minecraft’s caves. Anyone who has ever explored a cave alone in Minecraft can tell you that it is often a genuinely tense experience. Minecraft’s caves are dark and claustrophobic, and the ambient noises that occasionally play in them have startled countless players. Not to mention, the iconic Creepers, which are specifically designed to creep up on the player and catch them off guard before exploding, typically lurk in these caves waiting for unsuspecting victims. And if Minecraft’s regular caves aren’t scary enough for you, the even-farther-underground Deep Dark biome is arguably even more anxiety-inducing, as it is oppressively dark and features the Warden (pictured above), an incredibly powerful monster that detects players entirely through sound. It seems the developers of Minecraft are acutely aware of how creepy the game can be, as they recently announced a new horror-themed biome (the pale garden) and enemy (the Creaking), the latter of which follows and attacks players when they are not looking, much like the infamous Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. Through its usage of isolation, darkness, and startling enemies, Minecraft ultimately capitalizes on one of humanity’s greatest fears: the unknown.

Bryce Cain is a senior at IU studying Interactive & Digital Media as well as Theatre & Drama. He has worked at Media Services since the fall of 2022. His interests include theatre, video games, music, and graphic design.