Our Top Ten Gruesome Games

One of the most wonderful things about video games is being able to lose yourself in a different world. Escapism is a highly personal experience, and where some people want to spend their days on a farm or on a rainbow road, others just want to go to hell. Or a haunted house. Maybe a dystopian wasteland or zombie-infested beach is more your thing, especially if that thing is horror games! With Halloween fast approaching, we checked in with our spookiest swords for their favorite frights. Here are the top ten horror games we’re playing at Liquid Swords this scary season!

This survival horror series has been scaring us since the early 1990s. The narrative draws heavily on classic horror literature, such as H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, resulting in a gothic atmosphere worthy of everyone’s favorite Sims family. The latest installment came out earlier this year, starring Jodie Comer and David Harbor as the player characters. If you're too scared to play the games or are hosting a Halloween movie marathon, the 2005 film adaptation is considered one of the worst films of all time!

Another survival horror, SOMA takes the player into an underwater research facility. Playing as Simon, who did not expect to wake up in PATHOS-II, you need to figure out how to stay alive under the sea (sorry, no singing seagulls or flounders are helping you this time!). Besides starvation; monsters, robots, and corrupted humans are just a few of the dangers out to get you. The story behind SOMA was inspired by science fiction legends China Miéville, Philip K. Dick, and Greg Egan, so don't hesitate to dive in if questioning your own consciousness and how to coexist with AI is your thing!

Join one of the greatest plumbers of all time in a Halloween classic: a haunted house. Or mansion, as is the case in this action-adventure series. The first iteration came out in 2001, and since then Luigi has explored even more mansions in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and and a haunted hotel in Luigi's Mansion 3. You can visit Luigi's original mansion in other games in the Super Mario franchise or play the arcade version if you're lucky enough to find one in the wild!

Travel into the future and then go a bit further into deep space. This science fiction horror series made its debut in 2008 and received praise not only for the story and gameplay but also its limb-severing combat and innovative design. The UI/UX team at Liquid Swords considers it to be one of the best examples of UI in a game to date! A remake of the original was released in 2023, bringing the Kellion crew and Unitology cult to a new generation of consoles and winning Best Audio at the 2023 Horror Game Awards.

Not to be confused (for this list, at least) with the other two games under the same name, this unforgettable survival horror series from Frictional Games is also inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. In the Amnesia universe, the first-person gameplay has you exploring and surviving an unknown area while also trying to figure out how you got there. With four main games and a DLC for Amnesia: The Dark Descent, there are plenty of secrets to piece together while keeping your sanity intact.

The Silent Hill franchise has haunted our screens with sequels and remakes since the original came out in 1999. If the monster-infested town wasn't creepy enough on its own, the audio score filled with static and occasional total silence will have you on the edge of your gaming chair. The franchise has spawned comic books, novels, feature films, and even pachinko machines. If you're going to a costume party this season, chances are you'll run into a few nurses or Pyramid Heads. You'll be fine – unless there's a fog machine nearby.

How do you ensure that your video game is going to be scary? Base it on a definitive horror movie. The developers at Creative Assembly send you out into space to find out what happened to Ellen Ripley. Playing as her daughter Amanda, you sneak around a space station hunting for answers while the titular Alien hunts you. With an emphasis on stealth and offense, this game recreates the hold-your-breath tension from its cinematic predecessor – literally.

In a list filled with games inspired by legendary horror writers, it's no surprise to find a title that reverses the roles and has you play as the author. Like most writers, Alan Wake thinks writer's block is torture (akin only to penning listicles instead of writing about the supercool game your studio is developing), but the real nightmare begins when he tries to rid himself of it. The 2023 sequel adds a second player character, Detective Saga Andersson, and a mechanic that allows the player to switch between her and Wake as they wish throughout the game.

A franchise that has truly stood the test of time is none other than Resident Evil. In 1996, Capcom unleashed their zombies and mutants into the world of video games, and there has been no escaping them ever since. The first installment was originally planned as a remake of the late 80's title Sweet Home, but because of licensing issues, the developers had to create a new universe for the game. It's only expanded since, scaring audiences through live-action and animated feature films, television series, and stage plays – and yes, one of them is a musical.

If you haven't played Deadly Premonition, don't read anything else about it. Not just for the spoilers, but no review, playthrough, or think piece will do the experience justice. You're at the end of this article anyway, so you might as well stop reading and get lost in Greenvale. Right, Zach?

All we have to do now is figure out which game to trick and treat ourselves with first! What are you playing this Halloween?