Broken Neck Woman (Fatal Frame 2)
The Fatal Frame series is well known for scaring fans by making sure they get a good look of the ghost before killing them. There are no guns in the game as you’ll have to rely on your trusty aged camera to banish those evil spirits. For effective “attacks,” you have to make sure the ghost is as close as possible before taking the shot. Essentially, the game forces you to face these spirits head on if you want to survive.
One infamous spirit you’ll have to face in the second game is called the Broken Neck Woman. You can guess how she looks from the name alone as her neck is deformed with her head is hanging lopsided on her shoulders. Lore-wise, there’s not much known about who this spirit actually is. However, she’s speculated to be a member of the Tsuchihara family who helped maintain the prison. When the darkness invaded the village, she decided to jump off a bridge and end her life. We can see how well that ended up for her. Make sure to find the Broken Neck’s perfect angles when taking her photos!
SA-X (Metroid Fusion)
The Metroid series has always had the potential to play out like a horror game, and Metroid Fusion takes advantage of these elements to craft another thrilling experience. The game starts out with Samus Aran on another mission, this time acting as a bodyguard for a research team as they visit the planet SR388. She encounters an alien and manages to kill it, but they soon find out that it was infected by some new kind of parasitic organism called the X.
This parasite nearly kills Samus after infecting her, but the medical crew manages to save her life. Strangely enough, most of her Power Suit had been integrated into her body, forcing the medical team to surgically remove large portions of the infected suit. Little did they know that the X parasite managed to use the infected portions of the Power Suit to create a splitting copy of Samus, albeit much more chilling and ruthless.
Dubbed the SA-X, this creature will hunt down Samus throughout her mission with the prime purpose of killing her. The worst part about most of these moments is that you cannot kill the SA-X and must avoid it at all times. In a way, the SA-X acts like some sort of stalker from horror films who always finds a way to find their prey.
U-3 (Resident Evil 4)
Resident Evil 4 was a bit different from the past three games in the series, opting for more action-oriented gameplay. In spite of this, the game has a collection of horrid creatures that embody the Resident Evil series. One creature, the U-3, is just one big mesh of nasty critters rolled together by the Plaga parasite. Who knows what went through Saddler’s mind when he decided to create a horrifying chimera consisting of a reptile, insect, and a human?
Leon encounters this creature in the underground cellars where it bursts out from the wall, nearly catching him off guard. The only way to kill the U-3 is by destroying the Plaga, but it’s easier said than done as it tries to pin you down. Thankfully, this monstrosity was destroyed for good, along with the other Plaga creatures, after the island self-destructs.
Lisa (P.T.)
Despite her limited screen time, there’s no denying the impact Lisa left on the horror gaming scene. She appeared in the terrifying P.T. demo on the PS4, haunting players who drifted endlessly in a winding corridor. She is the apparition of a smiling woman with a gouged eye who was supposedly murdered by her husband. Her sporadic appearances in P.T. are what really catch players off guard as you might suddenly find her behind you or just right around the corner. If you get too close, she can possess and even brutally attack you. Some even speculate that she molests the player and has even kept him captive for a long time.
There’s a lot of wasted potential behind Lisa seeing as how she and her canceled game have left a major mark on modern horror games. She was meant to be a decoy item in Metal Gear Solid V, but even that idea was scrapped. Nonetheless, she provides a good scare if you still have a rare copy of the P.T. demo on your PS4.
Plastered Splicers (BioShock)
The first BioShock game had a few traditional horror elements with its dark atmosphere and creepy vibes. Here, you play as a man named Jack who must navigate through an underwater city called Rapture following his plane accident. Despite its name, Rapture is a ravaged city filled with its mentally disturbed citizens, the Splicers. While the standard batch of Splicers are pretty freaky all on their own, Jack stumbles across more disturbing variants later in the game.
Once you reach Fort Frolic, you’ll come across Splicers that are fully lathered in plaster. These enemies don’t scream and mumble to themselves, but rather lurk in the shadows and wait to catch you by surprise. They can even climb on walls and throw hooks at you, making for a disturbing sight. What’s worse is that they will only spawn where you’re not looking and will pose until you get too close.
One interesting tidbit about these creatures is that you can avoid confronting them altogether by not using the Power to the People machine located in the Sinclair Spirits basement. You can save yourself a lot of time and ammo by just breezing through Fort Frolic.
Laura (The Evil Within)
If Sadako herself isn’t bad enough for you, imagine a version with four legs. That’s essentially Laura, one of the most persistent creatures in The Evil Within. This long-haired, spider-like creature stalks Sebastian throughout several stages, often immune to any type of bullets. She’s a pretty slow enemy and you can easily outrun her, which you’re almost always forced to do, but Laura can also teleport over short distances to keep up with Sebastian. If she manages to grab you, it means instant death.
The “original” Laura was actually Ruvik’s sister who died in a barn house fire, which brings us to her only weakness: fire. While you can choose to burn her for an easy fight, you can also waste a ton of bullets to take her down. If you’re up for a good challenge, try fighting her for a good amount of brain gel and ammo. If you’re a fan of Laura, you’ll be glad to hear that she also makes an appearance in The Evil Within 2.
Mannequins (Condemned)
You can find mannequins almost anywhere nowadays, especially at your local mall. These dolls are mainly used for displaying clothes, but they also make for some surprisingly good elements in horror games. The mannequins in Condemned are no joke as you’ll find them carefully lined up in a dirty, abandoned mall. Their initial appearance is a little creepy, but they don’t seem any different from any other atmospheric horror backdrop.
The horror slowly starts to creep in when they begin following the player. That said, these mannequins won’t hurt you. Instead, they’ll just continue blocking your path, urging you to continue walking forward. Once you drop down the hole in the mall, they’ll surround you from above, watching as you continue moving through the mall. We’d very much prefer if lifeless dolls remain, well, lifeless.
Twin Victim (Silent Hill 4)
Silent Hill’s pretty popular for being a horror game with some unique monsters. These creatures are the stuff of nightmares as they aren’t your average monster. Take Twin Victim, for example. These creepy critters appear in Silent Hill 4: The Room and have twin baby heads with large arms acting as their legs. Their limbs extend from a black and dirty smock which we assume hides its body.
When you first come across the Twin Victim, they won’t even bother chasing after you. Instead, they’ll extend their bony arm and point at you, whispering “receiver of…” Luckily, these guys know how to mind their own business and won’t bother you unless you decide to mess with them. Get too close and they’ll lash out at you with their long arms, but they’ll leave you alone otherwise. Beware as these guys are pretty fast and can deal some heavy damage as their hands have an incredibly long reach. If you manage to hurt them enough, they’ll thrash around on the floor like the babies they are. That said, the best way to deal with Twin Victims is to just walk away if you see one.
Crawler (Dead Space 2)
The Dead Space series made the most out of horror and sci-fi elements by creating some pretty disgusting creatures. They also put a twist on the whole “zombie virus” concept through Necromorphs – reanimated corpses infected by some sort of space virus. These monsters are extremely hostile and will attack any uninfected organism on sight, making for a frightening foe. If you thought space zombies weren’t thrilling enough for you, Dead Space 2 took the concept even further with Crawlers.
These Necromorphs are reanimated infants with bloated torsos that explode on contact. Their bodies and heads are also twisted backwards, making sure you get a good view of these terrible tots tumbling around the Sprawl. They’re literal walking timebombs that are ready to explode at any time. Despite their appearance, it’s quite disheartening to think about all of the lost little lives in Dead Space 2.
Child With a Chainsaw (Catherine)
There’s a lot going on in Catherine with its quirky platforming mechanics, the fickle Morality meter, a collection of compelling characters, and its really strange monsters. Like with Silent Hill, most of these creatures spawning from Vincent’s nightmares are projections his real-life fears – specifically his relationship. And what bigger fear is there in a shaky relationship than having a baby? For Vincent, this nightmare comes to life in the form of a disfigured child wielding a deadly chainsaw, pincer, and Gatling gun.
This creature is the fifth boss in the game and appears in the sixth stage called the Clock Tower. It attacks the player with its different weapons, using the chainsaw to cut off the tower while relying on the Gatling gun to drop blocks that will kill you in one hit if you aren’t careful. Interestingly enough, the Child With a Chainsaw first appears as The Child in the fourth stage. When it comes back armed in the sixth chapter, it symbolizes Vincent’s fears of Katherine’s baby.
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