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# Horror Devs Think You're Too Scared To Examine Their Games More Deeply
- URL: https://aftermath.site/horror-games-art/
- Published: 2026-10-30T13:38:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-30T13:38:45.000Z
- Description: 'Horror is one of the few games genres that is dictated by emotion specifically'
- Author: Ashley Bardhan
- Tags: Inside Baseball Week 2026, Video Games, Freelance, horror games

Horror is an inevitable part of living. From Biblical tales of a spiteful God to the works of Mary Shelley and Stephen King to the existence of Chucky the doll, artists across all mediums have explored what terrifies us for centuries. And if video games really do belong among art, then a bitter rind needs tasting — horror games have to be treated as worthwhile parts of this canon.

There's no genre more suited to allowing yourself to submit to the demon vision of an artist than horror. But horror game developers have noticed that, well, you're too scared to surrender control. Many people won't play their horror games because they don't want to be afraid, but there is freedom that only comes from being left alone in the dark. 

"I think video game culture is split on whether the purpose of a game is to provide escapism or enrichment," says Antony de Fault, the narrative director for Saber's wonderfully revolting new shooter, [*Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1551980/Clive%5FBarkers%5FHellraiser%5FRevival/?ref=aftermath.site). "I do feel that compared to other popular media arts, games lean further to the escapism side of things." He defines enrichment as "something maybe you never saw or considered before. By being exposed to lots of art, you learn more about the world, and people, and ideas; you, as a person, are enriched."

"I think everyone in video games would benefit from valuing enrichment more in their games," de Fault says. But some horror devs have noticed audiences can be resistant to the kind of personal growth you can only achieve by looking at a lot of severed heads and cockroaches. 

Chantal Ryan, lead behind the upcoming, freaky '90s internet sim [*darkwebSTREAMER*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2151810/darkwebSTREAMER/?ref=aftermath.site)*,* says, "People just tend to be more vocal about their dislike of horror, I think, because it's such a visceral genre, and in a way it exists to pull out and confront unpleasant feelings. A lot of people aren't shy about saying, 'I don't do that unpleasant stuff!'

"Personally, I think it's important to sit with discomfort, and suffering, and learn to be okay in it," Ryan continues. "Then when people are going through something that is hard, the kind of things a lot of people turn away from... I find that people who like horror are often the people who show up and stay strong and hold your hand when things are hard and scary. They don't run from it like some people do. I think that's such a beautiful thing."

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/10/wesstr.jpg)

darkwebSTREAMER

"I think that the horror audience is particularly open to games that challenge them," de Fault observes. "Horror fans like to have friction with their games; after all, the entire genre is founded on experiencing a negative emotion. So I think that fans of the genre tend towards valuing enriching experiences more."

I agree — horror games are my preferred *memento mori*, often allowing me to practice death as one of their suffering main characters who gets licked and stabbed before being [revealed to be pregnant with the God of Hate](https://www.vulture.com/2023/12/heather-mason-memes-tiktok.html?ref=aftermath.site).

Like romance, horror works best when it elicits something you can feel: your chest heaving with a big breath when you hear the Xenomorph skittering in *Alien: Isolation*, nausea boiling in your belly when *The Outlast Trials* confronts [you with a big baby who collects nipples](https://outlast.fandom.com/wiki/Franco%5FBarbi?ref=aftermath.site). "Horror is one of the few games genres that is dictated by emotion specifically," Perfect Garbage co-founders Emmett Nahil and Son M. tell me in a joint statement as they work on their bloody farming sim [*Grave Seasons*](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3255110/Grave%5FSeasons/?ref=aftermath.site) as narrative and creative director, respectively. 

 While some players shiver at the thought of experiencing those emotions, critical institutions responsible for determining "good" art, like award shows, tend to ignore them completely. "There's something to be said about how these genre types tend to draw excitement from their audiences, but can be critically undervalued," Nahil and Son M. say. The [record-breaking horror film](https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/obsession-is-breaking-records-and-making-movie-history?ref=aftermath.site) *Obsession*, for example, will run in this year's Golden Globes [as a musical or comedy](https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/obsession-golden-globes-comedy-category-fraud-1236913141/?ref=aftermath.site), because the 82-year-old awards show doesn't have a devoted horror category. 

Other recent horror films like [*Sinners*](https://aftermath.site/grace-sinners/) (which won its "Drama" category at the 2026 Golden Globes, as well as receiving [the most nominations in history from the Academy Awards](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sinners-most-nominated-movie-oscars-history-2026-1236480942/?ref=aftermath.site), and [four wins](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sinners-wins-four-oscars-record-16-nominations-1236533090/?ref=aftermath.site)) received heaps of critical praise, but — as a horror fan — it feels like that was only the case because it was made with palatable historical drama elements by more mainstream, and therefore pre-approved, hands. Director Ryan Coogler has a history with Marvel, and star Michael B. Jordan had never made an all-out horror movie until *Sinners*. 

The same thing happens in games. People still prostrate at the toes of publicly-approved auteur Hideo Kojima, begging him to return to the Silent Hill franchise after the infamous playable teaser *P.T.* ended in nothing but a cancellation. Multiple unique and truly frightening Silent Hill titles have come out since then, including my favorite, flower-filled *Silent Hill f*, and yet fans still [complain in the r/HorrorGaming subreddit,](https://www.reddit.com/r/HorrorGaming/comments/1wyguo4/i%5Flove%5Fthe%5Fnewer%5Fsilent%5Fhill%5Fgamesespecially/?ref=aftermath.site) "There was something truly premium about Kojima's vision which was lost."

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/30/f5/30f5b1bb-84ee-4c26-b446-fb9a5e512994/content/images/2026/10/gravese.jpg)

Grave Seasons

The indie horror genre gets plenty of unexpected wins in multiplayer hits like *R.E.P.O.* or *Lethal Company,* but this has more to do with those games being *multiplayer* than kind of creepy. There is no pure horror equivalent to *Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, for example. 

But, if video games are art – that endless debate that nevertheless fans seem to have reached peace with, if not true consensus on – then more players must have the courage to make themselves terrified. Art reflects life, and life comes with bad memories, vomit, and your face in the dirt. It's where you came from, and avoiding it doesn’t make that reality disappear.

Ryan says, "Artists deal in the soul — the puppeteering of it — and video games are all about puppeteering the player's emotions and experiences." 

"I want you to freak out that that rabbit just came out of that definitely-empty hat. I want you to feel that sense of wonder," says Ryan. It waits for you in horror games, whose splendor arrives in cold blood, goosebumps, and head-to-toe catharsis you can't get through anything else but a long scream. 

"What I want is for people to feel vulnerable, and to confront themselves in those moments of vulnerability," Ryan concludes. "Who do they choose to become in those moments?"

Why not prick your finger on the rose thorn and let yourself find out? It's healthy for you to scream out your unbalanced humours, and good for video games as an institution. To truly live as artists, developers can't be confined to creating what you're used to. For video games to be art, players must welcome even subject matters they find despicable. Or perverse, or haunting. You never know — you might like it.

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