Was there any game in your childhood that sorta creeped you out?

[Eltigro]

I was in my late teens when it came out, but I still found the ReDeads from Ocarina of Time to be creepy as hell.

 

Yeah, that scream thing they do will make the hair on your neck stand up.

[Austin]

When I was a kid I visited a neighbor's house while they were playing Shadowgate for the NES. Things like them falling to their deaths by failing puzzles, or letting the torch run out and having the grim reaper taunt afterwards, scared the shit out of me. Granted, I was probably seven or eight at that point.

[NE146]

I really can't think of any creepy games to me.. although I was a little in shocked at the violence when I first saw the intro screens to "Tecmo Knight" while I was in Australia. But I wasn't really a kid at that point since I was already in college.

[toptenmaterial]

I don't know if it really creaped me out, but the ghost from Spelunker bothered me. It had it's own little theme and ignored wall boundries while steadily moving toward me. Really what bothered me was the 'precision' that the game involved with everything else, and that I pretty much had to stop whatever I was doing and deal with 'just one more thing.'

Indeed. The music would suddenly get all scary too.

 

The scariest game ever for me was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Dark and scary throughout, it still gives me the creeps. The boss fight in the fourth palace scared me the most. The boss music would trigger, but the room was empty and BAM! that evil red ghost would kill you.

 

 

When I was a kid I visited a neighbor's house while they were playing Shadowgate for the NES. Things like them falling to their deaths by failing puzzles, or letting the torch run out and having the grim reaper taunt afterwards, scared the shit out of me. Granted, I was probably seven or eight at that point.

Shadowgate was and is a scary and evil game. The most chilling part for me is the music, and how suddenly it would change from room to room. The scariest parts for me was the room with the wraith (when it says "you're afraid to get near it" and also when the banshee pops out of the coffin. I had that game recently for Game Boy it it still scared me. Another game by the makers of Shadowgate was called The Uninvited, same premise, a huge mansion with options and only the right option will spare you from a horrible death. VERY scary and fucked up game. I played this for the first time as an adult by the way.

Edited June 30, 2011 by toptenmaterial

[Rex Dart]

Oh god. Just remembered two that scarred me well after childhood; Half-Life and American McGee's Alice.

 

Those giant fish.

You can't see them, you don't know where they are or when they'll attack, you're making your way over/through some water and then HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GAPING MOUTH THE SIZE OF A VOLKSWAGEN AND NOW YOU'RE DEAD.

 

****ing terrifying for me.

[Koopa64]

Uninvited is certainly an interesting game. Interesting in how Nintendo approved it. One of the earliest ways to die in the game, opening a door and seeing a lady in a white dress and hat walk out, STILL makes me jump. Seriously, I played the game again and purposely went to that door and talked to the lady. I knew full well what happens and was expecting it, but it still got me.

[SlowCoder]

Oh god. Just remembered two that scarred me well after childhood; Half-Life and American McGee's Alice.

 

Those giant fish.

You can't see them, you don't know where they are or when they'll attack, you're making your way over/through some water and then HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GAPING MOUTH THE SIZE OF A VOLKSWAGEN AND NOW YOU'RE DEAD.

 

****ing terrifying for me.

I think I know the area you're talking about. A small, but deep and murky, cooling pool in a metal room. You have to jump in and swim across. There are two or 3 big shark creatures that move fast. But you can kill them if you're fast enough. That was a pretty scary part.

[toptenmaterial]

Uninvited is certainly an interesting game. Interesting in how Nintendo approved it. One of the earliest ways to die in the game, opening a door and seeing a lady in a white dress and hat walk out, STILL makes me jump. Seriously, I played the game again and purposely went to that door and talked to the lady. I knew full well what happens and was expecting it, but it still got me.

 

Yes, that's what I was thinking of. Really scary. Less scary but still memorable was the part when you can climb down into a bulkhead or something, and the game repeatedly warns you not to because there is a large spider down there. If you persist, you come face to face with a gigantic spider about the size of a car, which then devours you.

 

And yes, it's funny how that one slipped through Nintendo's censors.

[Rex Dart]

Oh god. Just remembered two that scarred me well after childhood; Half-Life and American McGee's Alice.

 

Those giant fish.

You can't see them, you don't know where they are or when they'll attack, you're making your way over/through some water and then HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GAPING MOUTH THE SIZE OF A VOLKSWAGEN AND NOW YOU'RE DEAD.

 

****ing terrifying for me.

I think I know the area you're talking about. A small, but deep and murky, cooling pool in a metal room. You have to jump in and swim across. There are two or 3 big shark creatures that move fast. But you can kill them if you're fast enough. That was a pretty scary part.

 

 

That noise they made....

[Animan]

When I was very little, the "Nightmare Buzz" boss from Toy Story on the SNES used to scare me a little.

 

It's pretty funny, since that level was based on a deleted scene from Toy Story that was deleted because it was considered too scary for children.

 

Most of the things that scared me as a little kid weren't really video game related. The Mutant Enemy Productions logo that said "Grrr! Argh!" scared the hell out of me. Still gives me goosebumps to this day.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Animan

[toptenmaterial]

Certain music is scary. The nighttime music is Simon's Quest is scary, also the Dracula Mansion and name select music. The Level 9 music from Zelda 1 is scary, also the surprise of stumbling into the final dungeon by accident. Shadowgate is filled with scary music. And believe it or not, when my sister and I first bought our NES I thought that the underground music in Super Mario Bros was scary!

[heberts811]

Am I the only one to jump when the alien attacks your spaceship in Rescue on Fractalus?

[malducci]

on Zelda: Link to the Past (my first videogame), the beginning of the game is bright and sorta cheery, but the first time I got to the dark world (I was around 6), it sorta creeped me out. now its dark, and there was one eyed giants, pig people throwing tridents, and big hopping mouths that almost kill you in one hit. And at the time, I didn't have that moon sphere or whatever, and I was stuck as a rabbit in a somewhat scary world.

 

Have you had any video games in your childhood ever creep you out?

 

I had watched Poltergeist premier on HBO back in late '82 (IIRC), it scared the living crap out of me. I had nightmares for days and days (but I loved the movie still!). I was 6 years old, IIRC. When NES came around, no game was ever scary or creepy to me.

 

But one game from the 16bit era had a slightly creepy part - Splatterhouse for the TG16. The game itself wasn't creepy or scary (just great gore infested fun or cheap parts that made you jump. The mirror stage comes to mind), the part where your girl friend is changed into a monster and you have to fight her. That in and of itself wasn't overly creepy, but through out the fight she changes back (like jekyll/Hyde) and begs you to help her (actually plays a digitized sample of "help me" while she pleads with her hands held together). I was shocked when I first saw that and thought it pretty damn demented of the developers to do that (which was awesome!). So it was unsettling but awesome at the same time.

 

As for a game that actually creep'd me out, was Resident Evil 2 for the PS1. Although an adult by then, I would only play this game around midnight (wife and son asleep, all alone to myself) to get the full effect of the game. It's the only game ever to invoke such suspense and constantly being creep'd/freak'd out.

Edited July 1, 2011 by malducci

[toptenmaterial]

on Zelda: Link to the Past (my first videogame), the beginning of the game is bright and sorta cheery, but the first time I got to the dark world (I was around 6), it sorta creeped me out. now its dark, and there was one eyed giants, pig people throwing tridents, and big hopping mouths that almost kill you in one hit. And at the time, I didn't have that moon sphere or whatever, and I was stuck as a rabbit in a somewhat scary world.

 

Have you had any video games in your childhood ever creep you out?

 

I had watched Poltergeist premier on HBO back in late '82 (IIRC), it scared the living crap out of me. I had nightmares for days and days (but I loved the movie still!). I was 6 years old, IIRC. When NES came around, no game was ever scary or creepy to me.

 

What was the scariest part of Poltergeist for you? The part with the tree always scared me the most. I, too, saw it as a little kid.

 

I saw it again a few years ago, and laughed at the beginning scene when the parents are smoking pot together in the bedroom. Didn't pick up on that one as a kid! But I digress...

[Austin]

Since modern games are being thrown into the mix here, DOOM 3 made me wary at parts when I had the lights out and the sound blasting through headphones. Some sections are genuinely creepy, mostly due to the gloomy atmosphere and the wicked sound design. Some sections of F.E.A.R. are creepy as well, but the scares in that are typically done in a manner where you have no control over your character, so the effect is lessened, IMO.

 

The one that has to take the cake though is Clive Barker's Undying. #*%&, if I didn't turn the lights BACK ON while playing it one night, I probably would have wet my pants (or had a heart attack). They NEED to make another one. Of course, that will never happen though..

[toptenmaterial]

Austin, I have never played Undying. However I recently read The Hellbound Heart (Hell Raiser) by him. Excellent book.

[malducci]

on Zelda: Link to the Past (my first videogame), the beginning of the game is bright and sorta cheery, but the first time I got to the dark world (I was around 6), it sorta creeped me out. now its dark, and there was one eyed giants, pig people throwing tridents, and big hopping mouths that almost kill you in one hit. And at the time, I didn't have that moon sphere or whatever, and I was stuck as a rabbit in a somewhat scary world.

 

Have you had any video games in your childhood ever creep you out?

 

I had watched Poltergeist premier on HBO back in late '82 (IIRC), it scared the living crap out of me. I had nightmares for days and days (but I loved the movie still!). I was 6 years old, IIRC. When NES came around, no game was ever scary or creepy to me.

 

What was the scariest part of Poltergeist for you? The part with the tree always scared me the most. I, too, saw it as a little kid.

 

I saw it again a few years ago, and laughed at the beginning scene when the parents are smoking pot together in the bedroom. Didn't pick up on that one as a kid! But I digress...

 

Oh, most definitely the tree scene. The tree slowly eating the kid alive; *nom nom nom nom nom*. I had reoccurring nightmares about that part. To this day, I have a thing about trees eating people alive >_> I remember this one time on LSD in my teenage youth, sitting in front of a tree.... oh wait, this is a video game forum. Nevermind

[Austin]

I don't remember the first Poltergeist very well, but Part II scared the (#*$ out of me and gave me nightmares. I think I first saw it when I was five or six.

[Jifremok]

Shadowgate. I made sure to keep a torch well-lit to avoid the music.

 

Zelda II. Ganon used to scare me. And because that game was hard...

 

Predator 2 on the Genesis. I wasn't familiar with the movies, but that target sight always scared the piss outta me. If three red dots get near me, SPLAT! made for many uneasy nights whenever I saw red.

 

Clock Tower. Scissorman kept me pretty scared, although one particular incident stood out: He chased me like usual, I ran away like usual, I opened up a trapdoor to hide OH SHIT Scissorman jumped out!

 

Resident Evil. Mainly the basement of the mansion, because I thought there was some form of modified zombie in there. Boy did I feel stupid when I realized it was just the music.

[DickNixonArisen]

Eh. Sinistar was the first scary game.

 

BEWARE I LIVE

 

It was pretty much good from that point up until 3d-dungeoncrawlers which had moody music and fantasy monsters around dark corners, moving pretty quick into the early FPS's, notably doom and heretic/hexen, then really amped up with system shock 2 and by then a couple games deep into the RE franchise, when the graphics got clear enough to translate the scary. I can't handle most RE games; too scary. Nothing before that era really does it to me, though. Kefka from ff3/6 was kind of a good scary villain because he was believably crazy, the whole andro-jester thing. He was down with the clown, juggalo-4-life-4-sho. Anyway, games aren't scary because when you have knowledge and power, you aren't afraid. Games can be ghosts in the graveyard all day long, but as long as you know where they pop up and how many hits defeat them, and you have the weapon, they're not scary at all. RE does the job very well with the enemies that attack in different ways, limited ammo/resources, and third/first person tank controls which make you unable to react quickly to threats in 360. It would probably be scary even if it didn't have a horror setting.

[DickNixonArisen]

Also, just to clear things up, nothing about Zelda 2 is really that hard except maybe the last boss (thunderbird, not shadow link). Back in the day, without a map or FAQ, then sure. I beat Zelda 2 whenever I damn well FEEL like it, and I'm no game whizzzzz.

[toptenmaterial]

Also, just to clear things up, nothing about Zelda 2 is really that hard except maybe the last boss (thunderbird, not shadow link). Back in the day, without a map or FAQ, then sure. I beat Zelda 2 whenever I damn well FEEL like it, and I'm no game whizzzzz.

I don't find it overwhelmingly hard either, though it's certainly not easy. As a kid though, before I really understood leveling up, and didn't have the internet, and erased the game every time because I didn't hold reset, then it was hard. Thunderbird is a good and enjoyable boss fight, he was hard at first but I beat his blue ass red every time now. Oddly enough I got killed by Horsehead the other night (?). Churoc, the ghost boss of palace 4 really scared the shit out of me as a kid.

[Reaperman]

I gave up on both Doom and Resident Evil II because of the related stress. I just didn't like the feeling they gave me of wandering around when I'd rather leave(especially in poor lighting). It's not that I couldn't have completed those, it's just that I didn't like anything about the process of doing so--I'm the same way with roller coasters.

 

"What's that noise?"

"We'd better go ahead and check that out."

"No, I'd rather not, and there's no way to progress without doing it, so I'll just stop playing"

 

Rescue on Fractalus got me pretty good the first time too. But since I actually do enjoy the mechanics involved in playing that game, I didn't give up on it.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Reaperman

[Rex Dart]

The Thief games could be pretty creepy. As if it weren't freaky enough to be stalking around somebody's house in the middle of the night, not knowing if a guard might be around the next corner, then you'd have the damn zombies, haunts, and other monsters, and you're incredibly vulnerable...

[DickNixonArisen]

Also, just to clear things up, nothing about Zelda 2 is really that hard except maybe the last boss (thunderbird, not shadow link). Back in the day, without a map or FAQ, then sure. I beat Zelda 2 whenever I damn well FEEL like it, and I'm no game whizzzzz.

I don't find it overwhelmingly hard either, though it's certainly not easy. As a kid though, before I really understood leveling up, and didn't have the internet, and erased the game every time because I didn't hold reset, then it was hard. Thunderbird is a good and enjoyable boss fight, he was hard at first but I beat his blue ass red every time now. Oddly enough I got killed by Horsehead the other night (?). Churoc, the ghost boss of palace 4 really scared the shit out of me as a kid.

 

Loved the feeling of flight from the little boost off the downward thrust attack. Once I get it I pretty much try to kill EVERYTHING with it.