Horror Games

I don't really 'do' horror films, as the vast majority of them I find to be dull, predictable and quite lazy, relying on cheap shock tactics as opposed to creating any sort of atmosphere. I guess they're meant to be enjoyed as fluff, though. The only successful horror films I think I've seen are the first Alien (my favourite 'horror' film), the original Ring, and The Shining (though I'm not sure I would count that myself as a horror film). Particularly Alien I still think is an extraordinary film for many reasons, which I don't want to go into in specific detail just in case I spoil it!

I think actually computer games make for far more successful 'horror' experiences, mainly because you're interacting with your environment, and not just following some whiny sophomore who screams every two seconds at a fleck of dust. I always thought this was a particularly successful scary game:

That's the first screen of Mystery House, the first game from Roberta Williams (most famous for King's Quest). It doesn't look like much (it is 30 years old I guess) but I thought it was highly effective: it was a murder mystery, so you would stumble about and find that the people you started off with would eventually turn up dead, and you were never quite sure if you were next on the cards. Add to that you had this torch which would eventually run out of batteries at some stage, forcing you to clamber through lots of black screens without really knowing what was in store for you, and it all got quite eerie. Not bad for a bit of text and some primitive line drawings.

Shock tactics don't work: as Egg Dragon said people expect them, and they're more titillating than scary - okay when your horror film is meant to be entertaining fluff, but not so good if you're genuinely attempting to disturb your audience. Less is more: of course you need the player's fear to have an object, but the less information given or revealed about that object, the more effective your game will be. You need to be able to create a convincing, immersive atmosphere that completely involves your player, and then start hacking away at that, challenging, testing, perhaps even contradicting your player's conceptions/assumptions - the further in the dark they find themselves, the more lost/disturbed they're likely to be. Speaking of which, for much the same reason a lot of literal dark helps the situation - for some reason even the guinnel at the bottom of my street terrifies me when it's completely dark - it's irrational, i know, but not being physically able to see where youre going does make your mind play tricks on you.

I think videogames are the perfect medium for 'horror' entertainment actually, because there is that extra element of immersion, i.e. being able to interact with the environment around you - in theory you should be in complete control, and so when things start going tits up it gets a little more frightening I should think. I've been playing the original UIncharted game, and the end of that is extremely effective, I think. If you haven't played 5 Days a Stranger and the other games in that series yet, I highly recommend those as effective 'horror games' created on a shoestring budget (they're freeware).