In horror games, it’s easy to get scared since that’s what they are meant to do. But what if the scares comes from a game where you didn’t expect? These games prove that horror can be in any genre and can scare the crap out of you when you least expect it.

5 – The Winterlodge in Fable 2 (2008)
Fable 2 is an adventure game that makes you either the hero or villain depending on your choices. So the looting of houses shouldn’t scare you, right? Well, when your character decided to loot the seemingly lively Winterlodge, the lodge decides to shed its cozy exterior to show that it used to be a torture house. It’s a quick and effective scare!

4 – Dead Hand in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
The Legend of Zelda series has a lot of cutesy characters and a childlike wonder when it comes to viewing its world. But sometimes you’ll find an enemy that you didn’t expect to give you nightmare fuel! Dead Hand comes out of nowhere when you walk into a room and you find yourself to locked in with this infinite hand freak.

3 – The fight against Giygas in Earthbound (1995)
Earthbound is my favorite RPG of all time. It had a very unique story and kid-friendly enemy types like “Cranky Lady” and “Criminal Caterpillar”. But laying in wait was a terrifying boss battle, The Giygas! This nightmare driven boss battle made this E for everyone game into an E for eternal death when it scared you with the visual flashes of deep reds and the sounds of death claiming you HP.

2 – The Morgue Scene in Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
When you’re playing a Batman game, you sometimes forget that there are some truly horrifying characters in his massive rogue’s gallery. For example, in Arkham Asylum, you meet up with The Scarecrow and his toxin! This sends you into a nightmare where Batman is losing grip on reality, showing him failing his partner, Jim Gordon, and his dead parents blaming him for there death.

1 – Max Payne’s Hallucination in Max Payne (2001)
Rockstar Games “Max Payne” was a true pioneer for its time when it came to action games. When playing this intense shooter, we dive into Payne’s trauma of losing his wife and child during this terrifying sequence. From running down a never-ending hallways, hearing your wife and child screaming, to following a trail of blood, it ends with you knowing that you couldn’t do anything to save them is a truly scary moment.

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