Our top 5 scariest gaming experiences of all-time

I scare easily in movies and video games. Part of me likes to be scared — I like the feeling of it. The other part of me is screaming, “why are you doing this?!” I’ve played a fair amount of scary video games in my time, so I’ve seen plenty of jump scares. While startling, I don’t consider jump scares all that scary. You know what is scary, though? These five gaming scenes, which are among the scariest I’ve ever played.

Resident Evil – Hallway with the dogs

This is the one exception to the jump scare rule. If anyone tells you that the dogs jumping through the window didn’t scare them or they knew it was coming, they’re lying. The first time it happened on the PlayStation I said a curse word I shouldn’t have said at that age, panicked for a second or two, and then proceeded to waste all of my ammo on those dogs. When the GameCube remake came out, the dogs didn’t jump through the window. So imagine how scared I was when they did later on in the game. The same hallway with the dogs got me twice.

Dead Space 2 – Eye Needle

I have this little fear of sharp objects touching my eyeballs. Not even just sharp objects. I don’t want fingers touching them either. I don’t want anything near my eyeballs. Now, I didn’t actually play Dead Space 2, but I watched a colleage play and beat it. And I witnessed the needle in the eyeball scene. I did not like it. I hated it. It’s my exact fear in a video game, and the player is at the helm. That’s even more terrifying.

BioShock – Baby and Mommy or Dentist

BioShock is one of my favorite games of all-time. While the entire game itself isn’t necessarily scary, there are two scenes in particular that I consider among the scariest of all-time. The first is the Splicer mommy singing a twisted, creepy lullaby to her baby stroller, which holds a revolver. First you just see her shadow, then you see her upon turning the corner. The second is the Dentist. You’re going about your business, find a tonic on the desk, equip it, turn around, and HOLY CRAP THERE’S THE DENTIST RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Yeah, that’s not going help anyone’s fear of the dentist.

Condemned – Mannequin

F*ck mannequins. As if Condemned wasn’t scary enough, mannequins.

P.T. (Silent Hills) – The whole freaking thing

I can say that P.T. (the playable teaser for Silent Hills) is the most uneasy and disturbed I’ve ever been playing a video game. If it’s any indication of how scary Silent Hills will be, then we’re in for a nightmare/treat. The imagery, concept, sounds and pretty much everything about P.T. scared me. So yeah, this is the scariest almost-game I’ve ever played.