Top 10 genuinely scary visual novels

6. Fatal Hearts

This independently developed visual novel from Hanako Games appears innocent enough on the exterior, but cleverly disguises a romantic saga riddled with plenty of ways for the heroine to meet with an early death.

While it's actually a little more depressing than scary, the fact that even one simple wrong move can ensure protagonist Christina doesn't live to see the light of one more day is distressing, heightening the stress level while playing.

7. School Days

To be fair, most of the time you're actually playing School Days is spent shaking your head at main character Makoto's boneheaded decisions. Where the game can absolutely lead to compassionate and warm endings in which all characters are treated respectfully and given a chance to live happily ever after, School Days also plays host to a menagerie of much darker endings, depicting bloody suicides, murders, and other equally disturbing occurrences that will no doubt jar players originally on board for the drama and H-scenes originally advertised.

In a nutshell, when School Days goes south, it goes south — we're talking people get killed, and plenty of them. Play it, and you'll see what we mean.

8. Gore Screaming Show

As if the title weren't a dead giveaway, you're in for some seriously twisted chills with Gore Screaming Show, which centers around a mysterious being known only as a Gore and the cherub-faced little girl he seems to have sworn loyalty to. We won't spoil the specifics of the plot for players who haven't experienced it, but like School Days before it, if you happen to go down the wrong path be prepared to face up to some particularly grisly scenes involving mutilation, nonconsensual sex, and other disturbing depictions of violence that will chill you to the bone.

9. Umineko No Naku Koro Ni

While this is actually the third in the series (also including the aforementioned Higurashi) it rivals Higurashi in terms of sheer creep factor and some particularly decadent scare chords. Not only is its musical direction superb and supremely disconcerting, it also features many grisly murders and head-scratching plot twists that will undoubtedly leave you guessing.

Perhaps one of the most standout moments involves a simple game with a mother and child that involves "playing dead." Are you a fan of candy? You won't be.

10. Imabikisou

One of the first next-gen visual novels available, Imabikisou relies on real actors and actresses as well as real-world situations to prey on its players' imaginations. While there isn't a full English translation yet so as to find out exactly how horrifying the game can get, simply viewing a few trailers and "let's play" videos on YouTube reveals this novel feels much like being stuck in a dark and atmospheric J-horror film like that of The Grudge or The Ring. And if the trailers can scare you out of your wits, imagine what playing the game will actually do.

You needn't look only in the direction of survival horror, first-person shooters, or jump-scare thrill rides to send shivers down your spine. In fact, some of the most terrifying moments you'll have ever faced can be sought out in the place you'd least expect them: visual novels. The unacquainted seem the genre as a repository for saccharine boy-meets-girl-and-date's-girl's-best-friend love triangles or perverted paradises of bunny girls and innocent lolitas, but it's actually rife with satisfying and mature horror stories that deserve far more exposure than they receive in the small communities of visual novel enthusiasts out there.

Next time you're looking fora proper scare, you might consider one of these fantastically creepy tales to get you in the habit of walking down every dark hall in your house with a flashlight.

1. Saya no Uta

Saya no Uta is the ultimate exercise in Lovecraftian horror you can find, save for actually sitting down with some of Lovecraft's works or perhaps playing Call of Cthulhu. Featuring a mindbending dilemma where the protagonist's perception is shifted so that, bizarrely, he only sees grotesque imagery in everyday situations, the novel is disturbing beyond reason in so many aspects. Beautiful women are now foul beasts with meaty appendages reeking of offensive stenches. Delicious food is now rancid and disgusting. Most of all he's no longer able to communicate effectively with the outside world as their words now sound foreign and unwelcoming. He's alone, locked in his own mind in this new world, except for a lone girl who still appears as nubile and human as can be. Why is she unaffected and how will her terrifying secrets affect the protagonist?

Not even a third through the story Saya no Uta kicks over into mindscrew territory with a chilling soundtrack and imagery to complete the package. Equal parts sexual thriller and grotesque imagery, Saya no Uta seeks to crawl directly underneath your skin and make its home there.

2. Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni)

Visual novel veterans and otaku alike share praise with Higurashi, a deceptively demure mystery/horror adventure with chills and thrills aplenty. It begins innocently enough, with a gaggle of adorable, wide-eyed heroines who actually seem quite docile. Things only progress downhill from there in an all-out creepfest complete with adorable little girls stabbing themselves and other, more decidedly adult sequences that involve freakishly long nails, creepily-drawn eyes, and more unsettling motivations than you can shake a stick at.

3. Lux Pain

This hidden DS gem didn't reach the cult status it should have deservedly received, but it was a solid supernatural adventure that relied on eerie visuals, aural cues, and creepy dialogue to weave a horrific tale. As Atsuki Saijo, a member of the FORT organization, you're tasked with tracking down victims of the mental parasite SILENT, which is born in the negative feelings of human beings and can eventually drive them to suicide.

Isolating and destroying a SILENT (or lesser WORM) is a disturbing process in itself, but the accompanying narrative and incidents surroundings that seem a little out of place for an ordinary high school. We dare you to curl up in bed under your blankets to play in the dark. If the typos fail to scare you, the first time you use Sigma will.

4. 999 (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors)

The handheld visual novel struck a chord with players, enough so that a sequel was planned for a US release later in October of this year. The cult hit follows Junpei, a college student who comes home to find his window open and a mysterious figure wearing a gas mask reflected in his now-closed window. He passes out and upon waking can remember only that he was "chosen" to play something known only as the Nonary Game, which ends up quickly conjuring Saw and other familiar horror films, as the Nonary Game finds a group of eight other individuals kidnapped and forced to participate in a mysterious game — if they don't play ball, the bombs inside their bodies will detonate.

While the game's imagery isn't exactly as gruesome as it could be, the devil's in the details, so to speak, with stark explanations and explicit descriptions of violence and particularly grisly deaths. It's hardcore, and not for the faint of heart, but for those of us who absolutely eat this stuff up, 999 is a fantastic and quite frightening choice as far as visual novels go.

5. Divi Dead

This 1998 eroge title deviates quite a bit from the rest of the games on our list in that it's considerably more adult, featuring heaps upon heaps of sexually explicit violent illustrations that may well scar those unaccustomed to the topics discussed within. Players guide Ramaru Hibikiya, a rather sickly child who's grown into an even more invalid adult. He's started a brand new school tough, and he's been sent there on behalf of his uncle, who has asked him to serve as a spy. as he uncovers some particularly spine-tingling information, he's slowly caught up in some rather strange goings-on that begin to put his life in jeopardy once again.

While the game may seem positively benign at times, the real horror stems from the graphic adult situations and the sheer bizarreness of it all, considering the circumstances. A particularly horrible translation doesn't help matters, either.