20 Most STRESSFUL Moments in Horror Games

20 Most Stressful Moments in Horror Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re showcasing some of the most stressful moments we’ve experienced throughout Horror video game history. Though as usual, we’re sticking to one entry per franchise to keep things interesting.

Seeing the Slender Man

“Slender: The Eight Pages” (2012)

It may seem a little basic by today’s standards, but Slender Man’s iconicism during a certain era cannot be denied. Walking around a dense, dark forest, with only a flashlight, knowing that this gangly, no-faced stalker hunts you, was an almost universal experience. Legions of players went through this; your flashlight suddenly passing over him, the terror that hits you like a lightning bolt and sends you fleeing the other way. At that point, who cares about collecting those stupid pages, because you have absolutely no defense against him. It’s a testament to the game’s strong atmosphere that it was able to do so much with so little.

Hotel Escape

“Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth” (2005)

“Dark Corners of the Earth” is a bit of a mixed bag due to its troubled development. But there are still some genuine moments of fear and stress. Case in point, when your mentally unwell PI main character is attacked by an angry mob of crazed villagers. It’s not like you have any weapons to defend yourself with. As you make your way through each room of the hotel, you can hear them commentating as they chase you, smashing through doors as they search. The stress is only amplified by you having to very slowly push book cases out of your way to reach other rooms.

The Teacher

“Little Nightmares II” (2021)

“Little Nightmares” is great at tapping into primal, childhood-based fears. Such as, this looming, overbearing Teacher from the second game. Her stretchy neck, which is creepy just in general, and behavior prompts memories of particularly mean teachers you might’ve had as a kid, somehow able to see everything you did. Plus, given the gameplay style of “Little Nightmares,” you get plenty of opportunities to try and sneak past her. By far the most stressful moment comes at the very end, when her neck stretches so she can chase you through a vent.

Scissorman Appears

“Clock Tower” (1995)

In terms of enemies that relentlessly hunt you, we owe a lot to Scissorman. Long before modern survival horror refined its mechanics, “Clock Tower” was doing something genuinely revolutionary — and genuinely terrifying. Throughout “Clock Tower” he pursues poor orphan Jennifer with gigantic, scissors, and tearing through everyone else in his path. All you can do is hide or set traps, while confronting him could spell death. It was an early example of relying on your instincts because encountering him could instantly put you on edge. Early on, it established that sometimes the most stressful thing in a horror game isn't a monster you can fight, but one you simply cannot stop.

Blue Knees

“MADiSON” (2022)

“MADiSON” is a solid evolution of two Horror tropes: being chased by some horrific monster, defensively, and the picture taking mechanic of “Fatal Frame,” a series we’ll get to later. It’s most stressful moment, by far, comes as you encounter a demon named Blue Knees. It attached itself to a children’s book, and haunted your character’s grandmother, draining her sight before killing her. You have a monster with the ability to do that, with black eyes, pale skin, and bloodied sharp teeth, hunting you in dark hallways. You can only defend by flashing your camera, while searching for its real eyes and listening to its creepy theme song. So, yeah, it’s pretty stressful.

The Turn

“Doki Doki Literature Club!” (2017)

Unfortunately, there’s no way to talk about our next entry without spoiling the game’s first major twist. So, viewers beware. The first half of “Doki Doki Literature Club!” is exactly as it appears to be: a cutesy, anime-style high school dating sim. But there’s a now-famous moment where it turns into distinct, fairly unsettling, horror. One of the romanceable options, your best friend Sayori, struggles from Depression. Club President Monika then shows you one of her extremely dark poems, leading you to go check on her. That creeping feeling sets in, even though, surely, the cute dating sim won’t do that…You discover Sayori has hung herself, right before the game does a meta reset. It’s a moment of not only stress, but pure chaos as the rug is pulled from under you. From there, with Sayori literally deleted from the narrative, the second half is certainly more interesting than the first.

The Nursing Home

“Alan Wake 2” (2023)

This particular chapter of “Alan Wake 2” takes a slow burn approach. Even still, there’s bound to be one moment where the stress sets in. Things start off relatively okay, with Saga searching the Valhalla Nursing Home for two residents. But eventually, you have to navigate the area in the dark, with plenty of twitchy, quick-moving enemies to lunge at you while you try to progress. You’re eventually forced into the basement, culminating in a fight against the Taken form of Cynthia Weaver, essentially demonically possessed, flying around the area and screaming at you.

Bear Attack!

“Condemned 2: Bloodshot” (2008)

Let’s break up the psychological horror with a little bit of physical terror. At a certain point in "Condemned 2,” rummaging around a seemingly abandoned building, you become aware you’re trapped with a bear. After witnessing it rip through someone, you then have to find a way out as it chases you. Naturally, you have nothing to defend yourself with as it barrels in your direction. You can only run, and punch it in the face if it gets close enough. Needless to say, it feels good to reach that shotgun.

A Blackout

“Amnesia: The Bunker” (2023)

The “Amnesia” series certainly deserves its flowers. And “The Bunker” reaches peak levels of helplessness against a terrifying foe with one of its key mechanics. As you work towards a way out, the fuel in your generator naturally, gradually decreases. Once it runs out, and with the lights now off, the monster becomes more active. And that’s not helped by the noise of your wind-up flashlight, your one source of light. This is a perfect environment to test how well you can maintain your cool under pressure. You might grow used to dealing with blackouts, or avoiding them, as you go. But those first few hours are nonetheless going to be stressful.

The Crawling Woman

“Fatal Frame III: The Tormented” (2005)

You could argue in favor of multiple ghosts from the “Fatal Frame” series. But the Crawling Woman from the third entry makes a very compelling argument.You encounter her while crawling underground, through a tight space. Already, your alarm bells should be ringing. She doesn’t take long to lurch out of your sideview, taking hold of you to shriek in your face. You can only move slowly down here. Even if you shake her off, she can quickly disappear before you snap a photo of her. You have to be quick and calm to get rid of her.

Alerting a Witch

“Left 4 Dead” Series (2008-09)

The special infected of the “Left 4 Dead” series each bring a different level of stress. We all know the danger of a charging Tank, or the fear of being suddenly yanked away from our companions by a Smoker. But the Witch is a special brand of tension, something that the others simply cannot match. Whenever you hear her weeping, it immediately puts you on edge. It is paramount that you make sure you’re prepared to take her on, or find the quickest path away from her. Once she’s alerted, by either you or a teammate, she sprints towards whoever’s responsible, knocks them to the ground, and begins ripping into them. Only a significant amount of damage will get her to stop, and God help you if there’s a horde or other special infected around when it happens.

Laura

“The Evil Within” (2014)

Of the many twisted foes you’ll find in “The Evil Within,” nothing gets our hearts racing like Laura. As a disturbing manifestation of the horrible fate that befell the main villain’s sister, the developers went all out on making her scare the bejesus out of us. Her ghostlike visage, her multitude of arms that flail about as she chases you, and the fact that she emerges from dead bodies all combine to make one hell of a boss encounter. Bullets don’t work on her, which is super fun to learn the first time. Fire does, thankfully. But that doesn’t change the fact that every second she spends barreling after us is just adding to the nightmare fuel tank.

Marta and the Cart

“Outlast 2” (2017)

No matter who you’re being chased by in the “Outlast” series, be it the brutish Chris Walker in the original game or the unsettling Groom, Eddie Gluskin, in its DLC, you’re going to be stressed out. But we’d like to shine a light on a moment from the second game that managed to trap you with your pursuer. The developers did this with Marta, a ruthless cultist who mumbles insane religious ramblings. At a certain point, you must push a cart to a nearby wall so you can climb over it to escape her. Unfortunately, it isn’t as if she sits idly by and watches you. You make slow progress, fleeing as soon as she gets near to try and hide. As she smashes through the environment, or grabs hold of you if you push the cart for too long, it’s hard not to feel distressed.

Save File Deleted

“Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” (2002)

Anyone who has played this underrated GameCube gem knows that the most unique thing about it, and why it’s so well-remembered even today, is its sanity meter. The lower it gets as you play, the stranger and more disturbing things you’ll encounter. This can take form in a variety of ways; blood dripping down the walls, your character’s head falling off, your volume being lowered or the screen going black as if your TV was turned off. But by far the most stressful of these moments was when the game acted like it was deleting your data while you attempted to save. It’s every gamer’s worst nightmare. And even though we knew how this game liked to mess with us, even if it was only for a split second, all logic went out the window and was replaced by sheer terror.

The Xenomorph’s Entrance

“Alien: Isolation” (2014)

Most players will have slightly different experiences as they progress through “Alien: Isolation.” The Xenomorph’s AI is so strong, it may react differently depending on your playstyle. But we all share that same first moment with the iconic alien. And boy…is it a doozy. As you carry out your task, a vent in front of you suddenly bursts open, giving us our first look at the villain. As we hide, and it prowls around the room with its slithering tail coming far too close to us for comfort, it’s enough to make your body go rigid. For fans of the film series, this moment adapted something we’d seen on screen in such an immersive way. And the game would build on this stress throughout our playthrough.

Eye Surgery

“Dead Space 2” (2011)

It says a lot that one of the most memorable moments from the “Dead Space” series has nothing to do with Necromorphs, who have more disturbing designs than nearly every video game enemy. Towards the end of the second game, Isaac must use a specialized machine to access Marker data stored in his brain. Unfortunately for everyone, the machine uses a giant needle to pierce through his eye. Everything about this scene is a masterclass in tension. Isaac’s increased heart rate as the machine gets closer, and his twitching eyes making it harder for you to line it up. Failure leads to a death most brutal, and something long and sharp sticking into your eye is a universal fear that can stress anyone out.

The Final Encounter

“Until Dawn” (2015)

“Until Dawn” is another game built around stressful moments, like the multitude of well-implemented quicktime decisions that could lead to doom or survival. As you try to keep the cast of characters alive, you uncover a community of thriving Wendigos, who are all too happy to hunt you at any opportunity. This comes to a head during the climax, when the remaining survivors are trapped inside the ski lodge with a group of them. While gas fills the building, you must make all the right decisions, and not move at the proper moments using the controller’s motion sensors, in order to get everyone out alive and blow the Wendigos up. One slight mistake could lead to you losing one or several characters all at once.

The Labyrinth

“Silent Hill 2” (2001)

What’s more stressful than exploring a haunted town with few resources? Being forced to navigate a maze inside of one! The Labyrinth of “Silent Hill 2” is an expression of dread in its purest form. James has to draw a map as he explores, naturally, and it’s really easy to feel like you’re getting trapped in a loop. Of course, there are several disturbing enemies roaming the halls, including good ol’ Pyramid Head, and a boss fight against one of the most unsettling foes to ever grace the series, Abstract Daddy. The 2024 remake expanded on this area with new sections, all of them taking full advantage of the graphical overhaul with visuals that are sure to surprise and disturb.

The Hospital’s Lower Levels

“The Last of Us Part II” (2020)

Any time a game tells you you’ll have to descend into a basement, you know you’re in for a bad time. During Abby’s section, you’re meant to go into the lower levels of a hospital in search of medical supplies. Extremely dim lighting, rooms with Stalkers and Clickers, and some unsettling sounds of something big not too far in the distance set the mood. After finally finding what you need in an ambulance, you’re jumped by the Rat King, a horrific amalgamation of several Infected types, fused together by years of fungal growth. As if the resulting chase wasn’t tense enough, you then have to battle the thing in a tight environment. And about halfway through, one of the Infected rips itself off and begins hunting you while you continue the fight. The anxiety is unbelievable.

House Beneviento

“Resident Evil Village” (2021)

Honestly, you could look at any entry in the “Resident Evil” series and pick a moment that would fit nicely on this list. But today, we’re going with the unholy locale of House Beneviento. Things start off only mildly creepy as you piece together puzzles amidst some unsettling wooden dolls. But things take a turn for the worse when you’re subjected to the effects of hallucinogenic chemicals. You lose access to your weapons during this section. Which is a shame because, rummaging around in the dark, you’ll be met by a gigantic undead baby with the ability to swallow you whole. This creature’s design is a perfect combination of disgusting and terrifying. Having to run and hide from it, while looking for the swiftest exit, is one of the game’s standout, stress-inducing moments.

What’s the most you’ve ever been stressed during a Horror game? Share your experience in the comments, and we’ll see you next time!