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00:16Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're letting the hairs on the back of our necks stand upright
00:21because these are the 30 most terrifying moments in horror games. Terror is sometimes subjective
00:26so we've got a good spread of atmospheric scares, context scares and of course jump scares. Let's go.
00:32Before we continue we publish content all week long so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to
00:38get notified of our latest videos. Spotting Slenderman, Slender the 8 Pages.
00:54When it comes to stripped down terror few games keep things as bare bones as the 2012 indie
01:00nightmare known as Slender the 8 Pages. The whole experience is basically you, a flashlight and a
01:06forest. It's so dark it makes your electricity bill cry. As you wander around collecting pages like a
01:11very stressed librarian, a tall ghostly stick man stalks you, getting closer each time you dare to
01:16blink. And no matter how brave you think you are, the moment your flashlight sweeps across the trees
01:21and lands on his faceless mug, you instantly transform into a shrieking oversized toddler
01:25who deeply regrets going outside.
01:39The Nightmare Alley Silent Hill
01:45The opening moments of Silent Hill are basically a tension tutorial disguised as a video game. The town
01:51throws a fog blanket over everything so thick you'd think the weather system was conspiring against
01:55you and the only sounds are a creepy electronic hum and Harry Mason's footsteps which suddenly seem
02:01way too loud, like he's trying to get himself noticed by monsters. When Harry follows a mysterious
02:06figure into an alley, the camera decides it's time to audition for a horror film swooping low and rising
02:11slowly as if something unseen is filming you for fun. Then the world casually falls apart, daylight vanishes,
02:17walls turn into rusty blood-caked metal, and mutilated bodies decorate the path like the worst home
02:23renovation project ever. A siren howls in the distance, because of course it does, and knife-wielding
02:28nightmares shuffle in to say hello. Suddenly, those infamously clunky controls feel intentional. And this
02:34is just the first five minutes. Fun fact, this was the demo for the game that came with MGS1, and
02:39I played
02:39it at my friend's ninth birthday party when he asked me not to, he got so scared he cried, and
02:43his parents sent me home.
02:52The Marguerite fight, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.
03:01The Marguerite bug fight from Resident Evil 7 hits a very specific kind of horror, the absolutely not
03:07okay kind. First, Marguerite herself looks like she crawled out of a swamp, a nightmare, and a beehive
03:12simultaneously. By the time the fight begins, she's mutilated into a lanky, screeching insect
03:16queen, whose limbs stretch in ways that violate several laws of biology. The arena doesn't help
03:20either, a rotting greenhouse filled with more bugs than a Bethesda launch day. She scuttles across
03:25walls, drops in from above, and unleashes swarms of insects that attack you faster than you can
03:30scream NOPE. Her jump scares are brutal, because she can pop up anywhere, at any angle, like a horrifying
03:35jack-in-the-box, and her creepy voice, her unpredictable movements, and the constant buzzing of insects,
03:41your brain just decides it's time to panic.
03:53Vast Zombies in Ravenholm Half-Life 2
04:06One thing the Half-Life series always nails is the dramatic entrance of new threats,
04:10and Half-Life 2 saves one of its most memorable reveals for the nightmare neighbourhood known as
04:15Ravenholm. While you're perched on a rooftop, waiting for the world's slowest elevator,
04:19seriously, why so slow, a distant blood-curdling howl echoes through the fog. Valve clearly looked
04:24at that moment and decided, yep, this is the time to emotionally damage the player. Get ready for the
04:29classic fast zombie. These creatures aren't just terrifying to look at, they move with the frantic
04:34energy of someone who drank 12 espressos, then set themselves on fire. Gone are the predictable
04:38shambles you've gotten used to. These monsters sprint, leap, and screech as they scale pipes and
04:43walls like they're auditioning for Undead Parkour. With the rooftop shaking, the pipes rattling,
04:48and those grotesque throat noises approaching you at Mach 5, the elevator feels less like Salvation,
04:53and more like an overdue Amazon package.
05:01Battling your first ghost, Fatal Frame.
05:11Released right in the middle of the world's obsession with Japanese ghost films, Project Zero,
05:16also known as Fatal Frame, decides to ask the important question, what if you explored a haunted
05:20mansion armed with a camera? Okay, maybe not so important. No swords, no guns, just a haunted
05:25Nikon and a prayer. At first, the game plays coy, letting you spot ghosts drifting past doorways or
05:30chilling creepily in far-off shadows like they're waiting for their Uber, but eventually one of these
05:34spirits lunges straight at you, filling the screen with the kind of face that causes involuntary life
05:40re-evaluation. The scare is so intense that countless players reportedly paused the game, stood up,
05:45and noped their way directly out of the experience. Some even claim they removed the disc and hid it
05:49somewhere safe, like under a pillow, or in a locked drawer, or out the window.
06:08Being caught by a witch, Granny's Garden.
06:16On paper, this classic BBC micro title was supposed to be an educational puzzle adventure. You know,
06:22the kind teachers recommend while pretending it wasn't secretly fun. Players wandered through a
06:27hidden kingdom to rescue a royal couple from an evil witch, solving wholesome puzzles along the way.
06:32Sounds harmless, right? And then you fail. And if you fail, the witch catches you, and the game
06:37unleashes a failure screen so traumatizing it practically became a rite of passage for early
06:43home computer kits. Her cackling laugh echoes, she banishes you with zero sympathy, and suddenly
06:49this educational adventure feels more like a surprise horror module. Many veteran players
06:53still remember it vividly, mostly because it refuses to leave their nightmares.
06:57It was actually banned in many schools, as 80s kids were apparently massive b****s.
07:14The Licker
07:14Meeting The Licker
07:15Resident Evil 2
07:27Your first run in with a Licker in Resident Evil 2 is basically the game's way of saying,
07:32welcome to the police station, abandon hope. The warning signs start early, you stumble across a
07:37headless corpse, and the game cheerfully informs you the poor guy's skull has been twisted off like a
07:41bottle cap. Fantastic. Nothing ominous about that at all. Then comes the iconic cutscene. The camera
07:47tilts up and there it is, a liquor clinging to the ceiling like the world's ugliest chandelier.
07:52All exposed brain matter, oversized tongue, and dental nightmares.
07:56That alone is enough to ruin your afternoon, but the real terror begins when it drops down and decides
08:01you're today's special. And what do you have? A fixed camera angle that hates you, 10 bullets,
08:05and the dawning realization that you're absolutely not ready for this. It's pure nightmare fuel.
08:10And that's before it even moves.
08:16The lecture building, Bloodborne.
08:23Trying to pinpoint the scariest moment in Bloodborne is like trying to choose
08:26which nightmare you'd like to relive. The game is basically a guided tour of cosmic dread
08:30curated by FromSoftware. You've got the Cleric Beast screaming like it's auditioning for a metal band.
08:35You've got Old Yharnam, a gothic ruin scrawled with shambling townsfolk who clearly didn't get
08:40the memo about personal space. Then there's the Witches of Hemwick, which look exactly how they
08:45sound. Spoiler, not good. And let's not forget the late game pregnancy-themed body horror,
08:50which makes many players reconsider having a family ever again. But the moment that truly sticks with
08:54people is entering the lecture building. It's strangely silent, creepily calm until you notice shadowy
09:02shapes slumped in classroom seats. Then you get close, see their faces,
09:05and instantly wish you dropped out of this terrifying college.
09:14Yuri's Final Confession Doki Doki Literature Club
09:26On the surface, Doki Doki looks like your standard anime-style high school dating sim. Cute girls,
09:32poetry, and enough pink to cause retinal damage. But then the game pulls the rug so hard you end up
09:37in
09:37another dimension. What begins as light-hearted flirting slowly mutates into a horrifying cocktail
09:42of fourth-wall-breaking mind games and psychological torment, making players realize far too late that
09:47this club should have come with a therapist. Among all its disturbing twists, Yuri's so-called
09:52confession easily ranks as the most haunting. When the story spirals into full madness, she asks you to
09:58hear her confession. And no matter what answer you give, polite, rude, or screaming internally,
10:02the outcome is the same. She abruptly kills herself. The game then locks your camera onto her body,
10:08trapping you there like a horrified audience member who can't leave the world's worst performance.
10:12Cute dating sim, they said. It'll be fun, they said.
10:19Scissor Man's shocking appearance, Clock Tower
10:30Long before survival horror became mainstream, Japan quietly unleashed Clock Tower on the Super
10:36Nintendo a year before Resident Evil turned the genre into a global panic generator. Despite its
10:41humble 16-bit home, the game delivered tension so intense it could make your controller sweat. The
10:46terror centers around Scissor Man, a deranged child armed with a gigantic pair of shears and the
10:52world's worst sense of boundaries. His favorite hobby? Jumping out of protagonist Jennifer at the
10:56exact moment your pulse finally starts to relax. The game's jump scares are legendary, but one in
11:01particular traumatizes players for life. After a girl tragically drowns in a pool, everything goes
11:05quiet. Until Scissor Man rockets out of the water like a homicidal dolphin with scissors. It's one of those
11:11moments where you don't just jump, you achieve temporary levitation.
11:20The Mirror Circle Visage
11:28My only goal in life is to make sure everyone learns that Visage is not only one of the best
11:32horror games of the last decade, but one of the best horror games of all time. There are only about
11:371000 moments we could pick from this game for this list, but we're going with the Mirror Circle.
11:41The Mirror Circle is terrifying because it combines psychological dread with unpredictability. As
11:46players enter the dark room, they find a circle of mirrors facing outward, each reflecting the dark
11:51space behind the player that they can't see. The uncertainty of whether what you see in the mirror is
11:56what actually is behind you is what keeps you on your toes right up until the perfect jump scare that
12:01reveals itself a beat after the moment you think it would happen, making it land perfectly for 95% of
12:07players.
12:09The Bear Attack
12:10The Bear Attack sequence in Condemned 2 Bloodshot is terrifying because it suddenly shifts the game
12:22from psychological horror to intense physical danger, something that players feel ill-equipped for. The
12:28player is forced into a cramped environment where the bear's massive relentless attacks create a sense of
12:33helplessness. Its unpredictable movements and deafening roars make you feel like you are way out of your
12:38depth. The claustrophobic setting amplifies the tension and there's no room to maneuver or escape.
12:44Raw power against total vulnerability is the perfect combination for fear.
12:58Fort Frolic Splicers Bioshock
13:12Splicers are the main enemies of Bioshock with many variations of them spread across the game, but in Fort Frolic
13:18players get the wonderful opportunity to come face to face with Plaster Splicers, who are essentially
13:22Splicers covered in plaster. Are they alive? Are they going to move? Are they strong? All of these
13:27questions and more are answered at the perfect moments in Fort Frolic, and it certainly causes some big
13:32scares.
13:44Deleting all your saves, Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem
13:50Eternal Darkness's ingenious use of the sanity meter that triggers hallucinations is one of the most
13:55impactful mechanics in horror gaming history. Yet this brilliant concept reaches its peak when one of the
14:00games' sanity-induced freakouts makes you believe your save files are being deleted. Even when you're
14:06aware that the game will mess with you in these ways, nothing prepares you for the true meta-terror
14:10of thinking all of your progress has vanished. It's a perfect embodiment of a fear that every gamer
14:15from a certain era has experienced, making it a masterclass in psychological horror. This movement was
14:20only matched by my brothers saving over my Final Fantasy X save. Not a horror game, but truly terrifying
14:33regardless.
14:43Laura The Evil Within
14:49The Evil Within is a chilling game overall, but nothing in its early moments quite compares
14:54to the terror of encountering Laura, a grotesque, spider-like creature with a human face that bursts
15:00from the floor to give you a greeting you never asked for. It's the brutal, sudden nature of Laura's
15:05appearance that makes this moment unforgettable. The game doesn't allow any time to process the horrifying
15:09sight before forcing you to flee from the creature, whose spine-chilling scream echoes through the room,
15:15taking you to your core.
15:28The Rat King The Last of Us Part 2
15:46The Last of Us doesn't always get the recognition it deserves for its effective use of horror,
15:50but the series' most terrifying moments come when you have to put those goddamn gas masks on,
15:55and the worst of these moments comes in The Last of Us Part 2 during a confrontation with the
15:59almost indescribable monstrosity known as the Rat King. This grotesque mutated creature is so unlike
16:06anything players have encountered in the game up until this point, and no amount of foreshadowing can truly
16:10prepare you for the horrific reveal. You know you're at ground zero, you know that the infected here have
16:15had the most amount of time to grow, and yet this moment and its full-on 90s gore-out horror
16:20style
16:20is shockingly unexpected.
16:29The Child's Room Layers of Fear
16:40Just when you think you've seen it all in Layers of Fear, you'll find yourself in a child's room,
16:45where a music box casts innocent illustrations on the walls. The moment you interact with the music
16:51box, you are thrust into what can only be described as a descent into hell, where each rotation leaves
16:56you dreading what's next. While the scene itself is undeniably eerie, what truly sets it apart is how
17:01seamlessly it ties into the game's lore, making you feel exactly like the protagonist, helpless and
17:06trapped, forced to navigate a nightmarish journey through your deepest fears.
17:32The Wendigo's First Appearance Until Dawn
17:40One of the scariest moments of Until Dawn comes when the Wendigo is first revealed and interacted with.
17:46This isn't the first time they're heard, and definitely not the first trace of them,
17:50but it is the first time you see them clear as day, and use the infamous don't move mechanic against
17:55them, training you for the final moments of the game.
18:12The Ladder, Fear
18:222005's Fear masterfully combines innovative FPS mechanics with the jump scare horror that was
18:27popular in films at the time. This blend reaches its peak in a memorable moment when you initiate
18:33a climbing the ladder sequence, only to be startled by Alma, the game's unsettling child, standing
18:38directly in front of you. What makes this scare so effective is how it completely disrupts the
18:43player's control and perspective, forcing you to surrender to the game. It's a rare,
18:47unavoidable scare that leaves a lasting impact, making you question your trust in FPS games from
18:52that point forward. Look, I just got your email. I wish I could give you some more background on this,
18:57but it's strictly need to know. Hell, I don't even know what all this is for. For now, look,
19:02just focus on the specific contaminants in the task summary. The Noontech Diagnostic Machine Dead Space 2.
19:08Just like Straw said, I remember this. The machine activates the parts of our brain where the marker
19:15codes are stored. But how does that threaten the marker? What were they afraid of? Considering how
19:22terrifying the first two Dead Space games are, it speaks volumes that fans generally agree
19:26the Noontech Diagnostic Machine sequence is the franchise's most unforgettable moment. After all,
19:32how else can you describe a scene where you're forced to carefully insert a massive needle into your
19:37character's eye? Eye trauma has been a chilling horror device since the genre's early days, and Dead Space
19:422 takes this fear to the next level by making you the one to perform the gruesome act. Even the
19:47developers themselves questioned if this moment was pushing the limits too far. I for one sweated
19:52through my PS3 controller. And my spare PS3 controller. Running from Mr. X Resident Evil 2.
20:16There have been many memorable stalker moments in gaming, but few can rival the pure terror of
20:21encountering Mr. X in Capcom's masterful Resident Evil 2 remake. We knew Mr. X was probably coming,
20:28but we didn't expect him to come with such force. That didn't sound right. The most effective slashes
20:33and stalkers make you feel like escape is hopeless, and Mr. X nails that feeling perfectly. The initial
20:38oh no moment when you first spot him is only surpassed by the chilling realisation that outrunning him
20:43will be just as hard as you dreaded. Nobody will ever forget the sound of Mr. X's feet thudding
20:48through the halls of the police station.
20:56The Mirror Silent Hill 3
21:01Silent Hill 3 offers a terrifying and quiet moment, perfectly representing what makes the series so
21:06solid. You enter a grimy room and face a mirror. Suddenly, the nearby basin begins to bleed, but as
21:12the blood in the reflection and the room start acting differently, unease starts to set in. The blood
21:17spreads across the walls and the floors, and you begin to panic, wondering what's happening and
21:21how you'll escape this now locked room. The scene is frightening on its own, but when you realise the
21:26blood is the real threat and you need to escape, the pressure truly builds. The visual scares become
21:31the threat, and that's when horror is at its peak. The Falling Woman Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterfly
21:51Fatal Frame is a terrifying series. The mechanics offer so many choices for pure terror, but The
21:56Falling Woman from Fatal Frame 2 stands out as one of the series' finest moments of terror. The
22:02Falling Woman is a tragic figure who seems to have taken her own life, now cursed to endlessly relive her
22:07death. Her tortured spirit manifests in a grotesque form, chasing you across the room. Much like the
22:13pyramid head sequence, it's the blend of visual horror and emotional unease that makes this moment
22:18unforgettable. Everything about it feels wrong, it feels off, it feels so uneasy, and it leaves you
22:24not exactly knowing what to expect. The Flooded Room Amnesia The Dark Descent
22:37It's no exaggeration to say that Amnesia revolutionised the horror gaming genre, and its
22:42most iconic moment has to be this heart-stopping sequence where you must navigate a flooded hallway
22:47with an invisible monster lurking. On a purely conceptual level, this moment is terrifying, but
22:52what makes it worse is how it doubles as a complex physics puzzle, making the already nerve-wracking
22:58situation even more intense, if you can believe it. Are you brave enough to take the leap into the
23:02possible path, hoping to spot its movements in time? Amnesia demonstrates that the future of horror
23:08would make you feel like you're truly in the heart of terror, and without resources.
23:26Pyramid Heads Introduction Silent Hill 2
23:38The classic what the hell is that moment has long been one of the most effective scares in horror,
23:43and few video game moments have done it better than Silent Hill 2, which lands more in the category of
23:47what the f*** is that? In this unforgettable scene, we walk into a room to witness the creature known as
23:53Pyramid Head brutally assaulting mannequin-like figures. While the visual shock alone is enough to
23:58unsettle you, it's what this moment signifies within Silent Hill 2's warped narrative that makes it
24:03truly unforgettable. It's also yucky, yuck, yuck, and terrifying to boot.
24:22Dog Scare Resident Evil
24:27There was a brief moment of debate on whether to include this jump scare, as today its original impact
24:33is fairly watered down, but we also have to account for historical impact, and the moment when the camera
24:38shifts in that infamous Resident Evil hallway just as a dog leaps through the window is a truly
24:43masterful scare. At the time, it was a masterclass in terror for other horror devs. It terrified an
24:49entire generation of gamers still adjusting to the idea that games could be this scary, and as rare as
24:54it is, if someone played this blind today, it would still work.
25:03Encountering the Xenomorph Alien Isolation
25:10Ridley Scott's 1979 Alien is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made. The
25:15developers of Alien Isolation perfectly capture the film's tense atmosphere and terror, primarily due to
25:22the Xenomorph's exceptional AI, and this game needs to re-enter the gaming zeitgeist now. While each
25:27player's experience will differ depending on how often the Xenomorph catches them, everyone shares
25:32the same initial encounter. When the terrifying extraterrestrial emerges from the event and lands in
25:37front of you, it marks the beginning of a terrifying chase, and avoiding the Xenomorph is as terrifying
25:43as it gets. This game needs another round of love, let's just spread it to the world.
26:06The Groom Outlast Whistleblower
26:09The Groom Outlast Whistleblower
26:21Okay, I'm trying to keep this light, but the Groom from Outlast Whistleblower makes it really,
26:26really difficult. The Groom has an obsessive desire to find a bride, but being surrounded only by men
26:32leads him to horrifying extremes. His victims are subjected to unspeakable procedures in his twisted
26:38attempt to create the perfect partner. While I'm not usually a fan of horror that leans heavily into
26:43shock and gore for its own sake, this sequence pushes those boundaries further than any game I've
26:48experienced. It throws you into an absolute nightmare and forces you to helplessly wonder
26:53just how much worse things will get, and it's this disconnect from reality that makes your encounter
26:58with the Groom one of the most terrifying moments in the whole series.
27:15The Baby Chase Resident Evil Village
27:30Nobody can land on what the hell is in the basement of House Beneviento. People call it
27:35the baby, but I've always referred to it as the giant fetus, which I believe is way more accurate.
27:40From its eerie, wailing cries to its bloated, nightmarish form, and the horrifying way it
27:46consumes anyone unfortunate enough to get caught, everything about it is pure terror. What makes
27:52this thing even worse is the complete lack of explanation for its existence. Donna Beneviento
27:57specializes in illusions, yet this monstrosity is somehow real because it can properly take you down.
28:15Lisa and the hallway, P.T.
28:23Choosing the single scariest moment from P.T. is nearly impossible, but Lisa's first appearance in
28:29the hallway is a strong contender. The sheer side of her looming figure is enough to send chills down
28:35your spine, but it's the context that makes it just that extra bit terrifying. As one of the game's
28:40earliest scares, it instantly establishes that you're trapped in something far more horrifying
28:45than you've ever experienced, and it was one of the first PS4 games. New generation, new scares.
28:51P.T. is often considered one of the scariest games ever made, and this moment, this
28:55single image of Lisa staring you down is probably more famous than the game itself.
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