If you ask people "What do you think is the scariest game ever made?", you'll probably get mixed results, probably consisting of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or another popular horror series. Now, while those games aren't bad in any way, they just don't pack enough fear in them for me to consider them horrifying. This list will tell you the games you truly need to play if you want to be able to stay up late at night, staring at your closet just like you probably did many years ago.

This game drops you from a plane into the ocean, where you find yourself in Rapture. You're all alone, except for the radio, which Atlas, your partner you meet during your stay in Rapture, contacts you through - alone, that is, except for the citizens of Rapture, who have distorted their minds and bodies using a genetic mutation called ADAM. The game presents itself as a 80's city (but underwater), although no matter where you are, something just seems wrong about the whole city. Things are trashed, blood is spilled everywhere, and everything is in utter disarray. This "last man on earth"-esque feeling is definitely creepy enough to warrant being on the list.

This game makes the list simply because of its most well-known element: the Sanity Meter. What's the Sanity Meter, you ask? It's a little green bar on the screen, that goes up as your character sees things that are scary. When it gets near the top, the games starts messing with you, sending you false messages, like "No Controller in Port 1", or simply making it appear as if the game has restarted. This brings the game into a new level of scariness - Is it a real problem, or is it just the game making you think it is?

What can I say? This was one of the fathers of modern survival horror. You take the role of either male protagonist Edward Carnby, or female protagonist Emily Hartwood, and are sent into a mansion. From there, you face all sorts of monsters; many of which are from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which the game is heavily based off of. The entire game gives off a significantly scary atmosphere - you always turn corridors carefully, hoping that a monster isn't waiting for you on the other side.

The sequel to Silent Hill (as if you didn't know that, though.), this game is widely considered to be one of the scariest PS2 games available - not just because of the grotesque, nasty enemies, but because of the twist at the end that completely changes your view of the main character. Learning the main character's true story was a chilling moment that most Silent Hill fans will remember.

Spiders, dogs, and worms have never been this scary. Penumbra: Overture (Part one in a trilogy) places you in the role of Phillip, who finds himself in Greenland in a search for his father. Along the way he finds an underground passage, and that marks his venture into horror. The thing about this game is that, although you are fighting things you probably wouldn't be very afraid of, the fact that you don't have a real weapon, forcing you to use rocks and other random objects as weapons makes the combat in this game rather frightening.

Although Alone in the Dark was the true father of modern survival horror games, many consider Resident Evil to be the true father. Set inside a different mansion, this game primarily features zombies, instead of Alone In the Dark's large variety of creatures. However, this game still has its moments - the first time a zombie dog bursts through a window to attack you is widely considered one of the most iconic moments in horror gaming.

Fatal Frame features a young girl with a camera. However, this camera isn't ordinary - it has the ability to photograph (and kill) ghosts. The problem is that you can't see the ghosts without the camera - only sense them. This leads to moments where you sense a ghost, and whip out your camera, only to find yourself staring directly into the dead eyes of a ghost. These moments are enough to warrant a #4 in this list.

This game is just plain scary. The commercial for it was even banned from Japanese televisions. The game mostly features near-unkillable demonic humans, whom you must sneak past in order to survive. The horror that fills you when you hear one of the enemies call out for the rest of them, signalling that they've found you is why this game gets placed at #3.

Indeed, another game you probably haven't heard of. This game is the sequel to Penumbra: Overture, and is definitely scarier than it. While the first game featured wolves, spiders, and giant worms as your primary enemy, this game brings zombies into the mix(well, they can't really be called zombies, as they possess the intelligence to use objects such as flashlights). These zombies not only look nasty, but they <I>are</I> nasty. These guys take your health so fast that you'll be looking for a safe hiding spot the moment you hear one of them creeping down the halls.

Finally at #1, yet another game that you probably haven't heard of. The sad fact is that the Cthulhu Mythos isn't very popular, and therefore this game slipped under the radar of most gamers. This gem has some of the most tense running, hiding and sneaking scenes you will ever play - even when you have weapons, you find yourself continuing to sneak past enemies instead of taking them on. The creatures you find throughout the game are all rather eerie, but the true scares come from the Sanity Effects, as well as the overall tense atmosphere of the game. If you're looking for horror and a good story, this should be your first stop.

So, there you have it: the Top Ten Scariest Games. So what are you waiting for? Wrap up in a blanket, maybe turn out the lights (<I>maybe.</I>), and experience true horror.

List by jocosity