Popular horror games on PC
You don’t have to wait for Halloween for screams and terror to reign the night. These days, there are many ways to enjoy the horror genre, including PC games that might just have you flinging your mouse across the room.
As players are in control of the characters’ movements and their decisions, horror games are just as fun – if not more immersive – than watching a film. If you agree with this sentiment, here are 10 popular horror games to play on PC.
Table of Contents
- Popular horror games on PC
- 1. Silent Hill f (2025)
- 2. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
- 3. Alien Isolation (2014)
- 4. Amnesia: The Bunker (2023)
- 5. Dead Space (2023)
- 6. Silent Hill 2 (2024)
- 7. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
- 8. The Evil Within (2014)
- 9. The Mortuary Assistant (2022)
- 10. Alan Wake 2 (2023)
- Popular horror games to get yourself spooked
1. Silent Hill f (2025)
Japanese horror meets Silent Hill
Image credit: Konami
Society is full of rules and conformities, each person being tasked with responsibilities laid out in front of them without their consent. Now imagine if you had your entire future set in stone, with no consideration for your desires–that is what Silent Hill f’s main character, Hinako Shimizu, has to face.
The Silent Hill franchise is known for its foggy locales, otherworldly settings, and its twisted portrayal of psychological horror. Taking a turn towards the far east, Taiwanese game developer NeoBards Entertainment decided to set Silent Hill f in the fictional rural town of Ebisugaoka, Japan, instead of North America, where previous titles were set.
Image credit: Konami
With a whole new setting, the game embeds Japanese folklore with psychological horror that manifests from Hinako’s inner conflict with her societal role as a wife in an upcoming arranged marriage.
In typical Silent Hill fashion, her fears for her future are manifested into a multitude of grotesque monsters that roam around the fog-covered town of Ebisugaoka.
The town’s labyrinthine alleys and winding narrow roads are likely to arouse feelings of claustrophobia. Coupled with a limited choice of weapons and items to protect themselves, players are likely to feel the stress and the dread as they play as Hinako.
Where to download: Steam (RM277) | Epic Games (RM277)
2. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
Survive a zombie outbreak & uncover the truth behind it
Image credit: Resident Evil Fandom
It’s your first day on the job as a rookie cop, and you’re already fighting off hordes of zombies and even discovering the truth behind the zombie outbreak. This can only be Leon S. Kennedy, one of the main characters of Resident Evil 2 (2019), part of another popular horror franchise that most people might have heard of before: Resident Evil.
Capcom, the game’s developer, decided to remake this 1998 survival horror classic. The game takes place in the United States in fictional Raccoon City, where a zombie outbreak has occurred.
Image credits: PC Gamer
The game’s main characters, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, find themselves entering the city to find out the cause of the outbreak. While the characters are equipped with firearms, there is limited ammunition and items to manage, leaving players stressed while zombie hordes are chasing the characters down.
The 2019 remake features a complete graphical and audio facelift from its pixelated counterpart. The zombified creatures that overrun Raccoon City give players a sense of looming danger that always lurks behind walls.
Where to download: Steam (RM135.90)
3. Alien Isolation (2014)
A sequel to the 1997 Alien film
Image credit: PC Gamer
Set in the sci-fi Alien franchise, the series needs barely any introduction, with the intimidating Xenomorphs at the forefront.
The game follows the 1979 film, Alien, fifteen years later, with Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley. She travels to a remote space station to find answers regarding her mother’s mysterious disappearance.
Image credits: Sega
While trying to navigate a damaged space station, Amanda finds that someone or something has killed off the people inhabiting it. With narrow corridors and dark corners, a sense of imminent danger is never far as terrifying Xenomorphs crawl their way through the vents within the station.
To add to the tension, Amanda is equipped with a limited arsenal – just a motion detector and a handful of flares – most of the time. This leaves the players fairly vulnerable to imposing Xenomorphs.
Not to mention, the developers have made strides in the game’s audiovisual aspect, making the Xenomorph incredibly sensitive to movement and sound. Players will have to choose carefully to best avoid the lurking creatures.
Where to download: Steam (RM150) | Epic Games (RM150)
4. Amnesia: The Bunker (2023)
Escape the horrors lurking in a war bunker
Image credits: PC Gamer
The fourth installment to the series, Amnesia: The Bunker, follows a World War I French soldier stuck in an underground bunker with a monster. He must find a way to escape the terrors of it.
The game cranks up the tension by forcing the player to scavenge for resources and solve puzzles, while navigating dark halls with only a small dynamo flashlight that has to be wound every few minutes.
Moreover, the game’s randomised elements, such as item locations and enemy behaviour, make every playthrough uniquely terrifying. The immersive sound design and enclosed atmosphere are sure to make your heart race with every distant creak and growl.
Perfect for horror fans who crave a blend of psychological dread and survival strategy, Amnesia: The Bunker delivers a nerve-wracking experience that lingers long after you escape – if you escape that is.
Where to download: Steam (RM61) | Epic Games (RM49.99)
5. Dead Space (2023)
Survive & dismember nightmarish creatures in space
Image credits: Progress Bar
It seems like engineers in the future are seriously capable of surviving hordes of alien-like creatures. Meet Isaac Clarke, Dead Space’s engineer protagonist, known for stomping and beheading the most vile and monstrous creatures known to mankind.
Set 500 years in the future, you role-play as Isaac, who is tasked to repair parts of the USG Ishimura, a massive corporate spaceship. A few minutes after landing, disaster breaks loose, and grotesque monsters called “necromorphs” infest the ship.
While Isaac is equipped with an arsenal of lethal weapons like his iconic Plasma Cutter, danger is never far away as the necromorphs can lunge at you from every dark corner, the air vent, or even right above from the ceiling.
Image credit: Steam
The 2023 remake of the 2008 classic sci-fi horror, Dead Space features stunning visuals and refined sound that’ll amp up the nightmare-instilling gameplay that the original 2008 version is known for. Additionally, new side missions, expanded lore, and voice acting have been added in the remake to deepen the narrative.
Where to download: Steam (RM199) | Epic Games (RM199) | EA Games (RM199)
6. Silent Hill 2 (2024)
Atmospheric horror exploring grief & madness
Image credit: Konami
Wrongdoings are part and parcel of the human experience. While we tend to keep our guilty conscience at bay, there are times when the weight of our actions overwhelms us, stirring deep reflection and emotional turmoil.
This is Silent Hill 2’s protagonist, James Sunderland’s reality when he receives a letter from his deceased wife asking him to meet her in the fog-filled town of Silent Hill. The 2024 remake pays homage to this 2001 cult classic of the same title through its realistic visuals and updated gameplay.
The game’s plot delves into themes of loss, guilt, and psychological horror, with multiple endings shaped by James’ actions that ultimately reveal the truth about his past and his psyche.
Image credits: Film Stories
In true survival horror fashion, James has access to a variety of close-combat weapons as well as firearms to keep monsters at bay. However, limited resources and inventory management are the core of the gameplay and will probably make some players feel stressed as they escape from danger.
Where to download: Steam (RM304) | Epic Games (RM304.07)
7. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
Survive a night shift of evading animatronic mascots
Image credit: Steam
Enter the tense world of Scott Cawthon’s indie horror phenomenon, Five Nights at Freddy’s, which revolutionised jump-scare terror. Players will have to survive five nights as an overnight security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where the animatronic mascots, Foxy, Chica, Bonnie, and Freddy, come to life with the intention of killing humans.
With just surveillance cameras, little power, and fast reflexes, players will keep an eye on the animatronics’ actions to stay alive.
Image credit: Steam
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a must-play for horror lovers seeking intense, bite-sized thrills that last long after the shift finishes. The game’s minimalist yet oppressive atmosphere, unpredictable artificial intelligence, and eerie audio cues might keep players on the edge of their seat.
Where to download: Steam (RM12.50)
8. The Evil Within (2014)
Explore a distorted world to uncover the truth behind a mass murder
Image credit: Steam
If you ever considered being a detective in your life, you might just think twice about it after playing The Evil Within. The game thrusts players into a nightmarish world of psychological terror as detective Sebastian Castellanos investigates a gruesome massacre at a mental hospital.
The game is set in a shifting and distorted reality orchestrated by a malevolent force. Players will face horrifying creatures to unravel the truth behind the massacre.
Image credit: Steam
With limited resources, brutal traps, and a relentless stalker named Ruvik, every encounter tests your survival skills and sanity. The game’s unsettling atmosphere, gory visuals, and tense combat make The Evil Within a standout horror game that might startle even the lionhearted
Where to buy: Steam (RM78.99) | Epic Games (RM78.99)
9. The Mortuary Assistant (2022)
Mundane job turned into paranoia-inducing horror
Image credit: Steam
Dealing with the deceased and their corpses is common practice for morticians as they prepare the body for funeral rites and processions. But have you ever wondered what the daily life of a mortician looks like?
The Mortuary Assistant transforms a routine embalming job into a descent into demonic terror. In this game, you role-play as Rebecca Owens, a new mortuary apprentice in a haunted funeral home located in Connecticut, United States.
Image credit: Steam
Players will have to carefully and meticulously prepare corpses for burial while deciphering occult signs to perform exorcisms and evade possession by evil spirits. The game’s design ensures every late-night shift unfolds differently, blending mundane mortuary tasks with puzzles, jump scares, and atmospheric dread that will make you paranoid.
The Mortuary Assistant delivers a soul-rattling experience that blurs the line between the living and the infernal, leaving players questioning every creak in the night.
Where to buy: Steam (RM44) | Epic Games (RM42.99)
10. Alan Wake 2 (2023)
Experience horror in two different realities
Image credit: Epic Games
Alan Wake 2 plunges players into a dual-protagonist survival horror mystery that blends psychological dread with cinematic storytelling. The game centres around FBI agent Saga Anderson and writer Alan Wake.
Players will be controlling Anderson as she investigates ritualistic murders in the fictional town of Bright Falls in rainy Washington in the US. While playing as Wake, players will have to escape the supernatural Dark Place, navigating a location where reality and fiction collide.
The game’s cinematic visuals, coupled with its atmospheric sound design, will make you feel like you’re actually in a movie scene. To add to this, Alan Wake 2’s innovative case board mechanics deepen the mystery, while terrifying enemies and scarce resources keep tensions high.
Image credit: PlayStation Universe
Where to download: Epic Games (RM170)
Popular horror games to get yourself spooked
The horror genre has expanded itself from not just films and books, but also through the advent of gaming. While quick jump-scares are the norm, other modern game titles have explored unique ways to instil fear into the hearts of players.
So, get ready to switch off the lights, grab some light snacks, and maybe prepare some cough lozenges in case you scream too much while you discover or rediscover these scary games – on Halloween or any given night.
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Cover image adapted from: PC Gamer, Sega, Capcom, PlayStation Universe