You either love them or hate them, but one thing has become apparent: horror games in VR are an entirely new experience. Shutting out the real world, including your desk, monitor, lights, and family members, and being injected straight into a horrifying world is quite a thrill. We've rounded up the best VR horror games available right now that will scare you real good.
Wilson's Heart
Wilson's Heart (about $40) is arguably the best single-player horror game for Oculus Rift. It has a long, compelling story, beautiful graphics, and a truly haunting atmosphere.
You wake up in a hospital that's descending into madness, and you have something weird in your chest where your heart used to be. Ready to figure out the mystery? Give this one a try today.
Dark Days
Dark Days (about $8) takes the feel of classic television shows like The X-Files and Twin Peaks and transforms it into a psychological thriller for Gear VR.
It has a long, compelling story where you're tasked with discovering the haunting secrets of a dreary desert motel. There are a ton of puzzles to solve along the way, and you'll be thinking about this one long after you're finished.
Layers of Fear: Solitude
Layers of Fear: Solitude (about $10) is a VR version of the long-standing horror series. You're a painter living in a Victorian mansion. Sounds nice, right? Well, your psyche isn't doing too well, and you're having a hard time completing your masterpiece. Maybe those horrific hallucinations can help? As your mansion falls apart around you, things get creepier and creepier, concluding with a real mind-bender.
See at Google Play | Daydream View
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (about $20) takes a rickety carnival ride with decomposing attractions, adds some psychoactive gasses, and gives you one hell of a scary time. It's your job to rack up as high a score as possible by shooting just about everything around you — bowling pins, fake ducks, balloons, and murderous clowns. While this game does employ some jump-scares, it's the overall creepy environments that get under your skin and stay there.
Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation (about $50) didn't start out as a VR game, but it's now clear that it is a game best experienced through dual lenses. Using VorpX with Vive or Rift lets you experience first-hand the horrors aboard the Nostromo while you, Amanda Ripley, search for your mother. You have no weapons other than your razor-sharp intelligence. Can you uncover the truth about your long-lost mother?
See at Amazon | HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
Here They Lie
In Here They Lie (about $27), your lover, Dana, wears a yellow dress. It's easy to pick out in the otherwise drab world, but you can never seem to catch up to her. If you like things that are best described as weird, this is the game for you. The city is full of memorable characters who aren't quite right, and the excellent soundtrack only adds to the unsettling atmosphere. This game is so scary, there are predetermined rest areas for your wounded psyche — we suggest you use them.
See at PlayStation Store | PSVR
Monstrum
What's spookier than a derelict cargo ship floating around somewhere on the ocean? How about a derelict cargo ship home to a monster that is particularly hungry for human flesh? In Monstrum (about $16), your job is to avoid that monster — there are three unique designs — while you roam the ship looking for the tools and parts needed for repairs. Each time you play, the ship will be different, and you'll be chased by one of three monsters. If you die, you start all over again with no idea where to go or what you're running from. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
See at Green Man Gaming | Oculus Rift
Dreadhalls
No one ever wants to admit they wet themselves, so it's recommended you play Dreadhalls (about $10) alone. Yes, it's that scary. You find yourself trapped in an enormous dungeon without a weapon to defend yourself. You do have a lantern, but the oil needed to keep it lit is quite scarce. You'll have to be quiet as you creep around, as you definitely don't want to disturb whatever it is that calls this place home. If you love the game, you'll be able to play it over and over, as the layout of the dungeon changes each time you play.
- See at Oculus | Oculus Rift
- See at Oculus | Gear VR
- See at Steam | HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
- See at PlayStation Store | PSVR
The Brookhaven Experiment
You've set up a small camp in an abandoned building — a small fire burns. You haven't seen another human since...when? There's a screech outside, the sound of a door crashing open. Here they come again. The Brookhaven Experiment (about $20) manages to be claustrophobic, terrifying, and exhilarating at the same time. Just when you think blasting the heads off of zombies using the accurate Vive Wands is getting easy, here comes the next wave with bigger, badder enemies. Word of warning: this game makes people involuntarily tear off the headset.
Affected — The Manor
Fans of the original Affected for Rift DK2 wouldn't let a best horror games list go by without Affected — The Manor (about $3. As the name implies, you're in a large manor decorated with just about the spookiest stuff you can imagine. Is that ventriloquist's dummy playing with an Ouija board? Where's the front door? Each time you play through this game, the scares will be different. Will you ever make it to the end? We've personally never been there, but what we've seen is absolutely horrifying.
Chair in a Room
This free game sounds pretty harmless, right? Just a chair in a ro — OH, GOD, WHAT WAS THAT?! You wake up sitting in a chair in a room, and all you can do is watch things happen around you. Your light is weak, but your heartbeat is strong.
The original version of the game is designed for Google Cardboard but also works on Gear VR and Daydream View, and there is also a version of the game for Vive and Rift that's called A Chair in a Room: Greenwater which has a different, longer story built for the Vive's room-scale function.
See at Google Play | Google Cardboard, Gear VR, Daydream View
IT: FLOAT
Very few people would argue that Stephen King is the contemporary master of horror, and one of his insidious creations IT has swept the world scaring an entire new generation. Now the terror is coming to VR with IT: FLOAT, a cinematic experience.
This isn't an app you download, but rather a 360 degree video ready to scare the crap out of yourself. It's an especially scary treat if you decide to check out the video before going to see the movie itself in theaters.
Killing Floor: Incursion
In a world where you are a soldier whose brain is hooked up to a virtual world where you must protect a computer system from a virus. How do you do this? By mowing through armies of zombies out for blood. You'll need to multitask solving problems to help the computer, while also dealing with waves of enemies who want nothing more than to eat your brains...and the rest of you.
Killing Floor: Incursion is built for VR, and currently available on Oculus Rift for $39.99. It's got a full single player campaign which includes melee and firearm based combat, with a great story that will terrify you in all the right ways.
Manifest 99
Manifest 99 is a creepy narrative game about a train ride through the afterlife. Or rather, it's about helping your fellow passengers to journey to their final destination on an eerie, otherworldly, train ride.
The story unfolds as the game progresses, making you an active part of unraveling the mystery behind this train. It uses an interesting mechanic for movement, triggering when you look into the eyes of other passengers. Manifest 99 is available for $5.99 making it a steal for those players on a budget!
Upcoming titles to keep an eye out for
Inpatient
Inpatient is a prequel to the cinematic horror game Until Dawn on PS4. It takes place during the 50s in the Blackwood Sanatorium. For fans of the original game this should ring a few bells. You play an amnesiac character trying to figure out precisely why you are in the Sanatorium, but things are definitely not what they ought to be.
Taking a cue from Until Dawn, the choices you make will directly affect your gameplay. There is a branching narrative, with multiple endings, giving it some serious replay value. Inpatient arrives on PlayStation VR on November 21, 2017.
Your faves
Which horror games have you been playing in VR? Let us know in the comments section below!
Updated October 24, 2017: We've refreshed this list to ensure you're still getting the absolute best horror games across all VR platforms as well as adding awesome upcoming horror titles..
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