What are the best horror games for VR?

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.

This article was originally published on September 8, 2016. It was recently updated in November 2016 with a bunch of new, terrifying games for you to try out!

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Take a rickety carnival ride with decomposing attractions, add some psychoactive gasses, and you get 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.

See at PlayStation Store | PSVR

Alien: Isolation

Alien: Isolation 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 Green Man Gaming | HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

Here They Lie

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? 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

Emily Wants to Play

We're reminded of some other scenarios where an unsuspecting pizza deliverer is asked into a house to play, but the outcome here is quite different. It's the last house on your route, and it's raining outside, so you can't really be blamed for your poor decision of stepping into the place with the boarded up windows. After that it's really up to you what to do. You can sit still and let things happen to you, or you can run around with the lights off. No matter what you do, however, you're gonna be real scared. Protip: Emily doesn't play nice.

See at Steam | Oculus Rift and HTC Vive

Dreadhalls

No one ever wants to admit they wet themselves, so it's recommended you play this game 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

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 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.

See at Steam | HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

See at PlayStation Store | PSVR

Affected - The Manor

Fans of the original Affected for Rift DK2 wouldn't let a best horror games list go by without at least mentioning this Gear VR iteration of the game. 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. A Rift CV1 version of Affected is on the way, which you can check out at Fallen Planet Studios.

See at Oculus | Gear VR

Chair in a Room

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.

Just added is a new story focused on corporate greed in the rise to the top of the business world. Will you find the happy ending, or will you be going back to try again?

The original version of the game is designed for Google Cardboard but also works on Gear VR, and there is now also a version of the game for Vive 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 and Gear VR

Dead Secret

Dead Secret, originally released for Gear VR and since ported over to Rift and Vive, plays out more like a horror novel than a game. You find yourself in an old, spooky farmhouse in 1965 Kansas, tasked with clicking your way through a murder mystery. As you solve puzzles and read through newspaper clippings and love letters, one thing becomes apparent — you're not alone in the house. Can you solve the mystery? There are five endings to reach, so you're sure to play this one more than once.

See at Oculus | Gear VR

See at Steam | Oculus Rift and HTC Vive

Your faves

Which horror games have you been playing in VR? Let us know in the comments section below!