10 Terrifying Horror Video Game Openings

Horror and being scared are purely subjective, granted. What might make some gamers shriek like a banshee may barely get an eyebrow raise from another. So naturally, it's hard to quantify it.

What we can do, however, is all agree on there being quite a few absolutely terrifying opening scenes to horror games. Whether it be the outright and immediate, bells and whistles type, or the looming, slow build of terror, they're there.

Rescue attempts turning into body horror, an escape with your loved ones gone wrong, or even just dropped straight into an outbreak and given the reins. These are the ones that make us rooted to the spot.

Or there's the slow tension of an all-too-quiet space station, whilst back on Earth all is not what it seems with the residents of a quaint Japanese town. Maybe even some routine detective work turning up some much more gruesome cat-and-mouse antics.

Whatever the case, we can agree there are some terrifying horror games out there. Games that will have players transfixed, through that overwhelming desire to find out the why, instead of doing the sensible thing and legging it.

So, why don't we look at ten truly terrifying title screens in horror games, and bear in mind there will be some graphic descriptions in here. You have been warned...

Song of Horror, a fixed camera, once-episodically released title, could initially be spurned as "just another homage" to what came before. Get past that initial scepticism, mind, and there's a truly terrifying tale to get through here.

Which is does by starting with one of the most effective, slow-build prologues in recent years. Our temporary protagonist, Daniel, is not a hard-boiled detective. He's a publisher.

So, when he goes to the house of presumed-missing author Sebastian P. Husher, he's naturally cautious when the lights are out. As he should be.

There are strange machinations going on at the house of Husher. Spooky, otherwordly goings on that mess with both the lights and the player's heads. There's a looming Presence in there with you (capitalised because that's its name), brought on by Husher's curiosity with a mysterious box.

Yet Song of Horror is less Cenobite-channeling body horror, rather the "lurking in the dark" kind. As such, Daniel's prologue is fraught with terrifying moments. It's set in 1998, so there's no mod cons or mobiles to call for backup on.

Just the player, dim light, and some very nasty things that go bump in the dark.