10 Video Game Moments So Scary You Stopped Playing

10. The Ladder - F.E.A.R.

The beauty, or horror if you prefer, of the way the F.E.A.R. games handle terror is that the pacing is expertly crafted.

Monolith Productions is very good at making you think something is going to happen and then not hitting you with anything at all, making you push on even more tense than you were before. Along the same lines, the studio is also really good at hitting you with jumpscares at points you absolutely wouldn’t expect to see one. This case is pretty infamous for that and it’s so damn unsettling I’m betting it’s stuck in your memory whether you want it there or not.

As tense as horror games can be, you expect ladders in video games to be pretty safe. You usually can’t draw a weapon so the game can only attack you so much, and all you do is go up and down.

If anything it’s a bit of a breather and far better than skulking around dark corners. Not in F.E.A.R., though. The game whips out its creepy little girl antagonist Alma in one of the most alarming ways when she appears as you begin your ladder descending animation. As soon as you spin around she appears briefly on the upper landing and giggles at you. It’s a very small moment but so affecting and it absolutely feeds into the relentless dread of moving through this game.

In case your pants were still dry there’s a jump scare at the bottom of the ladder too so, basically, screw that ladder. Take a breather and get back to it later. Or not at all. I won’t tell anybody.