Resident Evil ushered in the golden age of survival horror and paved the way for some of the genre's biggest names: Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, Eternal Darkness - heavyweights that have left an indelible mark on the genre and provided future generations with a veritable treasure trove of inspiration. Nothing lasts forever though, and the popularity of Resident Evil 4 heralded another drastic shift for the genre, one that ironically enough proved to be the final stake through the heart - the move towards action-heavy gameplay, with scares taking a backseat to running and gunning. Slowly but surely, the very franchises that shaped the genre all those years ago have either curled up in a corner and died off, or abandoned any pretenses of horror in favour of appealing to the shooter crowd with a more 'streamlined' experience. For the longest time it seemed like horror was something we'd mention only in passing with a tinge of nostalgia and a pang of regret like a long-departed childhood pet. But if the last few years have shown us anything, it's the genre's ability to claw out of an early grave like a voracious zombie in search of succulent flesh. Outlast, Alien: Isolation, Amnesia: The Dark Descent - the past five years have graced us with one terrifying experience after another. We've got a lot to dig into folks, and while narrowing down the scariest moments of any period always comes down to personal taste - especially since I've decided against concentrating solely on horror titles for the sake of casting as wide a net as possible (after all, genre labels cannot dictate emotional reaction) - I've done my best to represent the most terrifying moments of the past five years. Note: Spoilers will be flagged appropriately.
