8 Video Game Monsters That Were Absolutely Terrifying (Until You Saw Them)

5. Carl Stucky - Alan Wake

A masterclass in paranoia and the cultivation of that quintessential, "Just what the F**K is going on?!" feeling, Alan Wake may not have beaten Max Payne as a followup to that game's film noir brilliance, but it did excel at putting you slap-bang in the centre of a Twin Peaks-style town, before drip-feeding a sensation of unease throughout.

By the time you'd lost your wife and been rendered helpless other than a revolver and flashlight, nothing beat those next few furtive steps. What would you find, how would you fight it, and y'know, what the hell was going o- you know how it goes.

The forest feels like it comes to life, a shadowy figure darts across the foreground, you'll even dispatch a number of inky underling enemies along the way, too - then you come across Stucky's Gas Station, only to find this figure is the owner, who's become possessed (or whatever) too.

After such a brilliant buildup, the fight against Stucky amounted to him saying bizarre phrases in a sped-up or slowed down fashion ("Caaaarl STUCKY!") as you awkwardly tried to fire off a few rounds to end the madness. Terrible.