IF Horror?

With the Halloween season beginning, I’d like to play a good IF horror game or two. In years past, I’ve played and enjoyed The Lurking Horror, Theater and Anchorhead. Any suggestions for other good ones?

I recommend The King of Shreds and Patches and One Eye Open.

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One Eye Open is pure horror; Vespers probably counts as horror as well; The King of Shreds and Patches is Lovecraftian horror, though a lot of the game is spent in relatively normal circumstances. All of these games are very much worth playing.

You might also want to check out ADRIFT’s Ectocomp series. It’s a yearly competition held for Hallowe’en Speed-IF (written on a 3 hour limit). Though its entries are seasonal rather than being based in genre (the comp gets many comedies), it has produced some games which are quite good, bite-sized horror. I’ll recommend one horror story from each year: The Forest House (2007), Drinks with Lord Hansom (2008), The Dangers of Driving at Night (2009), and I Was a Teenage Headless Experiment (2010).

No announcement has been made regarding this year’s Ectocomp as of yet, but you might want to participate in the judging if that sort of thing floats your boat.

All Alone is slasher horror; short but effective. One of my personal favorites. (See also Babel, which is not quite horror though it has some terrifying moments.)

Leadlight is survival horror; quite atmospheric if necessarily a bit terse.

Lydia’s Heart is comparable to Anchorhead in scope, but sacrifices some tension in favor of more puzzles.

The Warbler’s Nest is creepy, and recommended.

I also enjoyed the very brief but creepy Ecdysis by Peter Nepstad.

I’ll add another vote for King of Shreds and Patches. Though, depending on your definition of horror, I’d say Rameses is still the pinnacle of horror in IF :slight_smile:

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I like The Act of Misdirection by Callico Harrison quite a lot. (This one is short and not very puzzle-heavy, though working out exactly what has happened is non-trivial.)

Thank you all for the suggestions! Between these games and the Comp, I ought to have plenty to play…