15 Horror Levels That Will Scare You Senseless

We all love a good horror level; there’s just something special about a fictional place that just unsettles you to the bone and gets your heart pumping in anticipation of the unknown. The best horror levels not only use the mechanical fear of a strong enemy to instill a sense of dread into the player, but also have strong thematic elements that make that sequence unforgettable. Many of the recently released horror games have such levels, we will be running down 15 of the best in this category.

Resident Evil: Village – House Beneviento

Resident Evil: Village, in many ways, is a celebration of the franchise’s rich history as the game combines different flavors of horror ranging from survival to action and much more in a cohesive experience. But the House Beneviento level is undoubtedly one of the most horrifying levels in the game, thanks to its excellent atmosphere and an enemy that’s the perfect embodiment of one’s worst nightmares. The level does an amazing job of teasing the threat with the cries of a baby, and when that one hell of a baby emerges from the dark – you better run with all your might.

Detroit Become Human – Android Junkyard

As the name gives it away, this level in Detroit: Become Human takes place in a literal junkyard that’s filled to the brim with all sorts of androids. With most of your limbs having been amputated, you have to crawl your way through piles of spare parts and find compatible limbs to get back on your feet. There’s plenty of jumpscares and disturbing segments littered throughout the place, some of which are sure to catch you off guard. Add to that great use of dark lighting and rainy atmosphere, and it isn’t hard to understand why this level stands out from the rest of the game.

The Last of Us Part 2 – The Rat King

The Last of Us Part 2 is chock full of emotionally unsettling and disturbing moments, but The Rat King boss fight sequence is one that’s sure to remain etched in your memory long after the credits roll. Found in the basement of the Seattle hospital, this zombie is unlike anything you’ve ever seen below. The Rat King is best described as a bunch of Clickers and Bloaters glued together, and it looks absolutely horrifying thanks to a bunch of limbs cropping out from its body. It’s not just for show either; it puts up a brutal fight that’s sure to take up your precious ammo and health resources. Apart from being an intensely terrifying boss fight, this sequence is a great showcase for how far Abby is willing to go for those she loves.

Resident Evil 2 Remake – The Police Station

Resident Evil 2 Remake is easily one of the best remakes of recent memory, and a lot of that has to be attributed to how Capcom nailed the vibe of the original all while making radical changes to the gameplay. And naturally, the Police Station continues to be the best part of the game that also doubles as a masterclass in horror design. The labyrinthian corridors and looping level design sets the perfect stage for the Mr. X encounters, and the constant onslaught of zombies around every corner also doesn’t make things any easier – especially when you’re just getting to grips with the gameplay.

Resident Evil 7 – The Baker Mansion

Resident Evil made a big return to form with Resident Evil 7, which ditched the action heavy gameplay of RE6 in favour of a more grounded survival horror experience. The Baker mansion serves as the perfect opener for such an experience, and the developers did a wonderful job of showcasing a crumbling house of horrors with this mansion. The ominous atmosphere and the gradual build up to the infamous dinner table scene is executed perfectly, and the horrors don’t just stop there. Boss fights with the likes of Mr. Baker are some of the most tense sequences of recent memory, which ultimately makes this level worthy of being in this list.

Phasmophobia – Brownstone High School

While Phasmophobia is best experienced with a group of friends, there’s a distinct fun to be had when it comes to exploring these terrifying maps and just soaking in the atmosphere. Brownstone High School is easily one of the best maps that you should check out. The school is home to long walkways, multiple levels of elevation, and cramped offices – which can look really unsettling thanks to supremely low visibility at nighttime.

Dead Space Remake – Medical

Dead Space Remake is a wonderful reimagination of the survival horror classic, and the game has no shortage of horrifying moments despite the fact that the environments are mostly identical to the original release. The medical sequence is easily one of the best in the entire game, thanks to excellent atmosphere and disturbing imagery that’s sure to make you uneasy while exploring these rooms. We get to see horrifying experiments being conducted under the influence of the Marker, but there’s also plenty of Necromorphs that need to be dealt with before you head on to further sections of the game.

The Medium – “The Niwa Hotel” Level

The Medium might not have stood on all of its lofty promises, but it was an engaging horror game that’s certainly worth a try. Those who do so will be treated with the Niwa Hotel level, which is definitely a standout with its superb atmosphere and creepy setting. The level starts off in an eerily silent forest where rustling trees and your footsteps are the only things that are creating a semblance of sound, and this serves as a great preface to the abandoned Niwa Hotel which is itself brimming with mysteries to solve and horrors to avoid – making for a consistently horrifying experience.

Man of Medan – “The Ghost Ship” Level

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan starts with a group of friends taking a holiday together, but that quickly devolves into a fight for survival as the group puts up with all sorts of horrors – both supernatural and otherwise. It all takes place in the Ghost Ship, which will immediately get you scared with its jumpscares and generally ominous atmosphere. The fate of each character aboard the ship can change significantly depending on the decisions you make, but the general sense of horror and dread pervading every step on this Ghost Ship remains consistent throughout.

Little Nightmares II – “The Hospital” Level

Little Nightmares 2 does a great job of establishing an unnerving atmosphere that’s sure to get under your skin and instill a sense of fear for the unknown, and The Hospital level features the best of those traits. Set against the backdrop of an isolated hospital, you have to make your way through abandoned corridors all while eerie mechanical dolls are chasing you from room to room. And even when the level gives you a breather from this cat and mouse chase, you have to make your way through rooms filled with disturbing imagery and horrifying props littered throughout the level. And to top that all off, it all ends with a deadly encounter with a weirdly deformed baby that’s sure to give you nightmares long after beating the game.

The Last of Us Part 1 – The Sewers

The Last of Us Part 1 is a constantly thrilling ride, and The Sewers portion serves as a good breather after an intense chase sequence. However, that relaxation also comes with the added tension of working with two strangers to make your way to the radio station. You make your way through the shore and down to the sewers, which are appropriately dingy and desolate with little to no light present in the area. Just when the encounters start to ramp up in intensity, Joel and Ellie are separated from one another – which makes this sequence all the more horrifying for those heavily invested in the story.

Dead By Daylight – The MacMillan Estate

Much like Phasmophobia that we discussed before, Dead by Daylight is a game that’s at its best when you are playing with friends. It features a buffet of varied Realms for players, but the MacMillan Estate definitely stands out as one of the most horrifying ones in the game. Set in an industrial theme, there are a total of 5 maps within this realm – each of which is considerably different than the last. The cramped corridors of the Groaning Storehouse provide a stark contrast to the relatively open Ironworks of Misery, but each of these maps are cleverly designed with good use of dark colors and fog to set the perfect backdrop for a tense encounter.

The Evil Within – Chapter 3

It’s been almost a decade since The Evil Within released, and the fact that it still remains one of the best horror experiences on the market speaks volumes about the game’s quality. The third chapter in the game is easily one of the highlights of the experience, thanks to well crafted atmosphere and thoughtful obstacles that force you to proceed with caution. You start out near the river and make your way through dimly lit stone buildings over to a village which has a handful of houses that you need to scour through in search of key items. Each house is filled with different kinds of horrors ranging from booby traps to zombie hordes and even a chainsaw-wielding madman that you need to defeat before getting further in the story.

PT – The House

It’s a real shame that Konami’s Silent Hills project never really panned out, because the Playable Teaser (or PT) remains one of the best horror experiences of the last generation despite it lasting for less than an hour. Taking place in a seemingly ordinary house, PT impresses with its excellent sense of pacing that quickly devolves a harmless house into a horrifying nightmare. Disturbing messages and eerie atmosphere precedes the grand reveal of Lisa, following which you tiptoe around the same environments all while experiencing one jumpscare after another. The House itself is pretty small, but the space is utilized in a meaningful fashion that makes this level a spine chilling sequence.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly – Chapter 7

The recently remastered Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is a great modernization of the horror classic, and the new quality of life changes and visual upgrades breathe new life into this one hell of a game. The game’s seventh Chapter named Sae sees you making your way through the Tachibana House, which is an old house that’s ripe for ghostly presence and otherworldly apparitions. It’s entirely lit by candles, and is full of dark corners and blind spots which gets you immediately scared of the unknown. The fixed camera angles also frame the action perfectly, and getting through this sequence is like advancing through a carefully directed horror plot which appropriately unnerves you to the core.