5 horror games my teenage self was too scared to finish

Growing up, I played through the second half of the sixth generation, the entirety of the seventh, and the early years of the eighth — arguably gaming’s golden age. But for all the incredible memories I made, there were a few games that sent my teenage self packing. Some were too scary, others had moments that outright terrified me, and more often than not, I would either hand the controller to my older brother or simply stop playing, conveniently “forgetting” that I had a game to finish.

Looking back now, it’s hilarious to think about it — these were just pixels on a screen, and yet, they had me paralyzed with fear. These were definitely not the most difficult games ever made, but at the time? They were nightmares brought to life, and my teenage self wanted absolutely no part of them. Here are five games that, for one reason or another, I was just too much of a wimp to finish.

5

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

An amnesia potion after this game would’ve been nice

Amnesia: The Dark Descent holds a special place in my heart, because it was also the game that introduced me to PewDiePie. This was one game I never touched the moment I hit a huge hall drowning in mist and blood. The walkthroughs I managed to find online told me to hug the wall and run while taking my gods’ names, and yet, it still wasn’t enough. No matter what I did, I ran headfirst into the deformed, ghastly, and insanity-draining servant grunts and gatherers.

No amount of screaming “barrels!” at wooden casks could take my fear away while playing The Dark Descent, and the game sat in my library from 2011 to 2014 before I gathered the courage to finally… delete it. Yeah — I never finished that game, and I doubt I would still be able to, considering how I got an hour into A Machine for Pigs, its sequel, before uninstalling that game and moving on to the equally-stressful but far more colorful Super Meat Boy. It should come as no surprise, then, that when the Amnesia games were available as some of the many free games Epic Games gave out, I simply looked the other way.

Amnesia The Dark Descent

Amnesia: The Dark Descent puts you in the shoes of Daniel as he wakes up in a desolate castle, barely remembering anything about his past. Exploring the eerie pathways, you must also take part in Daniel’s troubled memories. The horror does not only come from the outside, but from the inside as well A disturbing odyssey into the dark corners of the human mind awaits.

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4

Outlast

No weapons, no hope? No, thank you

Another game I played thanks to our friendly neighborhood Swedish streamer was Outlast. The whole idea of a hand-held night vision camera being your only support, and not being able to fight back was so insanely novel to my 15-year-old self that I just had to try it for myself. Now, I may have entered Mount Massive Asylum with an excited demeanor, but the moment I saw the insane, skeletal doctor Trager, I knew that was it for me. A few attempts to hide under some beds that didn’t work out, and a chase sequence that had me baffled about where to go, I didn’t even realize when I was staring at the desktop instead of the game that I had just “Alt+F4’d”. There are plenty of games that put us through incredibly tough choices, but choosing to stop playing Outlast was one I made in a heartbeat.

Did I try asking my brother to get me ahead in the game? Yes. Did he try twice before getting tired and leaving me to my own devices? Also yes. The rest of the game, I’m ashamed to admit, I experienced through the aforementioned YouTuber’s Let’s Plays. Of course, when I finally bought a PS4 in 2016 that came with the Outlast Trinity collection, I went back with receipts, only to come through Mount Massive Asylum a changed man. Sure, that might have meant watching walkthroughs to get through each tight corridor, but hey, I did manage to do it at 18.

Outlast

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3

Silent Hill 2

Gave me my share of restless dreams

I haven’t stopped thinking about Silent Hill 2 since I first played it in 2010. Now, I completely understand why. This game leaves a mark on you that never fades. Sixth-grader me had no grasp of its heavy themes — guilt, grief, and the way we process our past. However, I did know one thing — I was absolutely terrified of stepping into that foggy alley where those creepy sounds were coming from. As much as I wanted to find my wife through the fog-laden streets of Silent Hill, that weird, ick-inducing squelchy sound from over my shoulder growing ever closer, my grip on the mouse never loosened. In fact, I distinctly remember certain areas making me clench my forehead — among other things — even tighter.

That was when I realized something important — I could just stop playing. So I did, choosing instead to beat my cousin’s Tetris high score (which, again, I never did). Years later, playing the remake, I finally came to appreciate Silent Hill 2 for the deeply complex, emotional journey it is. Not only did I cherish it this time around, but I also introduced it to a few friends who now hold it just as close. This is a game that will stay with me forever — undoubtedly, renewing in me the importance of modern-day remakes and remasters.

Silent Hill 2

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2

Dead Space (2008)

In space, no one can hear you quit

Ah yes, the greatest game I never finished as a teenager. Playing Dead Space on my newly-bought ATI Radeon HD5670 was a survival-horror experience I wasn’t ready for. My 12-year-old self was ready to shoot some grotesque-looking aliens right in the head, yes, but he sure wasn’t ready for cramped corridors, blacked-out hallways, rattling overhead vents, and jump scares that could’ve stained my plastic chair.

I was pretty confident in my ability to get through Dead Space in 2010 when I played through the first chapter, but when the game sent me straight to the morgue in the second chapter, things looked bad. I was still reeling from how unexpected the scares were in this game, the existence of twisted space-zombies whose blood-curdling screams made me take my headphones off, and now, I was in a space morgue. I just knew that terrible things were going to happen, and instead, sadly, chose to switch to NFS: ProStreet instead. It’s a shame that the original developer shut down despite making such a great game. Did I easily go through the 2023 Dead Space remake? Yes, I did, and that’s what I want the world to always know and believe.

Dead Space (2023)

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1

Penumbra: Black Plague

Avoided it like the plague

Both Penumbra games may feel wooden and dated today, but damn did they tell a brilliant story — one that doesn’t overcomplicate itself, yet slowly builds into something deeply unsettling with Lovecraftian elements strewn across it. Penumbra: Black Plague might not be one of the best-aged games today, but its atmosphere remains incredible, the puzzles are stellar and engaging, and the tension still holds up. As I played Penumbra: Black Plague, I remember thinking that Clarence, the manifestation who just wouldn’t leave me alone, must have been voiced by Willem Dafoe, since it was uncannily like Raimi’s Green Goblin.

The first few puzzles were easy enough, but as I navigated hub after hub, with Clarence’s voice becoming an itch I couldn’t scratch, I simply put down the controls and never picked them back up. Replaying Penumbra: Black Plague just last year, though, reminded me why I regretted not finishing it earlier. If you can look past some aging and a bit of jank, it’s one of the best games you must revisit today — especially if, like me, you loved Amnesia: The Bunker and want to see where that DNA for that game truly began.

Penumbra: Black Plague

Trapped in a shadowy, underground complex, intrepid explorer Philip is determined to discover the truth behind his father’s disappearance.
Surrounded by enemies and assaulted by terror from all sides, Philip must collect clues and solve vexing puzzles while combating the gnawing psychological terrors that assail his mind and threaten to strip him of his sanity.
Can Philip master his fear and finally uncover the truth behind a mystery that has haunted him for a lifetime? Only you can decide…

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Some fears fade, but unfinished games haunt forever

Sometimes, I wish I could once again feel too scared to finish a game, rather than blasting through them the way I do now at 25 — with my backlog whispering over my shoulder like a smug demon. There are still games my teenage self was too terrified to complete, and while I could go back and finally conquer them, part of me hesitates.

The memory of being so scared that I simply stopped playing is something I genuinely cherish — and maybe, just maybe, I’m a little afraid of tarnishing it by finishing them with nothing but sheer practicality.