The Brain Dump

11-14-24

Horror Stuff

I'm a fan of video games in general, but one genre that has always been at the top of my interest is horror. Whether it's horror with lots of action, or just a really creepy walking simulator, I'm interested in it. Long games, short games, whatever. If it's scary in the good way (i.e., not just piles of jump scares), I'm willing to give it a shot.

While I'm fine with the traditional 6+ hour PC game, I have a job so I don't get as much time to play as I would like. Sometimes I just want a "one and done" experience; I just want to sit down & completely play through a game until it's done. Althought I've been aware of them, I never really got into the short, low budget horror games that are all over, but I'm a huge fan of even the nastiest, grungiest, low-budget horror films, so I rectified the situation by getting some. What I found was a movie ticket price goldmine of entertainment that I can just sit down and play through in a single evening. That's where Steam comes in.

Steam has lots of cool stuff, but it also has metric tons of straight up shit. Just like the good little gorehound I am, I sifted through enough sewage to find the tasty little chunklets hidden within. I think the biggest chunklet I've found so far is a company named Torture Star Video. All of their games I've played so far are pretty great and their most expensive one is only $12 at full price.

Another gem I found was a guy I was already familiar with, I just didn't know it. David Szymanski is the guy behind one of my favorite FPS games released in the last decade: DUSK. Along with that game, he's also made a number of shorter horror games that go for a similar feel & aesthetic. My favorite among them so far is Iron Lung. It's simple & short, but it hits the horror notes I'm looking for.

With all those cheap, good games on digital delivery platforms, I'm more apt to spend $10 on a game to play than a movie ticket or a rental.