The Best Horror Games of All Time, Ranked

The best horror game of all time is Silent Hill 2 — the 2001 psychological classic, rebuilt from the ground up in the 2024 remake, that still sets the bar for dread and storytelling. Close behind sit Resident Evil 4, the most influential survival-horror game ever made, and Alien: Isolation, whose learning xenomorph is the finest stalker in gaming. This ranking spans every kind of scare, so there is a top pick whether you want slow psychological unease, frantic survival or four-player co-op frights.

Below are the best horror games ranked on quality, influence and how well they hold up today, with release year, subgenre and platform. The list runs from decades-old classics to Resident Evil Requiem, which launched in February 2026 to an 89 Metascore — the highest-rated original Resident Evil since RE4.

The best horror games of all time, ranked

Ranked across every subgenre as of 2026. “Subgenre” marks the kind of horror so you can jump to the scares you want.

Why there is no single scariest game

Horror splits into styles that scare in completely different ways. Silent Hill 2 unsettles with dream logic and guilt; Amnesia and Outlast strip away your weapons so all you can do is run and hide; Alien: Isolation builds one perfect predator and lets it hunt you for hours. What counts as “scariest” depends on what frightens you — helplessness, gore, tension or the slow wrongness of a place — so this list keeps a top pick for each. If your fear tolerance leans toward brutal, punishing combat instead of pure dread, our best soulslike games ranking is the natural next stop.

The horror games that define the genre

Four games mark the corners of horror.

The late-2010s were a golden run for horror, giving us the Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 7 and Alan Wake 2 — many of which sit on our best games of the 2010s shortlist. Horror also drives some of the biggest sellers ever, as our best-selling video games of all time ranking shows.

Best horror game by subgenre

Straight to the top pick for the kind of scare you want.

Some of the scariest experiences going are best in a headset — Phasmophobia, Resident Evil 4 and The Exorcist all play brilliantly in VR, which our best VR games guide covers in full.

Best horror games FAQ