Horror games

Tension is what horror games trade in: you know less than you would like, the threat often stays out of sight, and the waiting can be worse than the scare itself. About 100 games are filed here, in a few clear groups. Some 35 are straight horror, and about as many are zombie games, which lean more towards fighting back than hiding. Around 15 are built on the Skibidi Toilet meme and mostly play for laughs, and the rest are mostly escape rooms and monster chases.

Siren Head Nightmare Scary Survival is horror in the classic mould: you have no weapons, so you stay hidden in a haunted mansion, gather tools and listen for the creature across several nights. The Man from the Window centres on Mama Rabbit, her frightened son and a man tapping at the window late at night. Quarantine Zombies is closer to an arcade game, as you fence zombies into small zones before one of them catches you.

Pick by how much fear you want. For real unease, start with the horror-tagged games; if you would rather fight back, many of the zombie games hand you weapons and waves to hold off. Survival games that run night by night give you natural places to stop, so a long evening can be split into short pieces. Parents may want to try the scarier titles before passing them on to younger players. They are all free browser games, so judging the atmosphere of one takes a minute and no download.