6 Horror Games I Can't Wait to Play (and 4 I Never Will)

This is gonna be a long one. Also keep in mind that some of the games have links to their wiki or wikipedia page, which have spoilers.
When I tell people I love horror games, I often get the response "You HAVE to play (game title)!" I'll look it up, and have one of three reactions: "This looks AWESOME!", "Meh, it looks ok." or "NOPE." And since no one really likes hearing about so-so games, I'll be listing the games that provoked the other two reactions. Now, while all of the games I'll never play have been released, only two of the ones I can't wait to play have. I just haven't played them yet because I'm broke right now. -_-u

                                                         Games I Can't Wait To Play

#1: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of my favorite games of all time, so when I heard that they were making another game in the series I fangasm'd. In this game, you play as Oswald Mandus. After returning from an expedition to Mexico that failed badly, he falls ill and is plagued by fever dreams of a strange machine. When he wakes up, months have passed-- and he hears a machine somewhere come to life... 

Now, I've always found pigs (adult pigs, not piglets) slightly creepy, especially the noise they make (don't ask me why, I have no idea). So the idea of being pursued by some pig-related monstrosity that makes that sound and behaves like the monsters in the first Amnesia freaks me the hell out. The new company that's making this (The Chinese Room) has said that they want it to be like the last game without feeling like a carbon-copy, so it'll be cool to see what they add to the series.

#2: Among the Sleep

Among the Sleep has one of the most unique premises in recent horror games. You are a 2 year-old child. One night, something odd is going on in your house, and you escape your crib to figure out what it is. Unlike other horror games that aim for a visceral kind of horror, this game keeps it simple with dream-like worlds and subtle (yet still frightening) detail. Personally, I find that silhouette with the umbrella (our antagonist, I'd guess) very freaky and threatening-- I can imagine seeing it at the end of a dark road wobbling unnaturally towards me (a mental image I will deeply regret the next time I walk home from the bus stop in the dark). It's nice to find a game with an enemy that's not "zomgclawedmonstrosity/bloodsplatteredzombie/psychoghost". 

#3: The Cat Lady

This game seems like a strange dream, though I suppose that's very intentional, and visually it reminds me of the works of Dave McKean and Henry Selick. Susan Ashworth, a 40 year-old cat lady, commits suicide. Her restful death is interrupted by an old woman, the Queen of Maggots, who wants Susan to kill five "Parasites": five psychotic and murderous people. The Cat Lady looks stunning-- and very disturbing.

#4: Daylight

Daylight is a new take on a classic premise: you wake up in an abandoned hospital with no idea how you got there and only your cellphone to help you explore and escape. While it may sound like a "been there, done that" idea, this game looks very cool. It'll be interesting to see what new ideas they bring to it.

#5: Slender: The Arrival

Confession time: I adore Slender Man. I was introduced to it by TV Tropes, and I loved seeing how it grew from two fake paranormal images and a quote into this sprawling mythos. However, I was never really interested in the Slender games, until I saw the trailer for this. This is a fully realized, more polished version of the game. It looks gorgeous, and it's really cool to see the proxies in it. 

#6: Sound of Silence

This project sounds absolutely awesome. The idea is that it figures out what you're afraid of, and changes based on that to deliver a unique experience (hopefully it does so a hell-of-a-lot better than Silent Hill: Shattered Memories). There's not a lot known about the game because this project is just getting on its feet, but it's already gained a lot of attention through Reddit. 

Games I Will Never Play

#1: Ao Oni

The plot is simple enough: four teenagers decide to explore an abandoned, thought-to-be-haunted mansion to look around, and end up having to run around avoiding the Oni. The reason I refuse to play it is simple: THAT FUCKING FACE! I can see why some people find it funny, and I've gotten a little used to it after finding images, but there's something disturbing and just plain wrong about it, and the idea of it popping out of nowhere freaks me out like nothing else.

#2: Harvester

Harvester proclaims itself "the most violent adventure game of all time", and while that's probably no longer true, its absolutely bizarre. The violence is cartoonish, but behind it is deranged and full of mind-screw (and not the good kind). The phrase "batshit insane" works very well.

#3: SCP-087

I hate stairs in large buildings. 9 times out of 10, they have creepy lighting, stained floors, and an atmosphere that promises bad things to come. And while I love the SCP Foundation, this particular SCP always freaked me out. Don't get me wrong, this is probably a really good game, but I'm too chicken to try.

#4: White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

I have no idea why this pushed my "NOPE!" button the way it does. It seems like a decent game. In it, Hui-Min sneaks into the school after class is over to leave a White Day gift for his crush, So-Yeong. He find out that he, So-Yeong, and her friend Ji-Hyeon are all trapped in the school. They need to escape and avoid the Possessed janitors and ghostly entities that want them dead. Like I said, I have no idea why it bothers me, but I have no intention of playing it. That being said, I may end up watching a reaction-walkthrough.

Actually, I might do that for SCP-087 as well.

Psychology of Creepiness

Today's post is a short one, and fascinating rather than creepy.

While poking around the internet for future material, I found this video on reddit's /r/scared shitless page. It's an interesting look into what makes us consider things creepy, and how the creeps differs from a generic fear reaction. I've loved being creeped out for as long as I can remember, so it's cool to see that feeling explained.

The Cannibal town

NOTE: I don't speak Japanese. I'm translating with a chart of Japanese characters and Google Translate. If I make a mistake (and I'm sure I will), please please PLEASE correct me! I'll edit this with whatever changes are necessary to make it accurate.
Thank you to the anonymous Japanese speaker who commented with some translating help!

With the popularity of Aika village, aka "The Horror Village", many more players have been turning their Animal Crossing: New Leaf towns into live-action creepypastas. I've visited quite a few myself. Most are unfinished, some are uninteresting, and at least one seems to be trying to make a sequel to Aika itself. But there's one that I found fascinating, richly detailed, and chilling: the cannibal town.

The town's name is Hitokui, which Google translates as "non-specific", but I guess literally means Cannibalism (thanks for the translation, leofrida!)

The town itself is quite beautiful: lots of flowers and shrubs and bamboo. It's raining and probably early morning, so it's rather peaceful. It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?

 The outside of this house reminds me quite a bit of a temple or shrine, which is fitting when you go inside.

King K.K. is playing in this room, and it sounds really ominous with the testing tone from the TV.

This is Sawai. What she's saying seems to translate to something like "The cook is behind you. Who are you?" (when that popped up in the translator, bricks were shat I was rather surprised)
(I guess it can also translate as simply "Who is that behind you?", but both seem to work in context, so I'm keeping the old translation as well.)

On an interesting note: I'm not sure whether this was intended or not, but this character reminds me a lot of Kuchisake-onna

In the room to the left is a Japanese-styled funeral. That picture is a little creepy...

The symbol on those lanterns is a recurring one, and one of the many,many patterns made for this town. Unlike the other horror towns I've been to, you can actually get the patterns from Wendell! They're really well done.

This room seems to be a kind of shrine. You can't see it in the photo, but in front of the sword is a basket of persimmons and a broken pot- offerings of some kind. The walls are plastered with paper talismans... not a good sign.

The room to the right is another shrine. There aren't quite as many talismans in this room, but the song K.K. Folk gives it a sort of ritual/festival feel.

Upstairs is a collection of wardrobes turned into Buddhist altars for dead relatives. I have no idea what the sewing machine or spinning wheel are doing up here, but the framed certificates lined up on the wall are reminiscent of the framed photos lining the walls of the room where such altars are kept in old Japanese houses.

The third shrine. I kept expecting a hand to come out of the well...

This is a bit off-topic, but I saw Coco just over the horizon, and had a little heart attack. I love her to death, but in this context her face is just plain freaky.

Yes, that is blood on the path up there. The grates don't bode well either...

Now, this room is very weird. K.K. Waltz is playing and with that song, the colors, and the nurses outfit it reminds me of the more bizarre Japanese horror films, like the works of Takashi Miike or Sion Sono.

Apparently this place is a hospital. There's really not much to say about this room, though.

And here we have the laboratory. For some reason, Pondering is playing in the background. I've never really liked that particular K.K. song, but in this environment it really sets me on edge. And yes, that is a blood bag by the hamster cage (you can get the pattern, so I'm guessing she put it on a white cushion).  It's the details like this that really make this town come alive!

I'll be honest, I have no idea what this room is. Test subject storage?

I guess you can't have an Animal Crossing horror town without Hypno K.K. This room carries some of the imagery from Aika village, but is unique enough that I really didn't notice most of it at first. Seems like someone (a child, probably) was kept here until the end of their short life...

Again, I have no idea what's going on... but K.K. Lullaby is always pretty.

This guy (Zoru? I feel like I'm failing badly with my translation attempts) seems to be a doctor. His message is "I won't let you go."

This is Kozu. She's saying either "My back hurts" or "Does your back hurt?". I have no idea what this has to do with a cannibal town, though. Is it an idiom of some kind? Am I missing something? Let me know!

The next house seems to be a church of some kind. K.K. Chorale gives it that feeling, and they seem to be using a bird bath in place of a baptismal font.... odd, but kind of a cool detail.

To the left is the living quarters of whatever kind of clergy this place has. I was curious as to what wall and floor this room has, but the Prima guide doesn't list either. If someone knows what it's called, tell me!

The back room is the graveyard/mausoleum. The way that statue is placed beneath the stained glass window reminds me a bit of the first level of the game Sanitarium.

At first this room confused me a bit, but then my Catholic upbringing kicked in: it's a confessional!

And upstairs, we have.... I really don't know what. It looks like the dead bird's blood was used in that painting, but is it art? A ritual?

It's almost impossible to see in these photos, and I didn't notice it till my 2nd or 3rd visit, but that's blood on the broken vent. It looks rather like something broke out...

This guy is Edogein-- a play on Ed Gein is my guess. It's kind of awesome, but it strikes me as a little odd that a random Japanese person would know who Ed Gein is. I guess I might be underestimating his fame... and this guy's message is "Would you like some delicious meat dish?" Hell no! Um... I'll pass..... *backs away slowly*

The last house is a restaurant, and one to make any Animal Crossing player jealous. K.K. Bossa sets the mood.

Off to the side is a private dining area set up for fruit fondue.

In the back is an industrial kitchen all decked out. (I really want this kitchen!)

A bathroom is off to the right. Anyone have any idea what that picture is supposed to be?

Upstairs is the owner's apartment. The mess and K.K. Metal on the radio kind of gives you an idea of this guy's character.

 ... and this is where the other shoe drops. I have to admit, I literally felt a little nauseous when I first saw this. And I will never, EVER hear K.K. Parade the same way again.

Oh, and there's this. (and that happy image in the background is the town flag)

All in all, I think Hitokui is better than Aika. It's very atmospheric in a way photos just can't explain, so check it out for yourself!
Dream code: 2600-1856-4772

I'm finishing this at midnight, so please forgive any weirdness.

EDIT: HatboxGhost on Animal Crossing Community pointed out a few things that I missed, so took a few more screenshots.

It's very hard to see, but by the table here in the lab is a crime against humanity cushion that seems to be made out of flesh-- you can see three eyes and a mouth.

And it looks like the graveyard has its very own elderitch abomination!