Whether it be through jump scares, being chased by monsters, or psychological trickery, video games have successfully been spooking us for years.
If anything, the horror genre is enjoying something of a resurgence, with 2023 gifting us remakes of Resident Evil 4 and the original Dead Space, sequels like Alan Wake 2 and Amnesia: The Bunker, and wholly original titles like surprise indie hit Lethal Company.
With any luck, 2024 will be a particularly stellar year for horror developers and fans, so here’s a shortlist of some of the best looking horror games which should be launching in the coming months. We’re focusing purely on games with a confirmed 2024 launch window, so titles like the Silent Hill 2 remake and Slitterhead (which have no such launch windows) will be omitted.
Alone in the Dark
Spurred by the successes of Capcom’s Resident Evil remakes, THQ Nordic is bringing back Alone in the Dark with a remake of the original 1992 game. How ironic, considering it served as key inspiration for the first Resident Evil, setting the benchmark for 3D horror games. There hasn’t been an Alone in the Dark game since 2015’s frankly awful co-op entry Alone in the Dark: Illumination, so taking the series back to its single-player survival horror roots can only be a good thing. After a couple of delays, it’s slated to release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 20. Fingers crossed it isn’t completely overshadowed by Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 just two days afterwards.
Bye Sweet Carole
We wouldn’t blame you for not recognizing this one; we hadn’t even heard of it until we began researching for this list. Don’t let Bye Sweet Carole‘s slightly Disney-esque visuals fool you, this 2D adventure looks to be as tense and terrifying as its contemporaries. Featuring hand-drawn animation, Bye Sweet Carole is set in a creepy looking orphanage, where protagonist Lana must solve a mystery while avoiding all manner of monsters using only her wits and the power to shapeshift into a bunny, allowing her to reach otherwise inaccessible areas and hide from the things pursuing her. It’s in development for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Little Nightmares 3
Tarsier Studios may have moved on from Little Nightmares after being bought out by Embracer Group, but publisher Bandai Namco has opted to keep the IP alive by handing the reins over to Supermassive Games. That’s not a bad choice of developer considering Supermassive’s experience with the horror genre, having previously made Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology. It clearly understands the assignment, with the reveal trailer offering a taste of Little Nightmares 3‘s creepy visuals and 2D puzzle platformer gameplay. It’ll launch this year for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. Coincidentally, Supermassive has a second horror game aiming for a 2024 launch: Dead by Daylight spin-off The Casting of Frank Stone.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is arguably more FPS than horror, but it features survival horror and paranormal elements aplenty. Set in an alternate universe where there was a second Chernobyl incident, the series is filled with vicious mutants, mysterious anomalies, and eldritch artifacts, which adds up to make for a haunting experience, even though you have the means to defend yourself. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been a long time coming (the last game launched in 2009!) and finally looks set to release this year for Xbox Series X|S and PC. Considering developer GSC Game World is based in Ukraine, it should be applauded for managing to work on this game amid Russia’s invasion.
Still Wakes the Deep
Best known for first-person adventure titles like Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, The Chinese Room is taking another stab at survival horror with Still Wakes the Deep. Set on an off-shore oil rig, you have to locate your missing fellow crew members and survive whatever is stalking the hallways. With the unstable oil rig itself as dangerous as the thing chasing you, Still Wakes the Deep could very well be one of the most stressful video games of the year, especially since you have no weapons or special powers to defend yourself with. The studio’s last horror game, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, was a fairly solid experience praised for its atmosphere, so fans of the genre should be in safe hands with this one.
