The horror genre in gaming is unlike any other. While most genres cater to power fantasies or letting us live out adventures and experiences we want to but otherwise never could, horror games almost take the opposite approach. More often than not, horror games put us in uncomfortable, underpowered, and disturbing situations where we are prey to a greater force. That makes the genre a very difficult one to get right. They need to give you just enough tools to feel like you have a slim chance of making it through, creature and monster designs that aren’t cliché or cheesy, and a story that makes you want to keep going even when you’re afraid.
Halloween is the prime time for horror, gaming included, but that’s no reason to restrict yourself from playing them any other time of year. The Xbox One has arguably the largest library of quality horror titles for you to dive into with a strong lineup, and also thanks to drawing from the previous generation and backwards compatibility. There are a lot of different types of horror games out there, and each tries to scare you in different ways. If you’re looking for the best horror experiences you can get on the Xbox One, this list has the ones guaranteed to give you nightmares.
As a small note, we will only list one game per franchise here to keep as much variety as possible.
Further Reading
Editors’ Recommendations
