Horror games tend to lean heavily on monstrous imagery in order to sell their game. Even when physical box art isn't available, you'll often see a monster leering out from the cover, trying to entice you into playing. There are many themes throughout; we see a lot of close-ups of deranged eyeballs; plenty of school girls with lank, dripping hair; and protagonists looking towards the middle distance.
Some covers become iconic, others an unsettling view of our future hours spent running away, or towards, general horrors. Despite living in an age where many buy games digitally, the great cover art is extremely important, particularly for horror. If the art can unsettle us, or make us grimace, it's likely that feeling will carry over.
10 Bioshock
The murky world of Rapture couldn't have been advertised better, by putting the hulking big daddy on its cover art. These lumbering menaces were sure to terrify players, particularly when accompanied by the creepy Little Sisters. Even though the Big Daddy was presented front and centre, it didn't take away from the fear felt when you first glimpsed that enormous drill bearing down on you.
The ambiance of Bioshock oozed terror; from the Little Sisters' mournful cries to the splicers crawling along the ceiling, throwing their shadows onto flame-licked walls. Rapture enthralled all who played and the memories of the many disturbing scenes lingered on. A quick glance at this iconic cover art throws you back to the bathysphere plummeting into the depths, a world of monsters ahead of you.
9 Darkwood
You wouldn't want to meet this dude down a dark alley. Darkwood has a striking image of a humanoid monster crying out which is definitely creepy. If dark and moody are your thing, it's likely this cover will pull you in. Once you're in the Polish People's Republic, a top-down horror adventure is laid out ahead of you, and now it's a matter of survival in this bleak landscape.
Of course, survival means protecting yourself against the elements, as well as the horrific creatures in the night. The daytime is spent gathering materials and building out a base of operations in order to survive longer. Darkwood features dynamic storytelling which morphs as you make decisions or survive certain situations. It's hard to call this one horrific, but it's definitely unsettling.
8 Dead Space
With the remake coming soon, it would be rude to leave Dead Space off this list. Much like Bioshock, this cover art has become somewhat iconic over the years. Dead Space is more gratuitous in its gore and horror than most, so the option to use a ripped-off arm floating in the cold vacuum of space is fitting. Debris drifts in the background and this artwork perfectly sums up what to expect when the game gets going.
Of course, we know that Dead Space is pure carnage; limbs are most definitely torn off, heads roll, and entrails are littered throughout the Ishimura. Necromorphs roam the hallways, spiked and bladed limbs looking monstrous. Isaac is mutilated in myriad ways over and over, leaving pools of blood and viscera. That cover definitely advertises what's in the box.
7 Deadly Premonition
People are often torn on the quality of Deadly Premonition; some say it's a brilliant game of suspense and drama, while others believe it's a campy, scenery-chewing, so-bad-it's-good experience. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, one thing is clear, that cover is grim and gory. The rotting blindfold, oozing blood, a grimace of pain, it all paints a bleak picture of a game sure to unsettle.
The Raincoat Killer is a morbid antagonist being chased by Twin Peaks-esque detective Francis Morgan, but this survival horror is a quirky one. While the main pull is to solve the mysterious killings, you could be entirely distracted by changing Francis' clothes, giving him a close shave, and ensuring that he's well-fed and rested. It's like a survival horror Tamagotchi.
6 DOOM
The Cacodemon is monstrous. Look at it! It's odd that it wasn't included on the cover art for DOOM, but then they would have been giving away one of the best enemies in the game. Not that the cover really needs much more; having Doom Guy stood atop a small peak of Mars, blasting demons full of rounds, is a hell-scape version of the classic Star Wars poster. Or a macabre renaissance painting.
Who wouldn't want to play that game? Everyone wants to fill demons full of lead and there are plenty of monsters awaiting you. It's not just the fleshy balls of muscle and teeth, there are more traditional, cloven-hoofed demons, as well as zombie soldiers and imps who hurl fireballs at you. If that's not a horrific vision of hell, what is?
5 Fatal Frame II
There is little more creepy than young women or girls with lank, dripping hair pulled over their faces. Japanese cinema certainly provided a wealth of scary imagery from just this trope. Fatal Frame II puts this front and centre on its cover art. Both Ringu and Ju-On bled into pop culture in the years following their releases and a new horror theme was born. Featuring this nod on the box art is a surefire way to get horror fans excited.
The Fatal Frame series is unique in its take on survival horror, eschewing the traditional action set pieces for subtle storytelling. This amplified the horror aspects, making the game more atmospheric. Using the exorcism camera, Camera Obscura — which is quite a device — was the primary way to protect the twin protagonists, and bring the player into the mystery as a voyeuristic element.
4 Manhunt
Nothing gets tabloid newspapers in a fluster more than a video game about killing people. Many games feature the killing of humans, but only a few make it the central premise. Manhunt became infamous for its gameplay elements designed by the equally infamous studio, Rockstar. Perhaps if it was released today it would see fewer pitchforks, but the story of a death row inmate trying to win his freedom by performing murders on criminals for a snuff film would still be feared.
The cover art really leans into what the game is, and would become. With its grainy CCTV image, the art attempts to instill fear in the player from the off. A masked killer is caught throwing a glance toward the camera, making the viewer feel hunted or watched, perfectly depicting the gameplay. Is this an iconic image due to the game? Or because of the controversy surrounding it?
3 Outlast
Many would argue that horror creators should never show the monster fully. It tends to break any immersion the viewer feels, and it can remove the sense of power that the monster wields. The cover art for Outlast uses just enough shadow and light to hint at what's coming for the player. The eyes catching a glint of light, the partially hidden and hulking mass, this monster feels unstoppable.
Outlast ticks so many boxes once you get beyond the sensation of dread that the cover creates; there's the investigative reporter, a run-down psychiatric hospital in the middle of nowhere, and, of course, murderous patients hell-bent on killing anyone who moves. Outlast prides itself on breaking survival horror mechanics — you can't put up a fight here, you must simply run, survive and endure.
2 Resident Evil Revelations 2
Whatever you may think of the Resident Evil series and its many iterations, it has staying power. The series has evolved constantly, set the pace for the genre and broken conventions where possible. While there are certainly better Resident Evil games out there, few captures a sense of horror through their cover art. Most entries either focus solely on the title, with an eerie backdrop, or they place the characters front and centre.
With Resident Evil Revelations 2, Capcom decided to jump on the 'manic eyeball' bandwagon, giving us this truly gross image. A look of decaying skin surrounding a heavily bloodshot eye is a quick way to establish that this game isn't for the faint of heart. You know exactly what you're getting here — monsters, blood, terror and hopefully a sleepless night.
1 Splatterhouse 2
It's hard to find retro titles particularly scary given their pixel art style. In this image, there's little to be scared of. It feels like cartoon violence. There isn't even a traditional blood splatter, changing out the claret for acidic green. As graphics engines and system power grew, horror also grew. It became a little bit more terrifying due to the more realistic artwork. However, there's no denying the shlocky styling with Splatterhouse 2.
We as viewers and players have a sense of the fear here — there are monsters reaching out for a protagonist who apes Jason Voorhees. It's a comic book splash page full of action, it doesn't need to be scary, it needs to excite. In 1992 everyone was crying out for movies with aliens, ghosts, and deep sea creatures and the audience began rooting for the killers in the slashers. Splatterhouse leaned into that and created a great popcorn-cinema image to sell its B-movie franchise perfectly.