There is an abundance of frightening video games on the market. From Resident Evil to Dead Space, to The Evil Within and The Last of Us, you can get your fill almost anywhere. But dating back to its debut over two decades ago, Konami’s Silent Hill series is the king of the genre.

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With more than eight video games and two movies, Silent Hill has gone on to become a pop-culture staple. The reason it rules the horror gaming genre is that it is filled with terrifying sequences. As afraid as we were, we scoured every entry in the series to find the scariest moments in Silent Hill history.

Updated October 17th, 2022 by Casey Foot: Silent Hill has long been regarded as one of the pivotal horror game series due in part to how it manages to generate scary moments through its use of a tense atmosphere, environmental cues, and creative monster design. Silent Hill’s scariest moments stay with you long after you’ve completed the game, making you glad that this creepy little rural town isn’t a real place.

15 Lisa In The Mirror (Silent Hills P.T.)

Looking into the mirror in Silent Hills P.T.

In Silent Hills P.T., you’re trapped within a looping hallway, subjected to the hauntings happening within. You soon realize that you’re not alone in this hallway, as the apparition of Lisa, a woman murdered by her husband, appears and disappears at will, leading to lots of scary moments. For many people, the phobia that someone will be behind them in the mirror is something out of a nightmare and one that P.T. taps into in the most horrifying way.

At one point in P.T., you can look in the bathroom mirror only to see the jerking apparition of Lisa reflected in the dirty glass. However, when you turn around, you’re completely alone.

14 Twin Victims’ First Appearance (Silent Hill 4)

Split image screenshots of Henry Townsend being chased by the Twin Victims in Silent Hill 4.

The third place Henry Townsend visits in Silent Hill 4; the water prison, is a panopticon and the place you first encounter the Twin Victims. The Twin Victims are the materialization of Walter Sullivan’s victims, Billy and Miriam Locane. The monster’s baby-like visage contrasts its elongated arms, which it uses to point at Henry, lunging at him whenever he approaches.

On a first playthrough, encountering the Twin Victims is truly eerie, especially as the circular design of the panopticon means they suddenly appear as you follow the path of the tower, and you can’t peek around the corner to check if one will be there.

13 Locker Jump Scare (Silent Hill)

Split image screenshots of Harry Mason looking at and opening the locker in Silent Hill.

Jump scares in horror games aren’t uncommon; however, the locker jump scare in Silent Hill is one of the most effective because it lures you into a false sense of security. In Midwich Elementary School, Harry Mason hears a loud banging coming from the lockers and then opens the source to find nothing but blood stains within it.

This defuses the tension of the situation, making it even more shocking when, a moment later, Harry goes to walk away, only for a body to fall out of a nearby locker and slam on the floor. This moment plays on your expectations, as the game leads you to believe you’re safe, only to yank the rug out from beneath you.

12 The First Crawling Creeper Jump Scare (Silent Hill 2)

james sunderland holding a shotgun in derelict location in silent hill 2

One of the least discussed yet most terrifying moments from Silent Hill 2 is the first real jump scare of the game. While Silent Hill 2 often avoids jump scares in favor of creeping dread and purely psychological terror, the game still isn’t afraid to make you jump out of your skin from time to time.

One such moment is when James Sunderland arrives at the titular town and must explore, making his way to a derelict apartment block where the true horrors begin. Upon receiving the static radio, James explores the streets of Silent Hill and happens to walk by an otherwise innocuous van. However, this van hides a scary monster just beneath it. As the static kicks in, a creeping, crawling monster darts out and provides an ample scare in the game’s opening moments.

11 Pendulum Monster First Sighting (Silent Hill 3)

pendulum monster stalking heather mason in silent hill 3

Silent Hill is known for its terrifying and harrowing monsters, often symbolic of a character’s guilt or past mistakes. Enter the Pendulum monster, a spindly and off-putting beast you encounter while exploring as Heather Mason in Silent Hill 3. The Pendulum monster is easily one of the series’ most terrifying moments since you first encounter this shocking beast in the Central Square Shopping Center.

What makes these Pendulum sightings in the shopping district, as well as Lakeside Amusement Park, so unnerving, is that they move erratically, almost like a spider or a crab, something that immediately puts you in a state of unease. Plus, these spooky monsters aren’t very easy to put down. Their visage resembles that of different body parts combined with sharp blades that they move upon.

10 Lisa’s Death (Silent Hill)

Lisa Garland Silent Hill

We start with a moment that is more heartbreaking than it is scary. Still, it belongs on this list because it is the right amount of unsettling. During the first Silent Hill game, Harry Mason came across a lot of weird people. But Lisa was different. She was a kind and mostly normal nurse.

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Near the end of the story, you have to sit there and watch her die. It’s not just any death, either. Blood begins pouring down her face as she stumbles to you for help. There’s no immediate answer for what’s happening to her, which makes it all the more disturbing.

9 Toluca Lake Arrival (Silent Hill 2)

James looking at a monster in Silent Hill 2.

Knowing what we do about this series, you often deal with some of the easiest-to-defeat monsters early on. However, you aren’t prepared since you’re just starting your journey. In Silent Hill 2, you control James Sunderland as he enters the titular town.

This simple walk sounds fine on paper but creepy in execution. You make this trek with off-putting sounds in the distance and odd camera angles, and it lets you know that something is wrong. Then, like in the first game, your radio starts going crazy as you encounter the horrifying Lying Figures. Cue the nightmares.

8 Mannequin Room (Silent Hill 3)

Heather in the mannequin room in Silent Hill 3.

Heading into Silent Hill 3, you might remember one of the more spine-chilling monsters in series history from Silent Hill 2. The Mannequins. It starts when you enter a storage room at Hilltop Center filled with mannequins. That is enough to immediately make you want to turn around and leave without further investigation.

After the initial shock, it becomes clear that there’s nothing to fear in this room. But just as you turn a corner, a loud yell makes you jump in your seat. Combine it with the weird thud you hear, and you’re left freaking out.

7 Scarlet Boss (Silent Hill: Homecoming)

The Scarlet Boss in Silent Hill: Homecoming in the spider phase of the fight.

Everyone knows there’s something extra creepy about small children and dolls. That’s why movies like Annabelle and Brightburn did so well. Silent Hill: Homecoming took advantage of that with one of their most terrifying bosses ever.

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It is like a giant, porcelain mix between a child’s toy and a spider. It’s hard to fully describe because that’s how off it is. What makes it even worse is the cracking sound the limbs make and the haunting score that plays during the fight. You’ll have bad feelings about this encounter for weeks.

6 The Borley Light (Silent Hill 3)

Heather in the Borley room in Silent Hill 3.

A lot of Silent Hill 3 players will point to the Borley Haunted Mansion section as their favorite part. The whole thing is set up as a cheesy haunted house attraction you’d find at an amusement park. But Silent Hill made sure to give gamers a real reason to be scared.

The game immediately transitions from a fun haunted house parody to a horrible experience. A red glow begins to chase you through a hallway while a piercing static noise is emitted. You’re not sure what’s going on, and that fear of the unknown makes it so awful.

5 Giant Head (Silent Hill 4: The Room)

Henry Townsend looks at the giant head in Silent Hill 4.

As scary as this scene is, it also probably tops the list in terms of the strangest moments in Silent Hill. This comes from Silent Hill 4: The Room. You come across some weird sights as part of your adventure through the game’s hospital world. But none tops the one with the giant head in it.

This head belongs to the protagonist’s neighbor Eileen. It’s just so odd that you’ll feel your skin crawl. The head comes with eerie eyes and heavy breathing, and it ranks among the most disgusting things we’ve ever seen in a game.

4 Pyramid Head And The Mannequins (Silent Hill 2)

Pyramid Head and the mannequins in Silent Hill 2.

Though this isn’t your first view of Pyramid Head, it’s the introduction that most fans remember for him. And what an unsettling debut it is. While in Wood Side Apartments in Silent Hill 2, James Sunderland stumbled upon something he dubbed the “red pyramid thing.”

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It’s actually the monstrous Pyramid Head. This creature seems to be either attacking two Mannequins or having some kind of pleasurable moment with them. We can’t tell. Either way, watching him manhandle them is one of the scariest things to ever happen in a video game. It set the stage for the rest of your encounters with him.

3 The Mirror (Silent Hill 3)

Heather looks into the mirror in Silent Hill 3.

As much as we love the Borley stuff in Silent Hill 3, the mirror scene is easily the highlight. Early on, we find out that Heather Mason has a fear of mirrors. So, of course, as you stroll through Brookhaven Hospital, you end up in a storage room containing one massive mirror.

The door locks behind you, leaving you helpless to watch the reflection showing the room fill up with blood. It truly gets bad when the blood overflows onto Heather’s side. If you can’t find a way to escape, you have to witness your reflection become bloody and distorted.

2 The Alley (Silent Hill)

Harry in the alleyway in Silent Hill.

While something feels off about your first venture through the town, it’s not flat-out scary. That all changes when Harry follows his daughter Cheryl into an alley. The camera angles are disorienting, and then you hear the iconic wailing sirens. Back then, you had no idea what it meant.

It triggered the towns’ change into the “other world.” The alternate version of Silent Hill that seems straight out of hell. With no weapons or any offensive attacks, you get swarmed by the Grey Children. They viciously attack you, and you can’t defend yourself. And then you seemingly die.

1 Pyramid Head’s First Appearance (Silent Hill 2)

James looks at Pyramid Head through bars in Silent Hill 2.

Sometimes, the scariest things are the ones you do not know about. In Silent Hill 2, your trek through Wood Side Apartments eventually leads you to the scene above with Pyramid Head. But it’s not your true first sight of him. That comes a bit earlier.

As you attempt to open doors, a scream startles you. If you investigate, you come upon a set of bars blocking the path. Behind the bars is Pyramid Head. There’s no grand introduction, and he’s just staring at you as your radio goes crazy. Look again, and he’s gone, but you know there’s something seriously bad out there.

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