The setting for many a spooky encounter, graveyards are typically used in video games to create an unsettling atmosphere and are often the home of many ghoulish specters. Video game graveyards can differ greatly, with some leaning into the metaphorical side of what graveyards represent, some exploring them as a place of mourning, and others having a more fun depiction that’s no less spooky.

Related: Creepy But Cute Games To Play On Your Switch

These graveyard settings stand out in their respective games, providing you with scares if you’re brave enough to walk among the gravestones. You’ll find yourself not alone in these places, as otherworldly creatures usually inhabit them.

7 Classic Spookiness: Banjo-Kazooie

The Haunted Church and graveyard in Banjo-Kazooie.

Mad Monster Mansion is the seventh world you explore in Banjo-Kazooie. The world has a ghostly theme, complete with a haunted church, a hedge maze, and a spooky graveyard. While in the graveyard, you must avoid the headstones attempting to kill you.

The haunting atmosphere is heightened by the sound effects, including all the staples, such as a werewolf’s howl, organ music, and a ghost’s wail. The world has all the classic elements of a haunted mansion, giving off Halloween vibes even if you play the game during the summer.

6 Night Of The Living Dead - EarthBound

Split image screenshots of Ness and Paula in the Threed graveyard and zombies in the graveyard in Earthbound.

Following on from Onett and Twoson, Threed is the third town you visit in EarthBound. The people of Threed are taking shelter in their houses to avoid the monsters lurking in the graveyard and venturing into the town.

Related: Terrifying Video Games That Trick You By Looking Cute

A large portion of Threed makes up the graveyard, making you wonder how many people in the town have passed to warrant one of this size. It’s not a peaceful graveyard where you can lay to rest, though, because the deceased come back as zombies and ghosts.

5 Worm Your Way Out Of This One - Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Jill in the graveyard in Resident Evil 3.

While you encounter zombies all over Raccoon City, seeing them in a graveyard feels most fitting. Raccoon City’s cemetery resembles an average graveyard if you ignore the zombies waiting in the bushes.

The only thing creepier than zombies, though, is a giant worm, and that’s exactly what’s lying in wait in this graveyard - a Grave Digger, the result of a worm being mutated by the t-Virus. The second time Jill Valentine faces a Grave Digger, it bursts out from beneath the graveyard, sending the gravestones flying. Once Jill is done with this monster, it’s R.I.P. for this humongous worm.

4 Who You Gonna Call? - Luigi’s Mansion

Luigi standing in the graveyard in Luigi's Mansion.

With a game that’s all about hauntings and ghostly creatures, it’s no surprise that a graveyard features in Luigi’s Mansion. One of the spookier places in the game, the graveyard, is haunted by Skeleton Ghosts that Luigi must suck up with his Poltergust 3000.

Related: The Best Horror Games To Play With Friends

While in the graveyard, you must take on the Bogmire, also known as the Cemetery Shadow. It appears in a typically dramatic fashion as lightning strikes a headstone in the graveyard, causing the apparition to show itself. This poltergeist is no match for the Poltergust 3000, though.

3 Marowak’s Resting Place - Pokemon Red And Blue

Split image screenshots of the Pokemon Tower in Red and Blue and the ghost in Pokemon Let's Go.

Above the streets of Lavender Town, the Pokemon Tower is the burial place of many Pokemon who have passed on. The Pokemon Tower is a mournful place where people come to pay respects to their departed Pokemon. Its floors are rampant with Ghost Pokemon and Channelers, who communicate with spirits and challenge you to Pokemon battles.

In Pokemon Red and Blue, you witness a ghost sighting when you arrive at the top of the tower. After using the Silph Scope, the ghost is revealed to be the spirit of Marowak, who died protecting its child, Cubone, from Team Rocket. The entire place has an eerie atmosphere that’s undercut by a layer of sadness.

2 The Royal Family’s Dark Past - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Split image screenshots of Kakariko Village Graveyard and Link with Dampé in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Kakariko Village Graveyard is located behind the village. It is the burial place of many Hyruleans and Sheikah who were the Royal Family’s subjects, as well as the Royal Family themselves. While in the graveyard, you can investigate the graves and what might be buried in them at the risk of being attacked by Poes.

Related: Horror Games For Non-Horror People

As Child Link, you can also partake in Dampé’s Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour with the chance of winning Rupees or a Piece of Heart. You can return to the graveyard as Adult Link, only to find that Dampé has passed on and is now haunting the graveyard. If you want to obtain the Hookshot, you’ll have to race his ghost and win. The tomb of the Royal Family at the back of the graveyard is also the entryway to the Shadow Temple, recognized as one of the creepiest temples in the series.

1 Digging Your Own Grave - Silent Hill 2

Split image screenshots of James Sunderland in the underground graveyard and Toluca Graveyard in Silent Hill 2.

You visit two graveyards in Silent Hill 2 - Toluca Graveyard and the graveyard inside the labyrinth beneath Toluca Prison and the Silent Hill Historical Society. Toluca Graveyard is where you meet Angela Orosco, who is searching for her mother. It’s also this graveyard that James Sunderland and Laura walk through in the Leave Ending.

However, when it comes to spookiness, the graveyard inside the labyrinth takes things to the next level. The fact that this graveyard is located indoors and deep underground almost makes it look like a diorama, creating an unsettling experience because it’s impossible for this graveyard to be real. Among the buried are named graves for Walter Sullivan, Angela Orosco, Eddie Dombrowski, and James Sunderland himself. James must jump into his own grave to progress further, symbolizing his journey further into his psyche.

Next: Best Scary Areas In Horror Games