Highlights
- Unique horror game settings like Gregory House can offer a refreshing change from the typical abandoned town or mansion.
- The Last Resort's 17 floors with different themes make it a standout in the horror genre, showcasing impressive creativity.
- Maid of Sker's Victorian-era setting overrun by a dangerous cult adds to the dark and oppressive atmosphere of the game.
Horror games put a lot of emphasis on the setting. Location is important, as it can help set the tone for the game, and instill whatever atmosphere developers are aiming for. Abandoned towns, dilapidated hospitals, and eerie mansions are all great but heavily used settings, as they are the easiest for creating suspension and dread.
Related
Creepiest Towns In Horror Games
Horror games are filled with creepy locations, but these terrifying towns are some of the most bone-chilling.
One of the most underestimated and underutilized horror locations are residences such as ordinary houses, or even hotels. One would not expect to find any terror within such mundane walls, but some particularly creative and ambitious studios managed to pull it off, resulting in truly memorable hotels in their horror titles.
7 Gregory House (Gregory Horror Show)
Rather Than a Place for Vacationers, This Hotel is Home to Lost Souls
Gregory Horror Show
Horror
Systems
- Platform(s)
- PS2
- Released
- August 7, 2003
- Developer(s)
- Capcom Production Studio 3
Hotels are normally a place for the living to get some needed R&R, but that is not the case in the Gregory Horror Show. In the Gregory House, lost souls often find their way there and remain trapped, and even Death has managed to get himself stuck here. He promises to help the player escape if they capture and give 12 souls to him, leading the player into a game of chase with the ghosts, in an unusual inversion of what normally happens when the living cross paths with the restless dead.
However, enemies will chase the player if they take their soul, intent on reclaiming it from them. The dark and dilapidated hallways of the Gregory House provide the perfect spooky backdrop for a ghost-hunting game, and the Gregory House will remain as one of the most unique hotels in the horror game genre.
6 The Last Resort (Luigi's Mansion 3)
Each Floor is Given a Fun and Unique Theme
Luigi's Mansion 3
Adventure
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:85/100 Critics Recommend:91%
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch
- Released
- October 31, 2019
- Developer(s)
- Next Level Games
Despite the title being Luigi's Mansion 3, there is no mansion involved in this game as it instead takes place in the luxurious hotel named The Last Resort, where Luigi, Princess Peach, Mario, and Toad are all invited to stay. It sounds too good to be true--and it is. This hotel is haunted, so Luigi must once more bust out his trust vacuum and get to work.
The Last Resort may be the largest hotel in gaming history, consisting of 17 floors in total for players to explore. Each floor has its own disparate theme, with a unique boss ghost players must defeat. The amount of work and creativity that went into creating this hotel is nothing short of impressive, and it is the shining star in this kid-friendly horror game.
5 The Sea View Hotel (At Dead of Night)
Ran by a Serial Killer and Haunted by Ghosts, Sea View Offers a Stay Like No Other
After a group of teens checks into a hotel while on their way to a music festival, main character Maya wakes up to see the proprietor, Jimmy Hall, has snapped into a psychotic rage and has taken all her friends prisoner. Maya explores the hotel to find out more about his murderous past by communicating with the ghosts that remain trapped there in the afterlife. But she must avoid Jimmy at all costs as she has no way to defend herself.
Related
Best FMV Horror Games
When in the mood for something different, horror fans can't go wrong with these excellent FMV games.
The four-storey Sea View Hotel is a foreboding and eerie place to explore, as the hallways are vacant and quiet except for Jimmy. He can hide around corners and enter the rooms Maya may use to hide in, ensuring nowhere is safe from his reach. The fact that it is all shot in FMV only makes it all the scarier, as the graphics cannot get any more realistic.
4 Ocean House Hotel (Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines)
Not Even Vampires are Safe from Hauntings
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Action RPG
Systems
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Released
- November 16, 2004
- Developer(s)
- Troika Games
Gothic horror RPG Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines shows the dark underbelly of the city of angels that is filled with fanged monsters with a thirst for blood. They blend in with human society by upholding the masquerade, a set of rules that help keep their existence a secret from those who would destroy them.
This is the new existence the player will quickly need to get to grips with, as they begin the game as a freshly turned vampire, and need to accomplish a series of tasks to prove they belong in vampiric society. One of these tasks sees them going to the Ocean View Hotel to retrieve a pendant, only the mission won't be so simple, as it is haunted by hostile ghosts. Hallucinations and old newspaper clippings illuminate the hotel's grizzly past, as one man became obsessed with the thought of his wife having an affair. He murdered his entire family, and they have since never left the premises.
3 Sker Hotel (Maid of Sker)
Sker Hotel Hides Secrets and Occult Dealings
Maid of Sker
Horror
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:65/100
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch , PC , PlayStation 4 , Xbox One
- Released
- July 28, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Wales Interactive
A horror game set in the Victorian era, Maid of Sker takes players on a journey through folkloric horror as the old Sker Hotel has become overrun by a cult calling themselves The Quiet Ones, who have taken a siren prisoner, intending to control its powers for their own gain.
The hotel itself has fallen into a state of disrepair, with many walls crumbling, and certainly no room that is fit for any guests, not to mention the dangerous cultists that have free rein over the place. But this is all that makes it such a great setting, as it feeds into the dark and oppressive atmosphere while providing plenty of places for the player to hide from enemies, as they are quite defenseless against the hostiles.
2 World's Fair Hotel (The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me)
A Piece of Bloody History, Perfectly Recreated
The Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me
Horror
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:72/100 Critics Recommend:55%
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One
- Released
- November 18, 2022
- Developer(s)
- Supermassive Games
H.H. Holmes was one of the most prolific serial killers in American history, his aptly named Murder Castle is thought to be instrumental in the murders he committed. The building, and the killer, both feature in The Devil in Me, which opens in 1893. Newlyweds stay in the World's Fair Hotel for their honeymoon but are quickly killed by Holmes.
Related
Every Horror Game By Supermassive Games, Ranked
Supermassive Games have made quite the name for themselves since they began, and these are the best of their horror genre
The hotel itself seems like a rather grand affair with tasteful furnishings and a collection of jewelry and toiletries available to buy at reception. What people don't know is that the jewelry is taken from the unfortunate guests in his hotel, as no one could guess the sinister secrets that lay beneath the mahogany wood and fine chandelier light fixtures. The hotel also appears in the modern-day storyline as a perfect replica of a remote island, with even more deadly traps and dark secrets.
1 Lakeview Hotel (Silent Hill 2)
James and Mary's Special Place Holds Many Memories, and Not All Are Good
Silent Hill 2
Survival Horror
Systems
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS2 , PS3 , Xbox (Original) , Xbox 360
- Released
- September 24, 2001
- Developer(s)
- Konami
Silent Hill 2 has become one of the most lauded games in history, as it popularized the psychological horror genre and presented one of the most shocking twist endings in gaming history. Several games have tried to mimic this twist, but none could ever be as successful as the original.
Lakeview Hotel is exactly where players learn of this twist, as James finds a tape that shows him smothering his ailing wife with a pillow, forcing him to confront his guilt. This is one of the reasons why Lakeview Hotel is such an excellent location in the game, as it imparts the most impactful part of the story, and closes off the game with one final thrilling boss fight. It was teased throughout the game as James and Mary's 'special place', and when players reach there, it's clear to see why.
More
Best Castles In Horror Games
Whether just a set piece or the main area, castles lend themselves well to the horror genre.
3
