Usually, horror games introduce a slew of enemies, each with its horrific properties. What makes for excellent enemy design for a horror game is something that can send shivers down a player’s spine. An enemy can become terrifying depending on its appearance and sound design. Game mechanics are also fundamental when encountering such fearsome enemies. Dying against these enemies in horror games is one of the most frightening experiences for players.
In this list, we’ve discussed enemies that were some of the most frightening ones to encounter and might have stayed with players in their nightmares.
Updated on February 18, 2023, by Nicholas Pence: We’ve updated this list to bring it close to our current formatting standards, and along with that, we’ve included eight more enemies that are remembered by every fan of horror games.
18 Nightmare – Five Nights At Freddy’s 4
Nightmare in Five Nights At Freddy’s 4 is one of the last animatronics in that game. The noises this enemy makes are memorable. There is a deep, ominous laugh that it carries. It also makes a high-pitched ring when its severed head sits on the bed or closet. The way he looks when he is hovering over the door – ready to grab the player – is something out of a hellish realm.
His killing sound and still image are a little lacking. However, his other set-ups in the game make up for this one not-so-scary mishap.
17 Twin Victims – Silent Hill 4
When it comes to making a terrifying monster, the obvious way is usually less rewarding than trying for new ways to spook, such as with Silent Hill 4’s Twin Victims. The Twin Victims are a rarer enemy in Silent Hill 4, being murdered twins now taking the appearance of conjoined twins in a cloak, with adult arms acting like bird legs.
While they still only act as a more threatening but still basic enemy, the Twin Victims excel in presentation. The Twin Victims have one of the more unique introductions, simply standing and pointing at Henry like a statue, whispering a message until he gets close when they spring to life. On top of that, when knocked down, they begin to writhe and cry like children, making fighting them extra disturbing.
16 Terry Akers Proxy – Soma
Terry Akers Proxy from Soma is a terrifying sight to behold. He has crusty cancerous soles all over his body. He is heavily disfigured and looks like someone had previously cut him in half. The disfiguration all over his body is scary, but what makes Terry such a horrific enemy to deal with is his behavior.
Terry might be blind as a Proxy, but his hearing makes him rush after the player. If the main character, Simon, turns on his flashlight or turns it off, Terry will hear it. The addition of the developers making him appear next to the player and starting a chase whenever they run is petrifying. Terry screams and flails his arms around during the chase, usually catching and killing the player if they don’t have a significant head start.
15 Mr. X – Resident Evil 2
Sometimes though, the presentation comes less from the monster themselves and more so from the presence they have and the role they play, the biggest example of this being the flashy Mr. X from Resident Evil 2. Mr. X or Tyrant is an Umbrella Corporation creation made to retrieve evidence and kill any witnesses in Racoon City Police Station, chasing down the characters to accomplish this.
What makes Mr. X so terrifying, aside from his stature and unstoppable nature, is his appearance — he will patrol the entire building and appear when the player least expects it. What makes Mr. X so terrifying is his persistence, always stalking the player at every moment and managing to always track them down, and his scripted sequences are only more terrifying.
14 Ghosts – Silent Hill 4
But while games can go the classic route, games also offer a new route of horror through gameplay and how enemies can be menacing through that, such as Silent Hill 4’s ghosts. Ghosts are a type of enemy seen throughout the game rarely, being victims of serial killers who now are horrific abominations.
While ghosts are already terrifying with their fleshy introductions, the main key to ghosts being terrifying is that they cannot be killed, only slowed or held in place by a limited resource. This makes them a constant threat you cannot stop, a whole new type of terror. And this only gets worse in the end game, when characters you meet return as even more horrific and deadly ghosts, making for a final chapter that is both hard to survive and emotionally hitting.
13 White Face – Imscared
One of the key things that can be comforting with horror is coming out knowing there is no real danger and there is a thick wall of fiction between you and any threat… But what if that began to break? Enter: White Face. White Face is the main antagonist of the strange indie horror game, Imscared, a strange disembodied head that haunts you throughout the whole nightmare.
White Face isn’t a being that will be physically scary but instead will haunt you psychologically, toying with you as they hide just out of view, treating you like prey to stalk and play with. And this toying nature doesn’t end when the game closes as White Face will leave files on your desktop, messages that taunt and remind you that you aren’t safe, making them an inescapable threat.
12 Lisa – P.T.
While you can go with more obvious methods to mess with the player, horror usually works best in subtle ways, sometimes able to be to the point players may not realize there’s a monster, like with Lisa from P.T. Lisa is a ghost that haunts the strange, endless hallway in this playable teaser, tormenting and messing with the player the entire time while staying out of sight most of the time.
Lisa as an enemy, is meant to be confusing and hard to understand. Lisa will appear at random, being nearly impossible to predict, and sometimes she can possess the player, causing them to start hearing extra footsteps and other noises, and in this state, even just turning around becomes a horrific experience as she can attack. Combine this with all the other horrifying effects of the hallway, plus the fact Lisa is actually behind you the whole time, and you have a nightmarish game enemy.
11 Regeneradors – Resident Evil 4
But to be a truly good horror enemy, you need a good mix of both terrifying appearance, memorable presentation, and intimidating gameplay aspects, and the Regeneradors of Resident Evil 4 have this. Regeneradors are bioweapons created by Los Illuminados, beings with multiple parasites that allow them to regrow their limbs.
Regeneradors already nail the presentation with their designs being simplistic but perfectly terrifying, especially with how they calmly walk toward the player rather than anything outright threatening. But the true terror comes in trying to take them down as they can prove nearly impossible sometimes due to regrowing their limbs, able to continue attacking no matter how little is left of them. And to make matters worse, you get to face even more horrifying versions later in the game with Iron Maidens.
10 Pyramid Head – Silent Hill 2
But a perfect horror game monster isn’t just something scary to avoid — like the best monsters of horror, it will have something to say in regard to the story. Pyramid Head is the perfect example of this. Pyramid Head is a creature that stalks the player throughout Silent Hill 2, a strange masculine figure with a helmet and executioner clothes wielding a massive blade.
While Pyramid Head is probably the best of Silent Hill’s chasers, Pyramid Head serves a greater purpose in the story. Like every enemy in Silent Hill 2, Pyramid Head is a manifestation of Jame’s broken mind, being both a figure of guilt and punishment but also a representation of James himself, being the only masculine monster in the game with a streak of violence and abuse. Pyramid Head is more than a simple monster, he is the cornerstone of James’ character arc and, for that alone, stands as one of the best.
9 Xenomorph – Alien: Isolation
The Xenomorph is Alien: Isolation is one of the perfect renditions of the Xenomorph from the first Alien movie. Players in this game are completing missions while constantly being stalked by the giant monster. The model’s movements are horrific. The way it sounds lugging its body around the map is also scary.
The Xenomorph is quick and agile. Some of the main character’s death animations (like getting pulled through a vent) are enough to jolt the player out of the action. The game ensures that players never feel safe from the Xenomorph.
8 Servant Grunt – Amnesia: The Dark Decent
The Servant Grunt in Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a very iconic staple of the horror genre. The Servant Grunt is mangled in all of its appearances. Players cannot tell if the enemy is some type of Frankenstein’s Monster or someone who was heavily tortured. This adds to the realism of the sanity gauge that the game has for players.
The horrible nature of this enemy adds tension to situations. Players can’t kill this or any other enemy in the game, so they’re only left with the option of running away. This might be the weakest enemy in the game, but it still comes with a uniquely disorienting physique.
7 Laura – The Evil Within
Every time Laura appears in The Evil Within, it catches the player off guard and shoots adrenaline into their body. During her first appearance, she shoots out of the remains of a mutilated corpse. She can travel through the bodies of corpses in between rooms.
Her appearance and movements are what make her extra creepy. She moves like something that people might see in a nightmare. Her long dark hair makes her very reminiscent of the stringy-haired ghost trope that first appeared in traditional Japanese tales as an onryo.
6 Baby – Resident Evil: Village
Everyone fortunate enough not to see this until now must be confused and disgusted. Baby from Resident Evil: Village is exactly what it sounds like – a giant disfigured baby that’s body is twisted. The weirdest part of this hideous monster is his distorted versions of noises an actual baby would make.
This enemy will also swallow the main character whole if it catches up to him. It leads to a disgusting demise as players watch the drooling baby creature devour them.
5 Revenant – Phasmophobia
The Revenant is the most challenging ghost to deal with in Phasmophobia. If players are caught in a chase with one of these ghosts, they must try to find a place to hide as soon as possible. The ghost has almost double the speed of other ghosts, making The Revenant a greater threat.
What makes the Revenant and Phasmaphobia overall creepy is that this ghost can appear with any of their 11 ghost models. So, players can’t judge what type of ghost it is and then simply run away to win the game. They still have to conduct a full-on investigation while the Revenant embodies a creepy ghost model and figure out what’s causing their team so much misfortune.
4 Broken Neck Woman – Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
The Broken Neck Woman from Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is not a friendly site to behold. For anyone who accidentally watched the Grudge as a child, this ghost will send them to bed with a nightlight. She is not the hardest enemy in the game to fight, but she is frightful.
Watching her lunge at the main character will surely make some scream. She has a Kimono, the design of which represents that she’s dead. Everything from the sounds she makes to the eerie ways she walks makes this one of the most ghastly specters on the list.
3 Lurkers – Dead Space
Lurkers from Dead Space are horrible because of how they were created. Every Lurker comes from a dead baby and sometimes, on the rarer side, dogs. That’s a pretty messed up enemy for the players to kill. They look like mangled alien lumps with exposed organs.
The overall being of these little creatures is off-putting. They have three tentacles that shoot out of their backs. The tentacles move around, and players need to shoot them off to kill the enemy. The baby-created monsters can additionally attach themselves to walls, making them appear out of nowhere.
2 Marguerite Baker – Resident Evil: Biohazard
Just looking at Marguerite Baker from Resident Evil: Biohazard is enough to induce nightmares. Her face is heavily disfigured in her original form, and she shoots bugs at players. She is also unkillable when players first encounter her, which makes for a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
She’s even more terrifying during her boss battle form, where her limbs will elongate, giving her a spider-like feel. The way Marguerite looks while she tears down the house are chilling. She will smash through the wall and reach for the player. Sometimes she’ll even bust through the ceiling, grabbing the player from above. This is a fight where players’ hearts will not stop racing.
1 SCP-173 – SCP: Containment Breach
While Pyramid Head may be the most recognizable horror monster in games, they aren’t the most effective enemy, the best in that regard would have to use gameplay in the most fascinating and terrifying way possible: Enter SCP-173 from SCP: Containment Breach. SCP-173 is a strange anomalous monster that can only move when not observed and snaps anyone’s neck it can, and when the facility has a breach, it becomes your worst nightmare.
What makes SCP-173 so fascinating is how it forces the player to behave in different ways because you can’t just run from it, you have to carefully observe it and find a way to lose it without losing line of sight. And every encounter is made more terrifying as it inches closer as you’re still forced to blink, letting it get closer and closer until you find a way to get away. And with how much it dominates your thought process, it pairs excellently with the other SCPs of the game, making for one hell of a monster.
