As our staff has been enjoying October and all the spooky seasonal fun, we’ve been debating the most memorable, frightening places in video games. We believe video games hold a unique position among the various mediums of art because they hold the power to not only scare, but to transport into the terrifying realm of experience. Below is our list of must-see locations in gaming.

The Science Laboratories and Freezers (Resident Evil 4)

While Resident Evil 4 isn’t known to be the scariest title in the franchise, I distinctly remember the moment when I encountered the Regenerators and Iron Maidens in the latter portion of the game. I chose the Resident Evil 4 remake as my entry to the series (I am a late starter, okay?) because there was a lot of action and camp over the survival-horror elements from the previous numbered titles. Honestly, I had no issues shooting past the Ganados and bug-like Novistadors. From my trek through the village and the castle, I never needed to pause the game and put the controller down; however, when I arrived on the island and explored the obligatory lab level, I discovered something truly terrifying.

For those that don’t know, Regenerators and Iron Maidens are massive, pale humanoids that can’t be shot down easily. Initially, they are suspended in tubes, but as the game progresses, you either must shoot them out, or they reanimate. In addition to their horrific design, what seared these moments into my brain was the fact that I needed to use the thermal scope to reliably take them out in time. The Plagas will illuminate in their bodies, and you need to shoot those precise spots before they reach you. If that wasn’t scary enough, they would start crawling to you as you take town the Plagas within. So, imagine a massive, fleshy monster worming your way at an uncomfortable speed, making it even more difficult to deal the final blow.

Then, there’s the Iron Maidens, who are considered an “evolved” form of the Regenerators. They have spikes that can also dislodge in an almost self-destruct manner once you kill them. I’ve played many Resident Evil titles since then, and my encounters with the Regenerators and Iron Maidens in the depths of that island are still one of the scariest experiences I’ve had with that series.

–Stephanie

The Sewer Hatchery (Kingdom of Night)

Kingdom of Night presents itself as an 80s-inspired action-RPG. While it plays up the typical tropes and throws some absolutely ridiculous cliches around, the supposedly nightmarish demons lean more irritating than horrifying. The map is huge, so you spend a lot of time running around and feeling caught in a somewhat campy, B-movie horror, and then you meet the M.E.G. in the sewer hatchery. With the same colorful 80s palate, she’s not significantly scarier than the rest of the demons and monsters. You don’t fight her. There’s no jump scare moment. The horror is gradual. Because she wasn’t always a demonic monster.

She was a young girl named Sarah who had been tortured to the point of being terrified of her own name. She calls the demon who rapes her, her husband. She calls the eggs she has been mutated to create, her children. Even when faced with her former best friend and words about her father waiting for her and wondering where she is, Sarah remains what the villains tormented and experimented on her to be. No matter whether you free her or not, she’s never saved. Even at the end of the game, when every other named character is seen to have a happy ending, she’s never mentioned or seen in her original human form. A creepy teacher who hits on his students magically becomes a better teacher and no longer a pervert. A boy who was in a coma at the start of the game is waking up despite dying to bring down one of the game’s bosses in a scene that implies he would’ve died already if that demon hadn’t kept him alive. Sarah remains unmentioned. No throwaway lines, no newspaper even hinting that she didn’t go missing as she had originally with this magical no-demon reset.

For me, the fact that the developers didn’t think we needed closure on the person who suffered the most horrifying damage, and that the achievement involved with her was called “Vanity Thy Name is MEG” because she was tricked into believing she had been recruited by a modeling agency when the villains’ kidnapped her, speak volumes. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to think about that game without helpless dread and disgusted rage bubbling up.

–Eli

The Dollhouse (Nighthawks)

Nighthawks is a game with many points and places that put you, the player, the rising star in the vampire elite, in incomprehensible danger. Only one of them conveys abject horror on a level few games reach. Arriving in what seems to be a routine missing-persons quest, you find suspicious rusty red stains in the sink and a dollhouse where the occupants appear to move on their own. Once you enter the quest proper, you find yourself bound to a front-row seat in a nightmarish family drama where the few disparate clues take on awful significance, with you only being able to follow the memories from room to room, piecing things together as the play reaches its horrifying conclusion. It’s at once novel and deeply twisted, leaving you unable to look away.

–Sam

Mount Massive Asylum (Outlast)

I remember the first time I played Outlast like it was yesterday. The room was pitch-black, obscuring the light from the outside. I drove up to the hospital and started my journey inside. I didn’t know much about Outlast besides the fact that it was a horror game, so imagine my surprise when the investigative journalist decided not to bring a gun. All I had was a night vision camera and my skill as a gamer, which was questionable in terms of horror games. I only lasted five minutes before I turned off the game. A little later, some friends came over, and I played Outlast with them yelling at every jump-scare and close call. It was a pinnacle moment of my high school days. Ever since then, I’ve watched more horror games than played them, but no game really brought me back to the helplessness of Outlast.

–Chandler

The Dissection Room (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard)

The atmosphere of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is creepy and disgusting all around from beginning to end. The main antagonist and patriarch of the Baker family, Jack, is a force to be reckoned with. You’re either hiding from him, running from him, or fighting him and every encounter is anxiety-inducing. Eventually, there’s a boss fight against him in the basement’s dissection room. I was already having trouble dealing with the Molded down there; and next thing I know, I’m pushed right into a three-phase battle with creepy, persistent Jack who is moving at an uncanny speed in this tiny locked pit. I hate being chased in real life and in video games, so it was easy for this fight to leave a fear-filled impression on me. It didn’t help that he was wielding chainsaw scissors and taunting me. I failed over ten times trying to beat him. Never again.

–Ren

The Deepnest (Hollow Knight)

The Deepnest from acclaimed Metroidvania Hollow Knight is a creepy, vile place that can scare even the bravest of visitors. Once inhabited by an intelligent civilization of arachnids who refused Hallownest’s monarchy, when The Infection spread to the Deepnest, those who didn’t flee have succumbed to its destructive force. By navigating its dark and narrow pathways while fending against the infected spiders that crawl through them, there’s plenty of things that can trigger various phobias in the explorers who dare to pass through. From the Stalking Devout, worshipers of Herrah the Beast, queen of the Spider Tribe, to the nasty Corpse Creepers, who awaken from the husks of other defeated creatures, this wasteland has no shortage of critters that can make your skin crawl.

One notably terrifying thing that lurks deep down in this area is Nosk. At first, it takes the shape of the avatar before revealing its true form as a large, long-legged creepy-crawly, then jumping swiftly around its lair. In the background of the fight, lifeless creatures hang from threads, some of them looking like Hollow Knights, which adds to the menacing feel of this boss. Of all the places that make up Hallownest, The Deepnest may be by far the scariest. Arachnophobes, enter at your own risk!

–Christian

The Shelter (Pathologic)

Pathologic does not necessarily advertise itself as a horror game. So the first time I, a naive and clueless child looking for badly translated janky games for cheap, got to the games second day; I was still under the impression that it was 100% an immersive sim or visual novel with some light RPG elements. So when the events of the day two main quest started ramping up the horror elements, with characters talking about a sentient killer disease out to kill the player, I started to get a little nervous.

Later on in the day, however, when you’re tasked with entering a house full of the sick to retrieve an important quest item, I was starting to really feel the tension. Your first encounter with the sinister plague begins as you step into the decrepit home and are greeted by a delirious woman. There’s a clever bit of suspense building as she warns you that her sisters have been infected with the plague, and to avoid them at all costs. After you grab the quest item and turn around to leave, as you round the corner, they both silently appeared behind you, now blocking the only exit, and begin chasing you for a hug! The combination of the janky old animations, the complete lack of horror or supernatural elements beforehand, and the terrifying ambiance made me totally lose it. I didn’t end up going back to the game until years later, totally traumatized.

–Avery

Crookback Bog (The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt)

Humans are afraid of the alien and the unknown. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt’s narrative knows this exceptionally well. Early in the narrative, you come across a series of huts dead in the middle of the swamp of Velen, otherwise known as Crookback Bog. The Crones of Crookback Bog dwell here, the sovereigns of Velen, twisters of human fate, and weavers of the threads of destiny. They use their black magic to hear all happening within the swamps through human ears they’ve hung off the trees. They weave tapestries in their image made of children’s hair, and their magic is maintained by the blood and flesh of children that get sent to their domain for misbehaving.

The Crones have shapeshifting capabilities, portraying themselves as youthful women in their tapestries. However, the truth is much more grim. All three of them reveal themselves to Geralt in their authentic and grotesque forms; the Weavess’ eye socket is crawling with maggots burrowing into her skin while having a stillborn fetus’ legs sticking out of her stomach, both the Whispess and the Brewess have facial coverings, amplifying the understanding that humans are indeed afraid of the unknown. The Brewess wears a medieval beekeeper mask on her face while being the largest of the three, her engorged flesh oozing through ropes and chains confining the vile tissue, and Whispess also wears a facial covering, carries a bag of severed human limbs with her, and wears an ornate necklace of severed human ears.

These characters are as horrifying as they are vile in appearance. Being based partly on Baba Yaga from Slavic and Eastern European folklore, and partly on the 3 witches from the Shakespeare play Macbeth, the Crones spun a fake superstition to the local populace that when their children misbehave, they send them down the trail of treats (essentially biscuits hanging from the trees down a certain path) which leads them to the Crones. The tale goes that they get disciplined by the witches, and go on to leave Velen and become immensely successful. The truth is much more grim; The children instead get killed and turned into human soup by the Brewess.

When I first played The Witcher 3 back in 2017, I came upon this place right before I went to sleep that night. Safe to say, they left both an impression on fifteen-year-old me and gave me nightmares for the times to come. This location and these antagonists are among the most frightening I’ve ever come across in any storytelling medium.

–Alexander

The Haunted Dungeon Labyrinth (Hogwarts Legacy)

The first location that came to mind is in a side quest in Hogwarts Legacy called “Minding Your Own Business.” This quest has you seeking to open your own business in Hogsmeade. Sounds safe enough, right? Actually, what makes this quest stand out is that you need to go into an underground labyrinth that is haunted. And not silly Hogwarts haunted; I mean really haunted.

The further you dive into the maze, the creepier things get with mannequins that move when you aren’t looking, jump scares, and enough darkness to dampen anyone’s spirits. It was an engrossing side quest that felt different enough from the rest of the game, making it a great spooky addition.

–Josh

Fociaugh Hollow (Final Fantasy XV)

The other location that has stayed with me is from Final Fantasy XV; the place is called Fociaugh Hollow, a cave that features plenty of jump scares from Goblins. FFXV has its fair share of creepy moments, but this one stands out because of how well it leans into the horror vibe. I’m not one who likes jump scares so this one stood out really well because I was slow to walk through it. It did a great job, for me, to build that tension of not knowing when a monster would show up to scare you. Final Fantasy XV definitely has its flaws, but this dungeon is not one of them.

–Josh

Xenomorph Hive on Castor’s Cradle (Alien: Rogue Incursion VR)

The Xenomorph hive is one of the most iconic, terrifying places in all of science-fiction and horror. First seen in the 1986 film Aliens, the hive is a place of pain, despair, and death; those captured by the Xenomorph are dragged half-alive down to the bowls of an industrial installation, cave, or ship, where they are cocooned to the wall, hands and feet encased in resin, waiting for the spider-like Facehugger to emerge from an egg and attach itself to the victim’s face. Later, the “survivor” wakes to find a serpent-like parasite known as a Chestburster breaking out of their body—the last thing they will ever seen in this life.

Many games have recreated the hive in terrifying detail—Alien: Isolation is perhaps the best and most celebrated instance. Navigating the hive as Amanda Ripley in a game where the Xenomorph is impervious to weapons certainly captures the powerless feeling of being inside such a place. But Alien: Rogue Incursion gives players the unique experience of surviving a hive in virtual reality. The game was first released in VR, then later on traditional platforms in the modified version Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition; but that initial release in VR remains one of the most exciting and nightmare-inducing experiences of my gaming life.

(Spoilers ahead) Early in the game, players (through the eyes of Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks) make a valiant last stand in the mess hall against wave after wave of Xenomorphs. Eventually, the ammo runs out and the screen goes black as you succumb to the inevitable. Most players (myself included) think they’ve simply lost the battle and are waiting for the save to reload; however, the lost battle is a feature not a bug. Players wake up inside a Xenomorph hive, cocooned to the wall. Six Ovomorphs (Xenomorph eggs) can be seen in the dim light and haze. As you look around in VR, you hear the slimy sucking sound of the egg flaps opening. You struggle and an adult Xenomorph charges you and slams its tail into the wall near your head, hissing in your face. Message delivered. You have no power here. It moves off into the depths of the hive.

Desperately, you work your hand loose as the Facehuggers begin crawling toward you. The service revolver from your last stand somehow made it with you and is just within reach if you try harder. You grab it just as a Facehugger crawls up your body, toward your face—and you blow it away. An adult Xenomorph screeches in the distance as the other Facehuggers emerge one by one, moving toward you. You make perfect shots and manage to kill them, but now you’re one round short. Empty weapon and one more Facehugger. You struggle, but you know it’s over. The creature leaps at your face and you see it extend its proboscis toward your lips before you go unconscious.

After impregnation, you wake from nightmares in which you saw the Chestburster explode out of you; thankfully, you’re awake and still alive. There’s still time, but you need to escape. You manage to get loose from the resin but the adult Xenomorphs block all the exits to the hive. They won’t kill you (you’re incubating their offspring), but you won’t be allowed to leave. It’s a rare opportunity to walk around a Xenomorph hive without the threat of being killed, since you’re already a “dead woman walking” so to speak. Despite knowing I was in no immediate danger, the hive in VR was still terrifying. I’ll never forget walking right up to a Xenomorph, taking in its full size in VR. Absolutely terrifying. Eventually I figured out that I could climb up the walls to get out, and as I crawled over a cocooned worker, a Chestburster exploded out of him near my face. What a moment!

–David

Tell us what you think! What are your most memorable and frightening places in video games you’ve played. Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord, Facebook, and Twitter.