With it being Halloween day, we here at A Gaming Website reminisce over the characters that made us cringe in fear (and maybe other things). With all the scary games out now, finding video games with actually scary monsters is quite the challenge. Games seem to be focusing more on cheap jump-scares rather than developing truly frightening enemies that instill fear into the player. To give credit to titles that gave us those fearful enemies, we present the top 10 scariest monsters in video games. (Characters from movie based games will be neglected from the list i.e. Alien from Alien Isolation)

Gatherers (Amnesia) (Honorable Mention)

Upon release of Amnesia: Dark Descent, gamers were introduced to the horrific sight of the Gatherers. These disfigured beings were the main antagonists tasked with stopping players from escape. Without anything to fight back, the player must use their wits to evade the Gatherers to progress through the story. These Gatherers search castle Brennenburg for the player, but sadly lack much intelligence when hunting. Nevertheless, being unarmed, these claw wielding monsters are enough to ensure your lack of sleep.

10) ReDead (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

Few action-adventure titles are as recognized, and remembered as the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. With that being said you wouldn’t expect such a title to appear on the scariest monsters list. Those who have played OoT remember one monster to instill fear into you. The ReDead are the evil zombie creatures that walk the earth during Ganondorf’s rule. With the ability to freeze the player with its terrible screech, there is nothing worse than slowly watching the ReDead walk towards Link until it wraps around him eating away at his hearts.

9) Crimson Heads (Resident Evil Remake)

Zombies are scary, it’s that simple. Slow shambling corpses inching their way towards you ready to devour your flesh is a horrific sight. What if when you put down one of these terrible undead they came back again? In comes the crimson heads from the Resident Evil Remake the living redead zombies that are faster, and more vicious, that the previous incarnations. Crimson heads are formed by the re-death of normal zombies that don’t have the cranium destroyed. Donning a red skin color with an even higher hunger and you easily have one of the scariest monsters in the Resident Evil series.

8) Shibito (Siren)

The normal concept of a zombie is an undead being who has lost everything about what they once were. Siren’s adaptation of zombies known as Shibito are a new look at zombies. Shibito are intelligent beings that retain some of their personality traits from when they were living; those who worked in the fields before their infection still work the fields sort of idea. With that being said, Shibito are smart enough to hunt the player and use weapons against you.

What makes the shibito scarier than normal zombies is the fact that they don’t stay dead. Shibito only fall into an unconscious state for a set amount of time that varies. Some Shibito could revive instantaneously, while others could take a few minutes to come back. The fact that these beings can’t die, are intelligent enough to hunt you down, and use weapons is easily the reason why they are some of gaming’s scariest monsters.

7) Necromorphs (Dead Space Series)

Yes zombies are scary, but they just wobble towards you at a speed of 1 mph? What makes it even less scary is the fact that they scratch you or bite you, not really too scary. What if zombies had sharp claws, and ran at incredible speeds with the ability to tear you to shreds? The Necromorphs from Dead Space are just that.

The Necromorphs aren’t like zombies where a well-placed shot will put them down, you’ll need to completely dismember them. Cut off their legs and they’ll crawl, cut off their arms and they’ll bite you, cut off their head and they’ll swing wildly until they find and kill you; creepy enough right? Coming in a variety of different forms, the Necromorphs are more than enough to scare the hell out of you whilst they disembowel what’s left of your corpse.

6) Lisa (P.T.)

Arguably the scariest game of all time, P.T. (Playable Trailer) puts players in a seemly inescapable looping hallway that deteriorates through each pass-through. Listen to the radio on your travels and you’ll learn about a pregnant woman named Lisa. This horrific one-eyed being stalks the player as they traverse through the seemingly endless hallway. With her eerie crying, and the ability to haunt the player, Lisa is without a doubt one of the scariest monsters in gaming. Just don’t let Lisa grab you, if twisting your neck 180 degrees, and who knows what else she does to your dead corpse.

5) The Groom (Outlast: Whistleblower)

When you here the name Outlast, you expect over an over-the-top horror experience with disturbing characters. In the Outlast DLC story, Whistleblower, players are “treated” to one character that tops the cake for insanely creepy beings in the Outlast franchise. Eddie Gluskin is a patient at the Mount Massive Asylum for killing, and mutilating various women; he already sounds like such a loveable guy…said nobody ever! Eddie Gluskin, once escaping incarceration, is out to find the girl of his dreams; thus earning the Groom moniker. The main problem is Gluskin intends to make the player his wife by mutilating you, and removing your manhood. If there is one person on  this list I especially don’t want to be left alone in a room with, the Groom ranks pretty high!

4) Kusabi (Fatal Frame 2)

The Fatal Frame franchise is known for providing incredible jump scares that make players almost fly across the room in fear. What many players who haven’t played the franchise don’t know is that the series provides foes that instill nightmares into grown-adults. The Kusabi is a being that appears across the second and third installment of the series, and like many of the beings on this list, is somewhat immortal.

The Kusabi is born from a failed ritual where the person is continuously slashed, hanged, and thrown into a hellish abyss. After seeking vengeance upon the village that murdered the victim, the Kusabi destroyed the village and shrouds it in darkness; and guess what village you’re in (hint, you’re not in the safe village). With the ability to kill the player with one touch, and immortal in various parts of the game, the Kusabi is one nightmarish spirit. If that wasn’t enough, in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented the Kusabi can appear randomly to attack the player; maybe you should just avoid the village that sacrifices people.

3) Alma (F.E.A.R.)

There are many things that walk this Earth that are just pure evil, little girls. One little girl that stands out is Alma from the 2005 hit F.E.A.R. This little girl is out for revenge against the Armacham Technology Corporation, and she knows how to exact that revenge. Armed with incredible psionic powers, Alma can tear a room full of people apart with her mind. With such powerful abilities, the player can only run upon seeing this dark-haired devil child; or face a horrific death that would make most people vomit upon witnessing the aftermath.

 2) Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)

The bogeyman differs from person to person portraying the viewer’s biggest fears. For James Sunderland, his bogeyman happens to be Pyramid Head. Pyramid Head is a being that wears a giant helmet stalking the grounds of Silent Hill. Contrary to popular belief, Pyramid Head is a type of being rather than just one; so there are many different Pyramid Heads that roam. Not only is its presence alone ominous, the pure brutality and obscene actions that Pyramid Head commits on the demonic beings themselves proves that Pyramid Head is one monster you don’t want to see in a dark alley.

1) Reborn Laura (The Evil Within)

When you hear the title The Evil Within, most gamers will immediately associate the game with Walmart brand version of Pyramid Head known as The Keeper; or the informal name Safe Head. While The Keeper was an incredibly intimidating foe that would cause nightmares for gamers for weeks, there was a foe far more scary in the game.  Ruvik’s sister, Laura (or Reborn Laura) is a walking spider-like monstrosity. While being nearly immune to bullets would make Laura a threat to behold already, she can teleport throughout the map to consistently stay on Sebastian’s back; and cause players to consequently s**t their pants. Just remember to keep your distance from Laura’s grab attack, one touch = instant death!

Do you agree with our list? Let us know what monsters you think should have made the list in the comments below, and make sure to check back daily for new gaming content!