Games That Make You See Horrors Where There Are None

Summary

Pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing patterns such as faces where they might not be, aided prehistoric survival by recognizing threats.
Video game horror uses pareidolia to evoke fear in players.
Fatal Frame uniquely uses pareidolia with shadowy ghosts. Other games use it with faces in trees or grainy pictures.

Perception of patterns that seem significant, like faces or other shapes, even when they don’t truly exist – this is what we call Pareidolia, as explained by Greg Rienzi in his piece for the Johns Hopkins University magazine.

Inborn within us is the ability to perceive and identify familiar, frequently significant patterns. This talent allows us to see the likeness of an elderly man in tree knots, the form of an animal among clouds, or even a person on the moon.

Essentially, it’s believed that pareidolia, the tendency to perceive patterns or objects in random stimuli, helped ancient humans stay vigilant and safe by allowing them to spot potential threats from a distance. This early warning system was crucial for their survival as they often faced danger from predators. Today, however, creators of horror video games exploit this instinctive response to generate feelings of eerie suspense and sudden fright.

6. The Evil Within

Why Not Try Flash Bolts?

Although the gruesome elements found within “The Evil Within” may be frightening, it’s often the enemies that leave players pondering unseen horrors which can be the most chilling. The notoriously challenging Invisible Haunted are excellent illustrations of how these ghostly creatures from “The Evil Within” make players doubt their perceptions.

In Chapter 5, Sebastian is pursued by an ethereal manifestation of the Haunted entities he’s encountered during the game, yet this time, he can’t spot them to defend himself. Players must remain vigilant and observe subtle clues in the surroundings, such as movement or environmental patterns, to tackle these barely discernible adversaries. This effectively showcases the unsettling aspects of the The Evil Within game franchise.

5. Blair Witch

It’s Not Just Trees Out There

Trees often trigger pareidolia, a phenomenon tapped by the Blair Witch lore, contributing to its eerie feel. In dense woodlands, where one might get isolated, and with tree trunks resembling vaguely human figures, viewers (or players in Bloober Team’s Blair Witch game) experience heightened unease and uncertainty. The persistent feeling that an observer lurks among the trees adds to the suspense.

As a dedicated fan, I can’t help but appreciate how skillfully The Blair Witch Project employs diverse tree forms to play with our minds through pareidolia. There are spindly, towering trees that evoke the eerie image of forest-roaming monsters by night, while sturdy ones with sprawling roots resemble outstretched arms or engorged veins, heightening my sense of unease. The chilling thought that the movie’s secondary antagonist, Carver, is lurking among those trees, concealed and ready to strike, only adds to the creeping paranoia.

4. The Voidness

LIDAR Horror Survival Game

Developer: SteelKrill Studios
Release date: 2023
Platform: PC
Website

The Voidness” is an outstanding indie horror game that cleverly exploits the peculiarities and constraints of certain technology, tapping into players’ instinctive urge to discern significant patterns. The primary method of exploration in “The Voidness” involves employing a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanner to generate a 3D model of an area called the void.

Absolutely, a horror game wouldn’t feel complete without mysterious entities lurking in the shadows. In this case, players must decipher the strange readings from the LIDAR system to navigate their way to the evacuation pod while avoiding these unseen threats.

3. Silent Hill 2 Remake

Is That A Shadow Or A Figure In The Fog?

In the entire Silent Hill series, there’s a peculiar balance between pareidolia and the unsettling feeling of the uncanny valley. Creatures that resemble humans are far from recognizable, while things that should be inanimate appear to have human-like features unexpectedly. Worse yet, objects that should never take on human characteristics do so in a way that’s truly disconcerting. The Silent Hill 2 Remake effectively captures this unique form of horror by using implied rather than explicit human forms to induce fear.

In the original “Silent Hill 2”, players often needed to draw conclusions about enemies due to graphical limitations. Although the remake doesn’t have these constraints, it continues to use vagueness strategically, causing players to question their surroundings. The dilapidated town and thick layers of fog in the game can make players perceive dangers that aren’t actually there, which aligns well with the “Silent Hill” series’ characteristic style.

2. Iron Lung

It’s Not An Exploration, It’s An Execution

The “Iron Lung” demonstrates how imperfect technology can lead to pareidolia. In this game, you’re trapped inside a run-down and decaying submarine, known as the Iron Lung, where your task is to gather images for an upcoming expedition. You are a criminal considered disposable, so this situation doesn’t bode well for your survival.

As the player moves around, they can capture blurry images to get a sense of what’s happening beyond their immediate surroundings, with no windows offering a direct view. Instead, their perspective is entirely shaped by the camera and the controls of the Iron Lung. Consequently, when strange, bone-like shapes and faces start showing up in these grainy snaps, it’s downright chilling.

1. The Fatal Frame Series

They Can See Things Other People Can’t

No other game employs pareidolia quite like Fatal Frame. In the Fatal Frame series, ghosts are typically indistinct and shadowy, often appearing at the edge of a player’s vision or suddenly charging towards them. Frequently, players may misperceive patterns in the game’s natural settings, like mountains or decaying manors, as ghostly apparitions.

In this scenario, capturing ghosts requires using a Camera Obscura to snap their pictures. The nearer the ghosts approach before being photographed, the greater the harm they inflict. Given that this method is risky and causes anxiety, players are always on the lookout for spectral entities lurking in the shadows.

2025-02-08 17:07