Steam is by far one of the best sites for PC players to purchase games and play them on their computers. Undoubtedly, Steam offers a wide variety of games in a variety of genres for players to enjoy through Steam. Whether one wants to play a cozy, adorable, and relaxing game or wants to engage in intense battles and shooter games, PC players are likely to find everything they want on Steam.
That also includes spine-chilling horror games. Horror has been a favored genre for players for many years. The fear and horrifying experiences that these titles induce have been a top choice on both consoles and the PC.
Interestingly, unlike other platforms, Steam permits plenty of unheard Horror games for players to enjoy. Thus it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Steam has some of the best horror games out there.
Best Horror Games on Steam
Here are some of the best horror games that players can enjoy on Steam:
Resident Evil 7
With a 10/10 rating on Steam, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is one of the scariest and most intriguing horror games on Steam. Launched in 2017, it is a survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. In the game, the player gets to control Ethan Winters, who is in search of his long-missing wife in a derelict plantation that is occupied by an infected family while solving puzzles and fighting enemies.
In 2017, Ethan Winters, visits a derelict plantation in Dulvey, Louisiana, after receiving a message from his wife Mia, who has been missing for three years. On arrival, he explores a seemingly abandoned guest house, only to find Mia imprisoned in the basement, she tells him she did not contact him at all.
While the two try to escape, Ethan is attacked by Mia and receives a call from a woman named Zoe offering assistance. Ethan later learns from Zoe, who is the daughter of the homeowners, Baker’s family, that she, her family, and Mia are all infected with the same ailment, which can be cured by a special ailment from her mother.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is also a first-person adventure survival horror game with a 10/10 rating on Steam. The game was developed and published by Frictional Games originally for Windows and Mac in 2010 and later adapted onto consoles.
The game allows players to take control of Daniel, who must navigate Castle Brennenburg while avoiding various dangers and solving puzzles. On 19 August 1839, Daniel awakens in the dark and empty halls of Brennenburg Castle in Prussia without any memory about himself or his past. All he remembers is his name, the fact that he lives in Mayfair and that something or someone is hunting him.
After regaining consciousness, he finds a note that he wrote to himself, stating that he has deliberately erased his own memory and that he is being hunted by a “Shadow.” The shadow is an unearthly presence that manifests itself through fleshy, acidic growths spreading throughout the castle. The note further instructs Daniel to visit into the Inner Sanctum of the castle to find and kill its baron, Alexander.
Interestingly, it was this game that a popular gamer and YouTuber streamed in his early days and eventually shot to fame.
Phasmophobia
Another 10/10 horror game on Steam is Phasmophobia. The paranormal horror game developed and published by British indie game studio Kinetic Games is based primarily on the popular hobby of ghost hunting. Phasmophobia was first available in early access through Steam for Windows, thanks to the virtual reality support in September 2020.
In this horror investigation survival game players get to play from a first-person perspective. The player player is either solo or in a group of three other players. They then must complete a contract where they must identify the type of ghost haunting the specified site. As players gather evidence to determine the right ghost type and survive, they will earn the majority of the cash and XP in the game.
Outlast
In Outlast, players step into the role of an investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, exploring Mount Massive Asylum and trying to survive long enough to discover its terrible secret. Developed by Red Barrels, this survival horror game has an entire series of its own. Outlast has a solid 10/10 rating on Steam.
Miles Upshur is a freelance investigative journalist who receives an anonymous e-mail telling him that inhumane experiments are being conducted at Mount Massive Asylum, a private psychiatric hospital. The asylum is owned by the notoriously unethical Murkoff Corporation. When Miles enters the hospital, he is shocked to discover its halls ransacked and littered with the mutilated corpses of the staff.
A dying officer of Murkoff’s private military unit informs Miles that Mount Massive’s deranged inmates, known as “variants”, have managed to escape and are freely roaming around, butchering Murkoff’s employees. He then encounters multiple variants who try to attack him as he tries to escape.
Slender: The Arrival
Slender: The Arrival is a first-person survival horror video game developed by Blue Isle Studios and is the fifth video game adaptation based on the Slender Man mythos. Released first for PC in 2013, the game is rated 9/10 on Steam. The game revolves around the story of Lauren, who comes to support her childhood friend Kate to sell and move out of her childhood home, bringing a video camera with her.
On reaching Kate’s house, Lauren finds her friend is missing. As she tries to trace the whereabouts of Kate, she encounters several paranormal objects and experiences, including a tall, faceless figure called the Slender Man, who can only be seen through her video camera. Slender Man’s behavior changes as the player proceeds the levels of the game.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a video game series as well as a media franchise created by American video game developer and writer Scott Cawthon. The first video game was released on August 8, 2014, and its worldwide popularity resulted in it being developed as a full series. The series consists of nine video games revolving around a fictional family pizza restaurant franchise named “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”, after its mascot.
Freddy Fazbear is an animatronic bear whom the player (a night-time employee) must fight using tools such as security cameras, lights, doors, and vents. The game is rated 9/10 on Steam. The game has now been adapted into a movie as well.
Alien: Isolation
A 9/10 on Steam, Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly in 2014. The game is based on the Alien film series. It takes place 15 years after the events of the original 1979 film, wherein players play as engineer Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, who is investigating the disappearance of her mother in the space station Sevastopol.
Set in the future, Amanda Ripley learns that the flight recorder of her mother’s ship, the Nostromo, has been located 15 years later in 2137. The flight recorder was retrieved by the salvage ship Anesidora and is being preserved aboard Sevastopol. Sevastopol is a Seegson Corporation space station orbiting gas giant KG-348 in the Zeta Reticuli star system. On arriving with her two companions, they find the station damaged and external communications offline.
After being separated from her companions and exploring the station on her own, Ripley finds the flight recorder of the Nostromo. However, the data has been corrupted. She also discovers that the station is out of control due to a deadly Alien creature lurking aboard.
Dead Space (2023)
Dead Space, released in 2023, is a remake of the 2008 game of the same name. The remake, developed by Motive Studio and published by Electronic Arts, enjoys a good 9/10 on Steam. As engineer Isaac Clarke, the players must navigate the mining spaceship and fight the Necromorphs while also struggling with growing psychosis.
The game is set in the 26th century, where starship engineer Isaac Clarke and the crew of the repair vessel Kellion are assigned to USG Ishimura, a massive planetary mining ship that has gone silent above the planet Aegis VII. While they investigate a distress call, the crew of the Kellion are attacked by Necromorphs, creatures made from mutated human corpses. Isaac is forced to protect himself while also trying to save his crewmates and discover the truth behind the loss of the Ishimura.
Silent Hill 2
As old as 2001, Silent Hill 2 still remains one of the best horror games on Steam. The survival horror game was developed by Team Silent, a group in Konami Computer Entertainment from Tokyo, and published by Konami. As the name suggests, it is the second installment in the Silent Hill series. Silent Hill 2 is based on James Sunderland’s journey. Sunderland, a widower, makes his way to the town of Silent Hill after he receives a letter from his dead wife telling him that she is waiting there for him.
Mary, his wife, had been suffering from an illness and died three years ago. While exploring the town of Silent Hill, he encounters and befriends a group of kids. While searching a local park, James meets Maria, a woman who strongly resembles Mary but with a more assertive personality. Maria claims to have never met or seen Mary. On their quest to find Mary, James and Maria are attacked by the monster Pyramid Head. Maria is killed while James escapes.
Later, he finds Maria alive and unharmed in a locked hotel room. This time, Maria claims ignorance of their previous encounter and starts discussing details of James’ and Mary’s relationship that only Mary would know. James sets off to find a way to free Maria but returns to find her dead again.
Darkwood
Darkwood is a survival horror game developed and published by Acid Wizard Studio using the Unity engine. It was initially released through Steam Early Access in 2014, followed by a full game release in 2017 for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The game is set in a mysterious dark forest in the Polish People’s Republic, wherein the main characters have been trapped. The game enjoys a 9/10 on Steam.
Polish People’s Republic, according to the developers, is somewhere else in the Soviet Bloc. Here, a mysterious forest engulfed a large amount of land in the late 1980s and is continuing to expand. Many people have been trapped by the forest, and a plague is ravaging the survivors, killing and causing victims to transform into monsters and abominations.
This includes a group named “The Outsiders” of government officials and soldiers who were sent to investigate the woods. By the time the game takes place, most of the Outsiders are dead or evacuated from the zone.
During the prologue, the player takes control of the doctor who searches for supplies. He seems to be disillusioned with his job of helping locals and is adamant about escaping the forest. After the prologue, the player assumes control of “The Stranger”, who is searching for the stolen key that can lead him through an underground passageway out of the forest.