The 10 SCARIEST Moments in Silent Hill Games
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“P.T.” (2014) One of the scariest – if not the scariest – video games of all time was indecipherable as being a new “Silent Hill” until the very end, but its undeniably terrifying gameplay kept players going even before it had a famous IP attached to it. “P.T.” sees you simply exploring the same corridor, over and over again, while getting terrorized by the ghost of a woman named Lisa. Lisa is angry and she wants you to know it, and no matter how many times she catches you you’re still going to be scared out of your skin. The sound effects, character design, and the jittery animations she always does, all combine to make “P.T.” a horror experience like no other.
Giant Eileen Head
“Silent Hill 4: The Room” (2004) Eileen is Henry’s next-door neighbor, and much like Room 302 itself, she’s something of a fixation for Sullivan. You’ll find an incredibly disturbing manifestation of this in “Silent Hill 4’s” Hospital World, whereupon entering a certain room, you’ll be greeted by the sound of heavy, labored breathing. Then you’ll be face to face with Eileen’s enormous, twitching head. Henry can go right up to the head – though why would he want to? – and her eyes will follow him no matter where he turns. The head isn’t hostile or dangerous, but its mere existence will make your skin crawl.
You Are the Monster
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“Silent Hill 2” (2001) You spend the entirety of “Silent Hill 2” guiding James Sunderland through the titular town, killing monsters and trying desperately to escape Pyramid Head – himself one of the most iconic villains of all time. But the true antagonist in “Silent Hill 2” isn’t Pyramid Head at all, but James himself, and Pyramid Head actually represents James’s guilt about the death of his wife Mary – because he’s the one who killed her. The moment where you finally learn this from a grainy videotape, despite not being a jump scare, remains one of the most horrifying and uncomfortable plot twists of all time. And then you have to keep playing the game afterward!
Lisa’s Death
“Silent Hill” (1999) Plenty of characters you meet in Silent Hill are up to no good, but that’s not the case for Lisa. Lisa is an innocent nurse caught up in the nightmarish Otherworld, and her encounters with Harry as one of the only somewhat normal people are definitely a relief. Up until the very end, that is, where Lisa finally discovers that she’s not a person stuck in the Otherworld at all; she’s a ghost. The gruesome cutscene that follows, as Harry tries to flee Lisa in horror, shows blood running down her face as she collapses. It’s the fact that she didn’t deserve this fate, as well as Harry locking her in, that makes this moment so chilling.
Borley Haunted Mansion
“Silent Hill 3” (2003) The Lakeside Amusement Park where much of “Silent Hill 3” takes place wouldn’t be complete without a haunted house – and since this attraction is in the middle of the world’s scariest town, it’s got a lot to live up to. It starts off smoothly enough, the house’s tour guide even tells some jokes, but things quickly take a turn for the worse when Heather finds herself running through the hallowed halls from an ominous, red light. Like so many things in “Silent Hill”, it’s never clear what this light is, just that getting caught by it is something you definitely want to avoid. And of course, it leads you into a room full of monsters.
Walk to Silent Hill
“Silent Hill 2” (2001) While many people end up in Silent Hill by accident, James travels there on purpose – but when he first arrives at Toluca Lake he still has quite the walk ahead of him to get into town. Since this was the second game we knew we were in store for something disturbing, and this opening was definitely that. Though it takes a long time for James to run into anything that actually threatens him, the oppressive fog is ever-present from the beginning, directly obscuring the path ahead. Combine that with the endless descent through the woods and the unnatural sound effects, and you’ll want to quit the game long before you reach Silent Hill itself.
Scarlet
“Silent Hill: Homecoming” (2008) This early-game boss represents the deceased daughter of Dr. Fitch, Scarlet. It rises up from a pool of Fitch’s blood as he bleeds to death, made from both the blood and a possessed doll that once belonged to the girl. Scarlet is truly terrifying for anybody with a fear of haunted, porcelain dolls – which is probably most people out there. Tall and spider-like, it’s a frightening and formidable fight, with Alex still not quite wise to what’s going on, and showcases some of the series’ best boss design. “Homecoming” is often overlooked but it certainly doesn’t skimp on the scares.
The Mirror Room
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“Silent Hill 3” (2003) Heather Mason isn’t a big fan of mirrors, so of course, you weren’t going to get through the entirety of “Silent Hill 3” without that fear manifesting itself in full force. Heather ends up trapped in a room with a giant mirror making up one of the walls, face-to-face with herself – and then she starts to change. The mirror-Heather and the room around her begin to leak blood; it oozes from every surface and eventually starts to seep through the mirror itself. If you spent too much time watching the reflection you may not have enough left to find the escape route, leaving you doomed to drown in there. Before we unveil our final pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions:
Mannequin Storeroom, “Silent Hill 3” (2003)
This Scare Will Give You Flashbacks to the Previous Game’s Iconic Enemies.
Pyramid Head’s True First Appearance, “Silent Hill 2” (2001)
Because Seeing Him Behind Those Bars is Unbearably Ominous.
The Bogeyman, “Silent Hill: Downpour” (2012)
This Child’s Fear of the Bogeyman Came True in an Incredibly Gruesome Way.
The Otherworldly Alley
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“Silent Hill” (1999) The original game may not be quite as well regarded as its immediate sequel, but it’s a masterclass in horror, nonetheless. That’s never clearer than in the very first time we ever transition from the real world to the “Otherworld” where most of the games take place. Searching for his daughter Cheryl, Harry follows her into an alleyway that steadily transforms into the Silent Hill of nightmares. The camera angles will start to change to be more bizarre and unsettling, blood and viscera are splashed across the walls, and that notorious air raid siren begins to sound. The fact you had absolutely no idea what to expect was what made this so spine-chilling – and it still holds up decades later.
