Top 10 Horror Games That Ruined Our Childhood

Though it may not have been released just yet, “My Friendly Neighborhood” is still worth mentioning due to the topic we’re discussing. In case you haven’t heard of this title, “My Friendly Neighborhood” puts you in the role of a repairman sent to investigate the weird oddities occurring on a puppet show. Yes, this is a survival horror game that is very heavily inspired by “Sesame Street”, and seeing the dopey muppets getting blasted to bits is admittedly hilarious. Still, there’s something about their blank stares and the dark environments that makes our stomachs churn a bit. What’s going on around here?

If you’ve ever seen old cartoons from the early to mid-1900’s, you’re most likely aware of just how disturbing and adult they can get. “Bendy and the Ink Machine” takes the “old cartoon” theme and cranks the disturbing imagery up a few notches. As Henry Stein, players explore an abandoned animation studio where a mysterious device brought demented versions of the studio’s flagship characters to life. From there, one will discover a story filled with office politics, jealousy, and possibly cult rituals. You won’t look at “Felix the Cat” or “Steamboat Willie” the same way ever after playing this.

“Baldi’s Basics” was another one of those horror games that disguises itself as something far more innocent than it actually is before laying in the fear. Upon booting up, it looks like any other edutainment game you would have seen on an MS-DOS computer. However, one impossible question lands you in a heap of trouble with the game’s titular antagonist who will chase you around the school while smacking a ruler against his hand. Really, it’s the rough and outdated visuals that make “Baldi’s Basics” seem more haunting than it probably is, and it’s most likely why it struck a chord with so many players.

Show of hands - did anyone else grow up with a Furby? You know, those mechanical bird-like beasts that talked to you and had their own personalities? Well, if you thought those things were cute and cuddly (for...some reason), “Tattletail” might change your perception. It starts out somewhat innocent; you’re a child who cannot wait for Christmas, so you head to the basement to open your Christmas present early. Honestly, our eyes widened after hearing this thing talk for the first time. Things get really alarming when other Tattletails begin to show up, especially the demented “Mama” unit. Yeah, let’s pray Furbies never become popular ever again.

Something about carnival rides doesn’t sit well with most folks. For some, it can be the moments in complete darkness. For others, it’s the fact that you’re restrained in a metal box and have no control over where it might go. “Rush of Blood” combines the two fears and creates a carnival ride of terror that’ll make you swear off from going to another county fair ever again, regardless of how colorful it may appear. The game continuously puts you in dark environments as the ride “breaks down” and leaves you stranded in enclosed areas, giving you nothing more than a couple of shabby pistols to defend yourself. It’s a wild ride through and through, but it can get a little too wild.

Every now and again, the world is given some new toy that many craze over while others get insanely creeped out by it. That stuffed monkey with the cymbals, Teddy Ruxpins, the Troll dolls, and not to beat a dead horse, but Furbies, too. “Poppy Playtime” isn’t going to make kids’ toys anymore charming either. While exploring an abandoned factory owned by the Playtime toy company, you’ll encounter living, demonic versions of the company’s products. At the time of this video, we’ve only seen the nightmare-inducing Huggy in Chapter One, and the titular antagonist, Poppy, isn’t a warming doll herself.

Remember the days of spending hours in the living room playing the new video game your parents got you for your birthday or Christmas? “Duck Season” is a VR shooter that lets you relive those days, but this “Duck Hunt” parody is more than just a shooting gallery. As it lulls you into a sense of security, you can’t help but feel something is off. Is it the outrageous commercials aimed at kids? Is it the dopey-looking dog? Without getting into spoiler territory, we’ll say this - if home invasion movies fill you with anxiety, then “Duck Season” is going to be traumatizing.

This is another horror game that has yet to be released, but like “My Friendly Neighborhood”, it is still worthy of being on this list. For years, the internet has made Thomas the Tank Engine into a total meme, and “Choo-Choo Charles” plays with those memes by sending a train with spider legs after you. As you try to avoid Charles, you’re going to need to explore the land and gather resources to beef up your own modest train. Will you be the one to put Charles out for good? Or will you become his next victim? One-man developer, Two Star Games, hopes to have a full game out sometime in 2022, and we cannot wait to face the really deadly engine ourselves.

We all had our own desires for cutesy, anime visual novels and dating sims at one time or another. As most folks would know by now, “Doki Doki Literature Club” happily wears its adorable appearance on its sleeve, but some dialogue hints at the nightmarish imagery lurking underneath its facade. Eventually, you’re no longer in a lovable and welcoming visual novel about a high school book club - you’re another plaything in one of the characters’ disturbing game. It’s this left turn that caused many to flock over “Doki Doki Literature Club”, and it’s also the reason why we’re immediately suspicious towards almost any anime visual novel now.

Of course we had to put “Five Nights at Freddy’s” at the top spot. Say what you will about it - it’s played out, there are too many sequels, it relies on jumpscares too much, whatever. The thing is though that FNaF showed the potential in warping childhood memories into nightmare fuel. The creepy Chuck E. Cheese aesthetic of its characters and environment captured the internet back in 2014, and it almost immediately launched the IP into blockbuster status to the point where we now have books, fan games, and even a movie in the works. Had FNaF not revealed its then-untapped market, we probably wouldn’t have gotten many of the games we’ve covered in this video.