Editorials
Bloody Disgusting’s Dead Pixels Picks the Best Horror Games of 2018!
*Keep up with our ongoing end of the year coverage here*
While plenty of controversies have surrounded the industry in 2018 (Crunch! Loot Boxes! The person who approved The Quiet Man!) there was no mistaking what a damn fine year it’s been for actual games. There’s been fantastic big budget titles, instant indie classics, and VR having a banner year.
Even in the realm of horror games (and what we can call horror-adjacent), there’s been a fine selection and we at Bloody Disgusting’s Dead Pixels have selected 20 of the best games that tickled our particular fancy this gaming year.
A small note that there’s not going to be any games such as Red Dead Redemption II, Assassin’s Creed Odyessy or Tetris Effect on the list. As great as we think they are, it’d be an extreme stretch to pop them in here (though I’d imagine paying certain levels of Tetris Effect under the influence might do a psychological number on you).
Now, on to the main event! How many did you play?
Dark Souls Remastered (Multi-Format)
One of the most beloved games of the last generation, it always seemed likely Dark Souls would get a remaster at some point. in 2018, fans could return to Lordran once more, with the game even coming to a Nintendo machine for the first time.
It’s a bare-bones remaster (especially so on PC), but it is still Dark Souls, resplendent in its beloved challenging majesty.
Subnautica (Multi)
Survival takes to the seas, and with it brings a novel twist on the genre. Subnautica sees you stranded on an alien world where the ocean dominates the landscape and all that is to be discovered lies beneath the surface.
Subnautica is a strong single-player survival game, and the intimidating unknown of its undersea world and the helplessness it inflicts on you make your plight a nerve-shredding survival horror. At least there are fleeting moments of unusual beauty to relieve the pressure now and again.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Multi)
We’re still waiting on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a spiritual successor to the 16-bit era of Castlevania games, but this year, we did get a small taste of what to expect with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, a spiritual successor to the 8-bit era of Castlevania games.
Curse of the Moon unashamedly pays tribute to the NES games of its ilk, with a few modern twists in its gameplay structure. After all the fear over the eventual quality of Ritual of the Night, it’s as much a surprise as it is a relief to get a game as good as Curse of the Moon.
It’s not quite as tough as its influences, but it is still a sizeable and unyielding quest.
Hollow Knight (Multi)
It was a good year for the 2D roguelike adventure, especially those you could dub ‘Metroidvania’ style ones. The hauntingly beautiful Hollow Knight was chief among them.
A largely monochrome world of battling insects filled with surprisingly deep and rich lore, Hollow Knight rewards your patience with detail, and you’ll definitely need that patience because Hollow Knight is a hardy challenge.
The Forest (PC, PS4)
Survival rears its head again, and The Forest is another great example of it. Stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash, you must survive a brand new hell where a clan of cannibalistic mutants rule and are out to make you dinner. There’s clear inspiration from The Hills Have Eyes and The Descent on display here and it’s all the more unnerving and raw for it.
While Subnautica‘s horror in the unknown, The Forest‘s is in the knowledge of what is out there and doing everything possible to keep away from it at all costs.
DUSK (PC)
25 years to the day that DOOM graced the world with its greatness, DUSK shows up and comes across as the missing link between Id Software’s iconic shooter and Id’s other iconic shooter, Quake.
DUSK is a fast-paced throwback to 9o’s shooters that sees you rip and tear your way through cultists, goat demons and chainsaw-weilding bagheads. It starts off as a modern retelling of PC shooters circa 1996, but the deeper you delve, the greater its individual talents shine through with fantastic level design taking center stage.
Into the Breach (PC, Switch)
Subset Games garnered plenty of praise for its procedurally-generated spacefaring game FTL, and with Into the Breach, and its take on the world of turn-based strategy, and done wonders all over again.
You’re in control of an artillery unit that travels back in time to the start of an alien invasion in the hopes of rewriting history s they don’t destroy the planet. If the damage reaches critical levels, the team (whatever remains of them anyway) is thrust back through time to try again.
It paints a grim, yet defiant, picture where every little victory feels like it was against all odds and the ominous shadow of defeat and destruction always lingers closely.
The Persistence (PSVR)
2018 has been a great year for VR games, and naturally, VR horror is involved in that. The Persistence channels the sci-fi horror atmosphere of Dead Space and Alien Isolation but has the added bonus of putting you right in the action.
You are tasked with course-correcting a doomed space station that shifts and changes shape. The other big problem you’ve got is that the ship has a cloning machine on board in case the crew dies, and naturally, it’s gone haywire and started creating psychotic mutant versions of the crew and they’re stalking the halls between you and your objective.
The VR intimacy coupled with the ever-changing state of the station makes for one of the most dread-inducing games of the year.
Monster Hunter World (Multi)
After multiple entries on handheld consoles, Monster Hunter came back to the big time with Monster Hunter World, and got the praise and sales it deserved.
Monster Hunter World sees you indulge in a glut of deceptively strategic missions where you and your friends played a game of cat and mouse with the wildlife, and sometimes, you’re unwittingly made to be the mouse. The ecosystem of the game world is breathtakingly detailed, and learning about it helps you become a better hunter.
The thrill of finally felling a particularly tough beast is one of the sweetest triumphs in gaming, and usually, you can make a nifty hat out of a tooth or something!
Prey: Mooncrash (Multi)
This standalone expansion for 2017’s very good Prey sees you simulating the memories of the crew on a moon base where the Typhon (the main game’s shadowy, Venom-esque alien threat) have taken over.
There’s a variety of objectives from a variety of viewpoints and to begin with, you can only do so much in one run before your time inevitably runs out. The goal is to piece together the memories of the crew and rescue them all in one majestic, panicky run.
On every run, there’s a gargantuan beast lurking about the place that’s practically unstoppable, so most playthroughs are akin to the final twenty minutes of Alien or Aliens as you race against time from a doomed base before something gets you.
The Exorcist Legion VR (PSVR, PC)
All these years later and The Exorcist is still scaring people. In writing, in film, on television and now it’s in virtual reality.
The Exorcist Legion VR takes heavy inspiration from the events of The Exorcist III but is served in brief, interconnected chapters of unnerving terror. There’s a nice tonal shift between chapters, with slow-burn scares wrung out in different ways.
Shout out to its detective office episode hub, where you too can fumble the simple act of collecting a coffee from the vending machine. Truly the horror never ends.
Vampyr (Multi)
Life is Strange developer DONTNOD’s first post-Arcadia Bay project sees them take to early 20th Century London for a morality-based action RPG with vampires.
Paying as a doctor turned creature of the night, you stalk the plague-ridden streets of London, encountering monsters and hunters alike as you seek out answers, and possibly a cure, for your unwanted vampirism.
There’s a few rough edges to combat and the visuals that don’t quite match DONTNOD’s ambitions, but on the whole, it’s a richly atmospheric experience. Plus, there’s just not enough vampire games around these days, so it’s nice to see a good one in Vampyr.
Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
It’s such a joy to see the beauty of Shadow of the Colossus brought to a whole new audience this year. With a complete visual upgrade (and a few quality of live improvements to the way it handles), the 2018 remake shows just how magical the game has always been.
Each battle with these gigantic, majestic monsters is an audiovisual treat, making you feel so small and insignificant as you struggle to clamber up their titanic, intimidating forms. Quite simply, Shadow of the Colossus is still a masterpiece thanks to a smart and respectful remake.
Phantom Halls (PC)
A roguelike set in a haunted house? With a Scooby-Doo style team fighting off a selection box of monsters? Where every B-movie horror trope is given love and a gentle, playful mocking? And There’s Evil Dead 2 DLC??
You can see why Phantom Halls would be a favorite for Dead Pixels on premise alone, but it’s happily also a great game too!
Paratopic (PC)
There are two games on this list that can be finished in under an hour, yet pack plenty into their brief playtime. Paratopic is the first of them, and its short bizarre experience is one of 2018’s best surprises.
A grimy, surreal, lo-fi first-person adventure, Paratopic is more than a little inspired by Twin Peaks, but still manages to flaunt its individuality plenty during the 40 or so minutes spent in its company. To say too much would spoil it (it’s under an hour after all) and really, Paratopic deserves you going in as cold as possible.
September 1999 (PC)
And the other ‘short’ game on the list is September 1999, which clocks in under six minutes, but boy does it make an impact in that time. Its creator 98DEMAKE made 2018 a fruitful year with his brief and punchy titles which also included the surreal OK/NORMAL.
All I can say about September 1999 is it’s a novel way of handling the found footage genre in an interactive form, and that it definitely earns its horror chops. An expanded sequel is coming and even without knowing much about it, it’s already one of our most anticipated horror titles for the coming year.
Hitman 2 (Multi)
The bald-headed murder machine continues his fine form with this refined sequel that proves to be a more consistent and satisfying version of the 2016 Hitman (which is packed into Hitman 2 in an improved form if you already bought it previously).
Agent 47 has half a dozen more puzzle boxes of death to play within Hitman 2, including a superb mission in a leafy Vermont suburb that is amongst the best in the entire series.
The cherry on top is Ghost mode, where two players vie for the same targets in their own separate versions of the game map, and see who can eliminate all their targets first without panicking and botching the whole job.
Death Road to Canada (Multi)
Death Road to Canada is part text adventure, part zombie survival game, and these parts mash together to make one of 2018’s funniest, goriest indie titles.
The text adventure side sees you interact with other survivors on the fabled ‘Death Road to Canada‘ itself, determining how screwed you are by what qualities the people in your party have. Not got a dog lover among your party? Well, you won’t be getting that mean-looking pooch to join your merry band of zombie killers.
The survival part sees your group head into walker-heavy towns, buildings, and even sewers to look for supplies, survivors, and most importantly, gas for your car. Making your way to Canada is never easy and you’ll lose more than a few of your group over the many, many attempts, but when you do finally make it? Such a good feeling.
Dead Cells (Multi)
Dead Cells compliments Hollow Knight nicely. Offering up a different take on the same roguelike adventure template. It’s like classic Prince of Persia fused with Castlevania and it has a satisfying gameplay loop that sees a quick five minute run turn into hours with alarming ease.
What’s surprising is Dead Cells black sense of humor. With the player character being a sentient slime blob attached to a warrior’s corpse, the interactions it has with the decaying world are very unsympathetic and often hilarious in its coldness.
But it’s the hack n’ slash adventuring that’s the main draw, and Dead Cells‘ combat and traversal are utterly sublime, with plenty of grisly modifications to your arsenal to help you slay the castle’s monsters a bit more efficiently.
God of War (PS4)
Every little concern about God of War‘s new direction proved to be for nothing as arguably, Kratos has never been in better form than for Sony Santa Monica’s 2018 entry.
Despite being a more subdued ball of anger these days, Kratos still rips and tears into a catalog of Norse mythology with blood-soaked rage. The sensational opening fight against a mysterious opponent is an utterly breathtaking battle full of brutal slugging that leads to the ground itself being split in two through the sheer force of the two blood-soaked combatants.
Among the monsters, gore, and spectacle is a far more tender God of War, with Kratos struggling to protect his son Atreus from the truth of his lineage whilst the pair head on a personal quest to honor a promise. Also, you have the Leviathan Axe, which can be thrown like a boomerang and cleaves enemies in two. Y’know, just in case you worried the God of War was getting soft.
After fifty years of continuous writing, Stephen King has become a genre unto himself.
The unrivaled Master of Horror made a splash in 1974 with his debut novel Carrie and has been terrifying readers ever since. Two years later, Brian De Palma brought this shocking story to the screen with an equally electrifying horror film that remains a genre classic and a prototypical example of “Good For Her” horror. This dual debut seemed to open the floodgates, unleashing endless waves of Stephen King films.
From the highs of Misery, Cujo, and The Shawshank Redemption to the schlocky fun of Cat’s Eye, Creepshow, and Children of the Corn, the last five decades have seen just about every notable horror creator take a stab at the author’s massive collection.
In recent years, this singular subgenre has begun to burst at the seams, expanding to include Stephen King-esque fare. In 2016, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer debuted Stranger Things, a sci-fi series heavily inspired by two of King’s most famous books. The Netflix series remixes Firestarter and It by following a little girl with psychic powers and an intrepid group of kids on bikes who must battle an otherworldly foe and a sinister government agency. With its clever blend of modern effects and comforting nostalgia, this gateway horror series paved the way for Andy Muschietti’s It adaptation which remains the highest grossing horror film of all time.
Four years later, Mike Flanagan would create Midnight Mass, a spiritual adaptation of King’s second novel Salem’s Lot. Published in 1975, the book sees a tiny New England town torn apart by a centuries-old vampire. Though Flanagan’s story is perhaps more tender, both iterations of the classic horror tale follow close-knit communities shaken to their core by the presence of an ancient evil.
In addition to these recent hits, 2025 was a banner year for the Master of Horror. Audiences delighted in six mainstream adaptations, including the massively popular It: Welcome to Derry which chronicles earlier cycles of the titular clown’s reign. With this boost to King’s cultural cache, it’s no surprise that we’ve begun to see more unofficial adaptations of the author’s work and horror creators who build their own unique castles in King’s creative sandbox.
So what defines a Stephen King-esque story?
For the past fifty years, the prolific author has dipped his toes in nearly every subgenre from supernatural stories and grisly gore to western fantasy and science fiction. Including his vast catalogue of short fiction, King has tackled ghosts, demons, werewolves, zombies, aliens, mutants, and self-driving cars, not to mention bizarre monsters of his own creation. But what truly unites this vast array of horror is King’s focus on relatable characters. In his 2000 memoir/instructional text On Writing, the prolific author describes the amusement he finds in writing disparate characters, placing them in horrific scenarios, then exploring the ways they try to survive.
An unofficial Stephen King adaptation may take place in the author’s native New England — bonus points if it’s set in Maine — and reference his well-known heroes and villains. But what makes the King connection unbreakable is a character-driven story about average people who band together in the face of abject terror.
Weapons Captures Small Town Stephen King
Following his 2022 shocker Barbarian, Zach Cregger returned with Weapons, a sprawling story that begins in a doomed elementary school. On an otherwise ordinary day, Justine (Julia Garner) arrives at her desk to find that all but one of her students have disappeared. As the mystery grows increasingly violent, Justine and Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of a missing boy, find their way to the home of Alex (Cary Christopher), the class’ only surviving student. In some ways reminiscent of Salem’s Lot, Weapons swings wildly through the unfortunate town, introducing us to its flawed inhabitants as we watch their lives fall apart.
Cregger’s setup nods to a pair of King short stories. Both “Suffer the Little Children” and “Here There Be Tygers” tackle monstrous presences in elementary schools, but as Weapons reaches its final act, Constant Readers may remember another Stephen King tale. Featured in his 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, “Gramma” introduces us to George, a little boy tormented by an aging witch. On an afternoon alone with his sickly grandmother, the frightened child gradually realizes that the imposing old woman has been waiting for an opportunity to cast a spell that will extend her own life by possessing his body.
Alex finds himself similarly tortured by his aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), a garish witch who orchestrates a desperate plot to sustain her own strength. Transforming humans into mindless weapons, Gladys has taken over Alex’s family home and lured his classmates to the basement. Holding them in a comatose state, she syphons off their energy to extend her own supernatural life.
Vastly different in many ways, both “Gramma” and Weapons hinge on a sinister witch who uses horrific magical spells to sacrifice the bodies of her vulnerable prey.
Hokum Echoes The Shining and 1408
It’s nearly impossible to watch a film about a haunted hotel without thinking of King’s third novel, The Shining. This icy story follows Jack Torrance, an angry writer struggling with his sobriety and a shameful incident haunting his past. Accompanied by his wife and young son, Jack has taken a job as the winter caretaker for the Overlook, a haunted hotel situated high in the Rocky Mountains. Snowed in, Jack finds himself tormented by dangerous ghosts who amplify his greatest fears.
Damian McCarthy’s Hokum follows a similarly troubled figure. Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a surly writer who travels to the Bilberry Woods Hotel in rural Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. Haunted by his own tragic past, Ohm finds himself trapped in the honeymoon suite, a decaying room that’s been permanently closed to protect visitors from a dangerous witch trapped within its walls. Visual nods to King’s text abound with woodcut figurines and an animated clock, mirroring ominous descriptions found in King’s text.
Another terrifying sequence sees Ohm staring with horror at a closed door, the only thing separating him from the approaching witch. As the door knob slowly turns, Constant Readers remember Jack’s narrow escape from the ghostly woman in room 217. And Ohm’s popular Conquistador books directly reference King’s long-running fantasy series The Dark Tower which follows a gunslinger named Roland Deschain tasked with protecting the nexus of the universe.
In addition to these thematic comparisons, Hokum bears striking resemblance to King’s terrifying short story “1408.” Collected in 2002’s Everything’s Eventual, the terrifying story follows Mike Enslin, a dejected writer who’s risen to fame penning essays about his adventures in haunted locations. Mike arrives at the Hotel Dolphin and bullies his way into the titular room, despite the manager’s dire warnings. McCarthy nods to this story with an ominously misplaced hotel room door, reminiscent of King’s entry to 1408, an unsuspecting portal that appears to move each time Mike looks away.
However, McCarthy’s most direct reference lies in a minicorder Ohm uses to capture notes. Trapped inside the dreaded honeymoon suite, this device offers well-timed messages while sitting next to a decomposing corpse. Mike records his time in 1408 with his own trusty minicorder. Described for the reader, his tape has captured the man’s slow descent into madness as the room prepares to swallow him whole. With conclusions that differ wildly in tone, both Ohm and Mike find their lives irrevocably changed by encounters with the supernatural realm.
Widow’s Bay Builds Its Own Version of Castle Rock
Katie Dippold’s Widow’s Bay has taken the idea of an unofficial King adaptation and turned it into an art form. The Apple TV series sees the residents of the titular island plagued by a curse that dates back centuries. Not only does the picturesque hamlet not accommodate wifi connections, those born on the island face certain death should they ever try to leave. Desperate to modernize the tiny town, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) draws in waves of tourists just as a new cycle of terror begins.
Blending horror with deft comedy, Dippold makes cheeky references to King’s body of work. Tom warns that, “there’s something in the fog,” reminding readers of King’s 1980 novella The Mist. And Loftis’ own stay in the town’s haunted hotel sees him tormented by the ghost of a murderous clown. We even spy a vintage King hardback peeking out of a local book trade box.
In many ways Widow’s Bay feels like a new iteration of the author’s Little Tall Island, a tiny village off the coast of Maine. In addition to the 1992 novel Dolores Claiborne and a handful of harrowing short stories, this quaint fishing village is also the setting for King’s 1999 teleplay Storm of the Century. Premiering on ABC primetime, this tragic tale follows a terrified group of islanders who batten down the hatches for a dangerous Nor’easter only to find a more sinister threat lurking within.
Constant Readers may also be reminded of Castle Rock, the author’s favorite fictional town.
First introduced in the 1981 novel Cujo, the charming village becomes the star of Needful Things, King’s satire about consumerism. After several Castle Rock stories, we’re reintroduced to its residents as they gossip about the arrival of Leland Gaunt and the grand opening of his curio shop. Anything their hearts desire can be found in his varied inventory, so long as they’re willing to pay the price. Pitting cantankerous neighbors against each other, Gaunt ignites a wave of grisly violence by exploiting long-held resentments and feuds.
The town’s only defense against this supernatural threat is beleaguered sheriff Alan Pangborn. Still grieving the deaths of his wife and younger son, Alan struggles to connect with his older child and pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Also a widower, Loftis struggles to raise his own restless son and explain the strange details of his wife’s tragic death. Attempting to unravel the island’s dark secrets, Tom is aided by quirky residents including a surly fisherman named Wyck (Stephen Root) and Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), an earnest Town Hall employee. King’s own novels feature many of these proactive alliances with disparate characters combining their strengths to overcome insurmountable odds.
With Widow’s Bay renewed for a second season and Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series on the horizon, the future seems bright for new King adaptations, both spiritual and directly pulled from his catalogue. The prolific author also shows no signs of slowing down with two publications nearing release. His upcoming novel, Other Worlds Than These, is the long-awaited third Talisman book which teases direct ties to his Dark Tower world. Holly Forever will be a new installment of his crime series, offering a different kind of genre fare.
This embarrassment of riches spawning multiple worlds seems ripe for spiritual adaptation and will likely inspire horror creators for decades to come.
Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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