Editorials
6 Unforgettable Jump Scares In Video Games!
Let’s talk about jump scares. Not everyone likes them. In fact, ever since some of our favorite franchises took the inevitable plunge into action horror, jump scares have become the bane of many a horror fan’s existence. Dead Space has been criticized for relying on them too heavily, Doom 3’s abundance of monster closets were a common complaint, and more recently, Capcom tried to toss a few into Resident Evil 6 — Leon’s campaign in particular — in their attempt to make it appeal to horror fans. That obviously didn’t work, but sometimes, a jump scare can be well designed. Like any good scare, timing is important, as is building up to the moment (and I’m not talking about fading the music before a loud noise — I’m looking at you, Hollywood).
You might not be a fan of them, but when they’re well done they can be great. Here are six games that did them particularly well.
That’s A T-Rex! – Dino Crisis
After that abysmal third game, Capcom decided to sweep Dino Crisis under the rug. I imagine it sits in the darkness of that big, evil rug, patiently waiting next to other prematurely shuttered franchises like Red Faction and Prince of Persia for another chance. The thing is, as a series, Dino Crisis was actually one of the best. The first game was especially terrifying, as it mixed terrifying, long-extinct monsters with classic staples of the genre, such as item conservation, puzzles, and an atmosphere thick with dread.
But we’re not just talking about Dino Crisis, so let’s get specific. One of the most terrifying moments ever is when the T-Rex busts through the window and tries to eat you. Usually, it succeeds in finding its snack, though that’s mostly because 99% of gamers dropped their controllers out of sheer fright (the other 1% died on the spot — rest in peace, you guys).
The Broken Neck Woman – Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
If you haven’t experienced the horrifying series that is Fatal Frame, there’s a good chance you’re young and live in the States. Sadly, the latest game in the series hasn’t made it stateside, so the last Fatal Frame game you could’ve played — barring any shady black market dealings you might’ve had — was with Fatal Frame III back in 2005. That’s a long time to go without the unique thrills that only that franchise can provide, and I’m sorry, but Spirit Memoir sucked.
It was surprisingly easy to pick my favorite scare (though I’ll admit I never finished The Tormented, so I’m mainly drawing from the first two games here). It’s the Broken Neck Woman. Sounds spooky, huh? That’s because it is. This wicked spirit gets her kicks by introducing herself to you in the same manner in which she passed on: by dropping down on your unsuspecting ass from above. Did I mention she emits a blood-curdling scream as she falls, because she totally does. She broke her neck when she fell, so that’s how her ghost makes itself known, and I hate to say it, but I think that may be more effective than my technique of violently swinging open a bar door and winking at the nearest waitress as I confidently request she pour me a pint of their strongest lager.
It Isn’t Dead – Dead Space
Just wait a second before you angrily scroll down to the comments where you plan to prepare the meanest of rants that absolutely tears me a new one for including a game from a series that’s practically brimming with jump scares. As much as I love this series, I’ll agree that it might rely a little too heavily on loud noises and things suddenly jumping out at you, but for every one of those is an incredibly well-designed scare that actually works. I almost went with the multiple times a Necromorph managed to creep up behind me from a vent I forgot was there, but then I realized Visceral Games did something far more interesting.
They gave the Necromorphs the ability to play dead. Its effect might’ve worn off after the third or fourth time, but the first time a Necromorph I thought I had sent to that bloody Ishimura in the sky reanimated itself in front of me, I lost it. It’s such a simple scare tactic, but as they say, some of the best ideas are often the simplest.
Locker Room – Silent Hill
This is easily the most cleverly set up jump scare on the list. Team Silent has proven themselves adept at the art of mindfucking — seriously, I could dedicate a weekly series to the crazy things from the first three games — but they were at their most sadistic, and perhaps their most playful, with the cat in the locker. The first time you visit the locker room you’re drawn to that specific locker by a loud banging. Forgetting that curiosity killed the cat, or perhaps in this case, freed it, you investigate. As soon as you open the locker door a harmless feline leaps out. You were expecting it, so the scare is minimal, but little do you know that Team Silent was only setting up the foundation for the real scare.
Upon returning to the locker room, now in its rustier Otherworld form, you hear the banging sound again. Because you’re a glutton for punishment, you again move in to investigate. This time, when you open the locker you’re greeted with a grisly, bloodied interior. As you walk away from the locker, recently disturbed by its macabre contents, an unidentifiable corpse bursts out of a nearby locker and lands with a sickening thud.
Bath Tub Scare – Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
This is one a few of you brought up in my lists of some of the most horrifying moments in gaming (feel free to read part one and part two if you haven’t already), but since it’s more of a jump scare I decided to give it a mention here. Eternal Darkness was an underappreciated horror game from Silicon Knights, the studio that also brought us the disastrous flop that was Too Human.
I could go on and on about Eternal Darkness and how amazing and ambitious it was, but I feel like I’ve done that every time I’ve mentioned it in a list, so let’s instead focus on the random scare that is the bathtub scene. Now, as far as jump scares go, this takes the classic approach. It waits for you to drop your guard, and what better place to do that than in the equally as underappreciated safe haven that is the common bathroom, before it throws a unsavory scene of a woman’s corpse lying in a tub filled with blood paired with a crazy loud scream. It’s a scare you might not fully appreciate until after your ears stop ringing.
The Doberman – Resident Evil
I surprised no one by including this often discussed scene in this list. A list about video game jump scares is not a list worth reading unless it gives the classic Doberman jumping through a window scene in the original Resident Evil a well-deserved nod. Even those who haven’t played the game have likely heard about it somewhere. It was a simple, yet extremely well crafted jump scare, because you just knew that pack of dogs that chased you into the Spencer mansion were in the woods surrounding the place, it was really just a matter of time before one or more of them found a way in. In related news, if you played the fantastic Lost in Nightmares add-on for Resident Evil 5, Capcom paid homage to that moment by having a bat burst out of the window when you visit another of Ozwell Spencer’s estates, which just happens to be designed to be identical to the original mansion. They packed more fanfare into that expansion, including unlockable classic camera angles — though honestly, that’s the one thing from the original games I can do without — so if you never played Lost in Nightmares, I definitely recommend it.
I’d also like to give an honorable mention to another moderately iconic moment from the first game (that was also mentioned in Lost in Nightmares). It happens when Jill is reading the diary of a man who had been infected by the T-virus. It’s where the phrase “itchy. tasty.” originated from, and after you set the book down the reanimated corpse of the man who wrote it jumps out of a nearby closet. Also a great scare, it’s just not as iconic as the Doberman scene.
That’s it, folks! Or rather, that’s it for this list. I’m sure I missed a moment, or two, or a dozen, that you feel should’ve been given a mention. If you’re feeling betrayed that I would do that to you, I suggest setting me straight in the comments below.
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
Five decades ago, Stephen King published the story of a bullied girl with telekinetic powers and forever changed the world of horror.
Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.
Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.
Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.
He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters.
Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way.
A New Prom Night Nightmare
The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers.
In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge.
The Monstrous Addition of Social Media
On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.
Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age.
Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned.
A Completely Reimagined White Family
In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.
Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality?
Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.
Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”
Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.
Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.
Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe
While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength.
Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue.
Giving Carrie Her Own Voice
Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair.
Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.
Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself.
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