If all this talk of the recent Silent Hill announcements has you itching to get into a new Survival Horror game, you might want to give developer Aaron Gilbert’s Psychosis: Teaser a look. Inspired by Silent Hill and Condemned: Criminal Origins, the demo is now available via itch.io.

Described as invoking “the nostalgic spirit of horror games”, Psychosis: Teaser is a retro-styled first-person horror experience that sees you bored doing overtime at work at your small office in the rural Pacific Northwest. That quickly changes once you receive a mysterious phone call that urges you to “come quickly, they’re all gone.”

Disturbed, you get in your car, and suddenly you’re standing in the dimly lit foyer of someone’s home. The place is empty, like everyone just got up and left. There’s an awful stench in the air but you can’t make out what it is. All you can hear is the sound of the wind and tree branches crashing against the side of the house, and a faint ticking noise.

Suddenly you feel an icy cold presence shoot through your body as your vision fades and your body washes with fear. You’re paralysed lying on the reeking, damp ground; through half-open eyes you see a tall figure wielding a harsh blade standing over you. The being opens its mouth as if to speak and all that comes out is the blood-curdling screeching of metal on metal.

“I grew up playing PlayStation games with all their wobbly goodness – the Spyro trilogy and Crash Team Racing were my absolute favourites,” explains Aaron. “With Psychosis, I wanted to take that PS1 vibe and kick it up a notch with modern lighting and post-processing to get a truly unique horror experience, a hybrid of old and new, made possible with Unreal Engine. Outside of games, the beautiful, somber forests of my home state of Washington were also a constant influence.”

The hour-long demo represents a shortened chapter of what Psychosis will be when it’s eventually released to Steam. There’s a “name your own price” point, but if you pay $5 or more, you’ll receive a Steam key for the full game when it’s released. Paying $9 or more also grants you the original soundtrack for the teaser by Richard Savery, which you can preview here.