10 Best Jump Scares in Horror Game History

Highlights

• Games like Condemned: Criminal Origins and The Evil Within feature terrifying jump scares that will shock gamers.
• In DOOM 3, gamers can experience a heart-stopping scare if they approach a bathroom mirror.
• Gruesome surprises await those who decide to play horror titles like Outlast, Layers of Fear, and Resident Evil 7.

Horror movie fans know the pulse-racing power of a good jump scare. From the medicine cabinet’s ominous reflection to the jumping cat, these moments can put viewers over the edge when they’re already feeling tense.

Some of the scariest horror games also use this trope to frighten players. Titles like Until Dawn,Fatal Frame, and Five Nights at Freddy’s are built on the idea of catching players by surprise. A well-timed jump scare can really enhance the terror present in a horror game, and some are so frightening that players will struggle to forget them. Though countless horror games have utilized jump scares to shock players, certain titles make use of the technique much more efficiently than others.

10 Doom 3

The Infamous Mirror Jump Scare

Doom 3 is the black sheep of the franchise. Rather than being just a first-person shooter, the game is also a survival horror, which means plenty of jump scares can be expected for those brave enough to dive in.

One of the most startling and most amusing jump scares present in Doom 3 occurs in the bathroom. Players will be caught off-guard by their own reflection in the mirror before an actual monster comes bursting through the door. This jump scare is effective since it plays on the stereotypical mirror scene found in many horror movies before catching the player by surprise.

9 Condemned: Criminal Origins

Turning Around To Be Faced With Mannequins That Weren’t There Before

There’s something about the first-person perspective that’s inherently scary, especially in horror games. With Condemned: Criminal Origins, players can experience just how unsettling this perspective can be, especially thanks to the heart-thumping jump scares that await them.

In Condemned: Criminal Origins, gamers can play as one of the most underrated horror protagonists in gaming, an FBI agent named Ethan Thomas. He’s investigating a series of murders in a gritty town, which essentially means that jump scares are lurking around every corner. Some of the most heart-stopping jump scares are encountered in Bart’s Department Store. Here, the moving mannequins serve as a distraction for the series of masked assailants who quickly come stalking forward, loudly banging on the walls. Though the masked individuals are frightening in their own right, turning around to be faced with a group of mannequins that weren’t there before is sure to leave gamers feeling horrified.

8 The Evil Within

A Seemingly Lifeless Corpse Grabs Sebastian’s Arm

The Evil Within offers fifteen chapters of utter horror. The goal of the game is to investigate a mass murder at a mental hospital and survive against the grotesque creatures encountered along the way.

Gamers will need to be pretty brave to handle the jump scares in this horror game. In one memorable scene, the game’s protagonist, Sebastian Castellanos, comes across a corpse on an operating table. Slicing into the cadaver, players will be taken aback when the corpse grabs Sebastian’s arm and unleashes a blood-curdling scream.

7 Outlast

Opening A Door To Find Chris Walker On The Other Side

When playing a horror game, it’s perfectly understandable to feel apprehensive every time a door is opened. Outlast takes that fear and cranks the dial to 11.

Miles Upshur, the game’s protagonist, encounters a monstrous man known as Chris Walker multiple times throughout the story. During one instance, Miles opens a set of double doors only to be greeted by Chris before being yanked onto the floor. It seems like all hope is lost in this moment, but players will later see footage of a more sinister force beating Chris against a wall and feeding him through the air duct. Though this may provide some relief, it will likely take a few minutes for gamers to catch their breath after experiencing this jump scare.

6 Silent Hill: Downpour

Murphy Gets Grabbed From Behind By A Frightening Foe

• Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
• Release Date: March 13, 2012
• Developer: Vatra Games
• Genre: Survival Horror, Action-Adventure

The cat in the locker offers one of the creepiest moments in the Silent Hill series, but there’s an even more intense jump scare in Downpour that will really catch players off-guard.

What seems like a harmless cutscene quickly turns vicious when a demon attacks out of nowhere. To get this demon off Murphy’s back, players must quickly shake the joystick back and forth. Eventually, the demon falls onto the floor, and Murphy can chop down on her using his axe. The player may need to take a moment to allow their heart to slow down after this tense scare.

5 Layers Of Fear

Several Books Suddenly Fly Toward The Camera

This psychological horror game uses a similar sense of photorealism as P.T. to create an overpowering feeling of dread. The mentally disturbed protagonist and the creepy Victorian mansion setting only add to the tension found in all six chapters.

In the movie Poltergeist, a stack of chairs suddenly stacks up in a precarious way on top of the kitchen table. A similar jump scare happens in Layers of Fear. Here, players encounter a bunch of books ominously stacked up on the table. After a brief pause, all the objects come flying toward the screen. Players will need to prepare for many other horrific jump scares in Layers of Fear if they manage to push through this one.

4 Eternal Darkness

A Quick Flashback That Showcases A Dead Woman In A Bathtub

Eternal Darkness is a forgotten GameCube horror game. In it, players control Alex Roivas, a university student who encounters a sinister book made of human skin and bones.

The game operates using a Sanity Meter, so players can expect many frightening moments throughout the 97 levels. However, the most abrupt jump scare comes early in the game when Alex wanders into a bathroom and experiences an abrupt flashback to a dead woman in the tub. The screeching score only makes the moment more shocking.

3 F.E.A.R.

Alma Appears Behind The Point Man While He Climbs Down A Ladder

Alma Wade is the main antagonist of the F.E.A.R. games. She’s an all-seeing psychic and the cause of one of the most startling jump scares in horror game history.

Players control a character known only as “The Point Man,” a special ops soldier for the U.S. Army. Even this highly-trained hero isn’t immune to the fearful presence of Alma at the top of the ladder. She appears for only a few seconds, but that’s enough time for her to release a menacing giggle that will send chills down one’s spine.

2 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

A Corpse Emerges From The Sewer’s Depths

There are many scary Resident Evil games, but the seventh installment is one of the most frightening. The haunting imagery seen throughout this title is more than enough to cause nightmares, but sudden jump scares also make Resident Evil 7: Biohazard ridiculously terrifying.

One of the most shocking is when Ethan Winters crawls through a bubbling, murky stream of sewage water. Players are prepared for something to happen, but it’s still unsettling when a mutilated corpse pops up out of the depths.

1 P.T.

A Twitching Lisa Suddenly Runs Toward The Player

Lisa is one of the creepiest ghosts in video games and the cause of many unsettling jump scares in P.T. One of the most terrifying scares takes place in a dark hallway. Here, players will see an innocuous figure (Lisa) twitching in an open doorway. Seconds later, the music screeches, and the figure begins hurtling toward the screen.

Just when players catch their breath, they turn around to be greeted with a close-up view of Lias’s rotten face and sinister smile. P.T. is sure to leave gamers feeling unsettled with its vast array of jump scares, but this one is arguably the most shocking.