13 Best Horror Games On Steam To Terrify You In 2025

Steam is a treasure trove for horror games, whether you’re looking for combat-heavy AAA games, indie survival horror, asymmetrical multiplayer, or something unique to send shivers down your spine.

While there are a few dominant franchises in AAA horror, the genre is also well-known for surfacing surprise indie hits, with small team- and solo-developed horror games often going hugely viral. Many notable horror hits originated on Steam, often going through its Early Access program–with many of the platform’s most popular horror titles still in early access today.

With thousands of games categorized as horror on Steam, it can be a scary task to pick the titles that will truly terrify. We’ve selected 13 of our favorite horror games on Steam, presented in no particular order, including some Steam exclusives and some multi-platform hits.

For more games that will keep you awake at night, check out our picks for the 27 best horror games on any platform, or sink your teeth into the 18 best games featuring werewolves.

• Developer: Airdorf Games
• Release Date: October 22, 2022

A horror game made in a retro, 8-bit style, Faith is also retro in its theming, with a story inspired by the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Step into the shoes of a young priest as he returns to the site of an exorcism gone wrong, ready to confront cultists, demons, and his own dark past. Faith uses its retro aesthetic to the fullest when it comes to creating horror, featuring eerie rotoscoped animations and spooky electronic voice phenomena, or EVPs, channeled through abandonware speech synthesizers, proving you don’t need realistic graphics to terrify.

Fanatical and GameSpot are both owned by Fandom.

• Developer: SadSquare Studio
• Release Date: October 30, 2020

Inspired by P.T., the playable teaser for the ill-fated Silent Hills, Visage takes some of the teaser’s most compelling elements and turns them into a fully realised, full-length game. Where most horror games are set in abandoned places or crumbling mansions, Visage’s setting at first seems like a fairly unremarkable suburban house–but surprises and spectres lurk around unassuming corners. In the spirit of P.T., Visage’s puzzles are often more cryptic than your standard video game puzzle–this definitely isn’t a game that’s going to hold your hand.

• Developer: Scott Cawthon
• Release Date: August 18, 2014

The Five Nights At Freddy’s franchise now encompasses more than 10 main games, numerous spin-offs, novels, tabletop games, and even a film series, but all horror fans should experience the terrifying simplicity of the original game. Five Nights At Freddy’s puts players in the role of a nighttime security guard at family restaurant Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where creepy homicidal animatronics roam freely at night. Players have to monitor the restaurant from a small office, watching camera feeds, switching lights on and off, and deploying security doors to prevent the ill-intentioned animatronics from gaining access to the office. The player has to carefully manage a limited amount of electrical power that is consumed by using the cameras, lights, and doors–if you run out completely, you’ll be left at the mercy of FNAF’s cursed animatronics.

• Developer: Creative Assembly
• Release Date: October 7, 2014

Fans of the original 1979 Alien film will appreciate Alien: Isolation’s commitment to the retro sci-fi aesthetic; fans of survival horror will enjoy the tense action-stealth gameplay. There’s really something in Alien: Isolation for everyone. Creative Assembly’s take on the Alien universe is a lovingly crafted homage to a true horror classic.

Alien: Isolation follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda as she travels to the dilapidated Sevastopol space station to investigate her mother’s disappearance–and finds herself being stalked by the Xenomorph in turn. While Ripley has multiple weapons at her disposal, most are only partially effective against the alien, and ammo is intentionally scarce, making Isolation a tense game of stealth, planning, and picking the exact right moment to unleash your flamethrower.

• Developer: Northwood Studios
• Release Date: December 30, 2017

The SCP Foundation is one of the internet’s biggest collaborative horror fiction projects, spawning plenty of SCP-themed games over the years–but one of the best SCP primers on Steam is SCP: Secret Laboratory. Based on the classic SCP: Containment Breach, Secret Laboratory is a free-to-play multiplayer game where players can end up in one of multiple roles within a breached facility–scientist, test subject, facility guard, or even the murderous SCP. With so many different ways to play–and proximity voice chat to boot–Secret Laboratory is as much about enjoyable chaos as it is about actual scares, and it’s a great way to get up close and personal with some of your favorite SCP entities.

• Developer: Red Barrels
• Release Date: September 4, 2013

A classic in the survival horror genre, Outlast sends players into a remote asylum overrun by homicidal patients, armed only with a night vision-equipped camcorder and their wits. Inspired by Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Outlast’s protagonist Miles Upshur has no weapons at his disposal, and can only run or hide when faced with deadly threats. Players have to survive long enough to escape the asylum, unravelling the conspiracy behind Mount Massive Asylum’s downfall as they go. With jump scares and horrific gore aplenty, Outlast is horror in its most classic form, and has become a go-to for those seeking a truly terrifying experience. Outlast also got a sequel, Outlast 2, and a prequel called The Outlast Trials, which can be played co-op with up to four players.

• Developer: Motive
• Release Date: January 28, 2023

The original 2008 Dead Space is an iconic entry in the action-horror genre–but luckily for those who might baulk at playing a 17-year-old shooter, Motive’s 2023 remake is as faithful a reimagining as you can ask for. Taking place on the semi-abandoned mining ship Ishimura, Dead Space follows protagonist Isaac Clarke as he searches for a way to escape, fighting Necromorphs and his own growing psychosis. Where most games prioritise headshots, Necromorphs can only be dispatched by detaching their limbs. This setup is at the core of Dead Space’s uniquely satisfying style of gameplay, with weapon mods and upgrades lending a gratifying kind of power creep as the game unfolds.

• Developer: Frictional Games
• Release Date: September 9, 2010

A true horror classic, Amnesia: The Dark Descent was once considered one of the scariest video games ever–a reputation helped by multitudes of YouTube videos showing players being scared witless by it. With scares built more on what you don’t see than what you do, The Dark Descent still holds up today as a terrifying experience despite its aging graphics. The game’s story unfolds as you delve deeper into the crumbling mansion, uncovering esoteric secrets and the player character’s own suppressed memories.

Developer Frictional Games is well-known for its library of compelling psychological horror, including 2020’s Amnesia: Rebirth, which served as a direct sequel to The Dark Descent, and 2023’s Amnesia: The Bunker.

• Developer: Endnight Games Ltd.
• Release Date: February 23, 2024

A sequel to the horror hit The Forest, Sons of the Forest leaves its players stranded on a wild and remote island infested with mutant cannibals. The game continues the story of its predecessor, and introduces some refinements to The Forest’s survival-crafting gameplay–including friendly NPCs who can help player character Jack Holt survive. Sons of the Forest also supports multiplayer, meaning you can work together with up to seven other players to survive the island.

While there’s a story to be discovered on the island, Sons of the Forest doesn’t force players to progress through the narrative. Survival and exploration is a major part of this open-world game, and Sons of the Forest adds unique seasonal changes to its survival gameplay, making the winter weather just as much of a threat as the island’s terrifying cannibals. Sons of the Forest is currently exclusive to Steam.

• Developer: Team Salvato
• Release Date: September 22, 2017

Despite a Steam listing that seems to describe a cutesy, romantic visual novel, Doki Doki Literature Club! is tagged as a psychological horror, and includes a warning that it shouldn’t be played by anyone who is “easily disturbed.” With that warning in place, the less you know about Doki Doki Literature Club going in, the better. If you’re ready to delve past its pastel-sweet exterior for a deeply unsettling gaming experience, don’t waste any time in heading over to Steam to check it out.

• Developer: Behaviour Interactive
• Release Date: June 14, 2016

Dead By Daylight was one of the first games to explore asymmetrical multiplayer in the horror genre, pitting a lone killer against multiple scrappy survivors. Though other games have since launched with similar concepts, DBD has proven it has the staying power to outlast its competition. Now over nine years old, Dead By Daylight is often the most-played horror title on Steam, and is also the top-selling game under the horror tag. While DBD’s gameplay loop hasn’t changed much in the years it’s been out, the game is regularly updated with new maps, and DLC killers and survivors. Dead By Daylight is also notable for its plentiful collaborations with other horror franchises, from iconic horror films to hit horror games.

• Developer: Zeekerss
• Release Date: October 24, 2023

One of Steam Early Access’s viral hits, Lethal Company is a multiplayer co-op game that sees teams of up to four players collecting scrap on remote moons for “The Company.” When out on a mission, players have to contend with traps, environmental hazards, and hostile monsters–with the latter introducing plenty of potential for jumpscares. Created by a solo developer, Lethal Company has relatively simple graphics and systems, but the core gameplay loop has proven popular with Steam players. A large part of the game’s success can be attributed to its popularity on social media, with the co-op loot-hunting gameplay proving great fodder for both streaming and social video clips. Lethal Company is still in early access, and is currently exclusive to Steam. Also check out our favorite Lethal Company mods for getting the best out of the game with your friends.

• Developer: Kinetic Games
• Release Date: September 19, 2020

Another Steam Early Access hit, Phasmophobia’s four-player ghost hunts went off when the game launched in the middle of the pandemic. The paranormal investigation-themed game takes a different twist on the haunted house genre–players are ghost hunters who are paid to go to haunted locations and come back with compelling evidence of the supernatural. After five years in early access, Phasmophobia is being improved and polished in preparation for its 1.0 release.