10 Scariest Haunted Houses In Video Games

Haunted houses, mansions, estates, and other places of residence have been fixtures of the horror genre for centuries, so it makes sense that video games would also capitalize on the motifs as well. From the spooky maze games on the Atari to the more blood-chilling survival horror titles of the modern age, the gaming industry has provided more than enough adequate real estate for the paranormal and supernatural forces.

Some haunted houses only serve as the backdrop for the main events of the game, but some are as alive and unsettling as the House of Usher itself. It goes without saying that gamers have more than a fair share of haunted spots to plunge headfirst into the horror genre.

The Hidden Mansion (Luigi’s Mansion)

Starting things out on a relatively obvious note, the titular house in Luigi’s Mansion is practically a paradise for any number of ghosts, much to Luigi’s dismay. Built by King Boo as a place of residence for a number of goofy ghouls and ghosts, it’s up to Luigi and Prof. E. Gadd to unleash their inner Ghostbusters and save Mario from a terrifying trap.

The mansion is loaded with creepy hallways, eerie rooms and chambers, and loads of different ghostly foes. From creepy twins to the spirit of a starving artist, the game essentially checks all of the boxes for a standard-issue haunted house game.

West Mansion (Splatterhouse)

For something a little more gruesome than the standard Nintendo affair, gamers are encouraged to look to Namco’s infamous Splatterhouse. Heavily inspired by the buffet of classic horror films available in the ’80s, the scary side-scroller was a fave for fans of the genre. And no tribute to such gruesome gorefests would be complete without a creepy mansion to explore.

West Mansion is loaded to the brim with zombies, demons, monsters, and other unnatural horrors for the hockey-masked Rick to fight his way through, along with a selection of disturbing torture chambers and bonus levels. Fans of movies like Reanimator and the Friday the 13th series will be absolutely thrilled to take on the fiendish forces of this bloody beat-em-up.

Castle Dracula (Castlevania Series)

Castlevania is easily one of the most influential games in both the action-platformer and horror genres. Taking heavy influence from classic monster movies like Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy of Universal fame, Castlevania puts the player against a whole host of familiar fiends and creepy creatures in Castle Dracula.

As one of the many members of the Belmont clan, players descend into the bowels and catacombs of Dracula’s castle time and time again. While it’s practically a setpiece seen across nearly all of the core series, the incarnation seen in Symphony of the Night is perhaps the most beloved by hardcore fans.

The Barrows Family Manor (Clock Tower)

There was a time when point-and-click adventures were a bountiful commodity, and there was quite a handful concerning haunted houses. But one of the most unsettling pieces of eerie real estate was the Barrows Manor from the infamous Clock Tower. Known to most players simply as the Clock Tower or Clocktower Mansion, the estate is absolutely packed with disturbing imagery.

Along with being chased by the sinister Scissorman, there are traps and threats around every corner in this atmospheric horror game. For something released before the days of fully-rendered graphics, it’s surprisingly intense.

The Curries Mansion (House of the Dead)

The Curries Mansion from Sega’s zombie shooter might veer into some serious cliche territory, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an absolute blast for horror fans. The gameplay isn’t all that complicated, shoot the zombies and save the civilians, but it’s displayed in one of the largest creepy mansions in classic horror games.

Crawling with undead horrors and complete with its own eerie organ music, the grounds of the mansion are alive with a number of classic horror tropes for players to blast their way through. There’s even a chainsaw-swinging maniac or two just to keep things in theme.

Castle Of the Dead (Dragon’s Crown)

Dragon’s Crown is one of the most beautiful games released on the Playstation, and it’s practically a fantasy fan’s dream come true. Fueled by a love for fantasy archetypes, the game features many classic scenes, settings, and characters seen across the genre, including a gigantic haunted castle.

The Castle of the Dead comes equipped with all the necessary fiends and fixtures for something out of Curse of Strahd of Dungeons and Dragons fame. With ghosts, skeletons, and a nest of voluptuous vampires who feed on village girls, it’s a delightfully wicked interlude from the otherwise whimsical and magical realm the players get to explore.

Spencer Mansion (Resident Evil)

It can be said that the survival-horror genre practically owes its existence to the Resident Evil franchise. A horror game set in a creepy mansion filled with monsters and mayhem might seem cliche by today’s standards, but the original Resident Evil title was the one that laid the groundwork for other games of the genre to follow.

Spencer Mansion isn’t just an eerie house full of zombies and puzzles, but the setting of some of the most iconic moments in horror gaming. From the undead dogs jumping through the window to the unsettling Crimson Heads, the mansion is a veritable breeding ground for all things freaky that set the tone for most of the series.

Roivas Mansion (Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem)

Rovias Mansion is the centerpiece of Nintendo’s horror cult classic, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. In a massive and branching plot concerning evil magical gods, different characters across different time periods, and a murder mystery within the walls of an evil manor, the game has a lot to take in for something that came out on the Gamecube.

Taking heavy inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, the mansion is a horror fan’s dream come true. The game dives into themes of sanity, murder, and cosmic horrors that simply can’t be contained in a single plotline. It’s no wonder this game is often considered a monstrous masterpiece.

The House (P.T.)

“Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are ‘it might have been.'” Known as P.T., short for “playable trailer,” the game was meant to be a grand and glorious collaboration between Hideo Kojima and director Guillermo Del Toro for a new installment of the Silent Hill series. But while other games might feature a giant and grandiose gothic mansion, this short-but-scary experience relies on a single repeating hallway.

The further the player progresses, the more of the backstory is revealed in its haunting puzzles and visuals. If that wasn’t enough to hook horror fans in, the malevolent spirit that pursues them in the game will definitely make some players jump out of their skins.

The Baker House (Resident Evil VII)

While many fans of the series might immediately call for Castle Dimitrescu as one of the scariest video game haunted houses, the Baker House from Resident Evil VII is leagues more terrifying than a castle of horror cliches like vampires and creepy dolls. With elements of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and eerie eldritch horrors, it was certainly a great way for the series to return to its roots.

Where Village might feel like a send-up of classic horror movies, VII is dirty, gritty, and uncomfortable like the explorative horror films of the ’70s. While the game might lack the traditional ghosts and zombies, the freaky powers of the fiendish Baker family and the unsettling horrors of the Molded definitely fill the roles perfectly.

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