ten horror games. Gotta love ’em. The chills they send down your spine as you immerse yourself in the horrifying environments they throw at you. Great times. Until they’re not. Until they’re real. Sometimes, a horror game isn’t just a game. Here are ten horror games that are based on real‑life events. Stick around to the last one; it may be the most terrifying of them all.
10 Forbidden Siren
“First, an earthquake! Then the emergency siren! Then, the world as you knew it quickly evaporates into mayhem and evil. Find yourself in a fictional Japanese village in 1942 as villagers turn into zombies at alarming rates, and the sea around the village turns to blood and begins to engulf the town. You play as one of 10 different characters in your personal fight for survival. Play in areas like the school and an abandoned mine as you fight to stay alive and find the true cause of the evil forces around you. Horrifying sounds and visuals will get your heart pounding, and everything can change in the blink of an eye.” —Playstation’s official description on Amazon
Forbidden Siren, while it is a zombie horror game, is actually officially inspired by the true story of the Tsuyama Massacre. It was referenced in the game by making it the very reason the main character, Kyoya Suda, visits Hanuda: a soldier arrives and murders 33 villagers – the same number that Mutsuo Toi killed and injured in Tsuyama.
Here’s the backstory: Mutsuo Toi, a 21‑year‑old Japanese man, was born to a wealthy family in Kaio village near Tsuyama. After his parents died of tuberculosis, he was left with nothing but the disease that claimed them. He clung to his sister and grandmother as his only remaining family. When his sister married and left, Toi became fascinated with crime novels and even penned his own tale about a prostitute who strangled her lovers.
He also tried his hand at Yobai, Japan’s ancient version of Tinder, sneaking into women’s rooms naked to “teach them the secrets of love.” His advances were met with rejection, likely because he never brought flowers and perhaps because he still carried tuberculosis.
Then, on the night of May 21, 1938, Toi decided to gift his neighbors with an axe, katana, and his favorite Browning shotgun. Strapped with two flashlights, he set out after enough rejections. First, his grandmother received an unexpected haircut courtesy of his axe. Simultaneously, his neighbors endured a brutal visit of shotgun blasts and swordplay.
It wasn’t until dawn, with no police intervention, that Toi ceased his rampage and shot himself in the chest with his shotgun. In his suicide note, he expressed sorrow for not killing more people and claimed he was glad to have killed his grandmother to escape the shame of being labeled a “killer’s grandma.” The police had earlier confiscated his gun for threatening to shoot up the town but did nothing, allowing him to acquire more weapons weeks later.
The Tsuyama massacre was considered the deadliest massacre until 1987, when Woo Beom‑kon in South Korea broke the record.[1]
9 The Town of Light
“March 12, 1938, Renée, 16, was ripped out of her world; her only fault was that of not knowing her place in the world.” —The Town of Light’s official Steam description
The Town of Light is well known to be based on Volterra Psychiatric Hospital in Volterra, Italy. As the player, you wander the asylum’s halls, solving puzzles while learning about Renée’s traumatic stay through illustrated animatics. The drawings and writings on the walls reference the actual Volterra Asylum.
The Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra, an Italian mental institution shuttered in 1978, remains a haunting relic of bygone psychiatric practices. Founded in 1888, it housed thousands of patients subjected to barbaric treatments, including enough electroshock therapy to rival Dr. Frankenstein.
Notorious for its harsh conditions, the asylum’s Ferri pavilion, or judicial section, was especially grim. Up to 6,000 patients at a time endured cramped quarters and dehumanizing practices. Electroshock therapy and insulin‑induced comas were routine, while a manual of pills and poisons served as callous experimentation tools, causing permanent side effects to the patients.
Fernando Oreste Nannetti, known as NOF4, was another patient in the asylum who became famous for graffiti all over his cell walls. He used his belt buckle to make his mark, creating an extensive mural chronicling his experiences during hospitalization. Nannetti’s graffiti directly inspired the writing on the walls in the game.
The closure of the institution in 1978 followed the enactment of Law 180, signaling an end to the era of asylums and the adoption of Italy’s public mental health system. Since then, the asylum’s physical decay has begun to mirror the minds of its former patients.[2]
8 Visage
“Visage is a first‑person psychological horror game. Explore a mysterious, ever‑changing house in a slow‑paced, atmospheric world that combines both uncannily comforting and horrifyingly realistic environments, and enjoy a genuinely terrifying experience.” —Visage’s official Steam page description
Visage is a popular psychological horror game where you explore a house, unlocking chapter after chapter that tells the stories of those who lived there before. In my opinion, it’s one of the scariest horror games out there and a personal favorite. Some of the stories are more real than you might think.
Lucy, the first chapter, is based on a girl named Anneliese Michel. Anneliese’s story also inspired The Exorcist, giving it a fair share of horror adaptations.
Anneliese Michel’s story began with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy at 16, leading to a downward spiral of psychiatric treatment and medication. Despite her family’s religious upbringing, her condition deteriorated, marked by hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, and she grew repulsed by crosses and Bible scriptures.
By 1975, convinced she was possessed, Anneliese and her family turned to the Catholic Church for help, seeking permission for an exorcism. She continued to exhibit disturbing signs such as seizures; she reported hearing voices that told her she would “rot in hell.” She eventually refused to eat or drink anything except her own urine and any insects she could find.
Her death in 1976, attributed to malnutrition and dehydration, led to charges of negligent homicide against her parents and the priests. Doctors testified that Anneliese’s symptoms were psychological rather than demonic. Church‑paid lawyers argued that the practices were legal and that religious people were free to practice their own forms of medicine. After a heated legal battle, the charges were dropped and the parents were freed.[3]
Dwayne’s story, the final chapter, was allegedly based on the MK‑Ultra case, with one of the leading scientists of the project. His exposure to his own creation caused delusions and paranoia, which we’ll explore at number 2.
7 The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me
“A group of documentary filmmakers receives a mysterious call inviting them to a modern‑day replica of serial killer H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle. But on arrival, they discover they’re being watched and even manipulated, and suddenly, there is much more at stake than just their ratings…” —The Devil In Me’s official Steam page description
Now, The Devil In Me is literally an adaptation of America’s first real‑life serial killer, so there’s not much need to go into detail on how they relate. The only difference is—in the game, you can escape him.
H.H. Holmes, infamous for his “Murder Castle” during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, is often portrayed as one of America’s first serial killers, supposedly claiming up to 200 victims. Recent research suggests a different narrative. Author Adam Selzer believes Holmes likely killed around nine people, with the exaggerated figure of 200 originating from a sensationalized 1940 book.
Contrary to popular belief, Holmes did not trap strangers in his hotel; rather, he targeted people he knew. The building wasn’t a functioning hotel but a scheme to defraud suppliers and investors. While his “Murder Hotel” was indeed built as depicted, it was not a hotel in the traditional sense.
Holmes’ “Murder Hotel” boasted over 100 rooms, sprawling across an entire city block like a spiderweb. The first floor housed storefronts, allegedly luring unsuspecting entrepreneurs. The third floor offered apartments for new guests. The second floor concealed a maze of “asphyxiation chambers,” with gas pipes across the ceilings, hidden stairs, and doors that led to brick walls. The basement turned into a personal chamber of horrors, complete with trapdoors and secret passages.
Unlike the books, movies, and the game, Holmes’s real victims, such as Julia Connor and her daughter Pearl, had personal connections to him. Others, like Emeline Cigrand and Minnie Williams, disappeared under suspicious circumstances, possibly at Holmes’s hands. The murders of Ben Pitezel and his children provided substantial evidence, leading to Holmes’s conviction and subsequent execution in 1896.[4]
6 Granny
“Welcome to Granny. Granny keeps you locked in her house. Now you have to try to get out of her house, but be careful and quiet. She hears everything. If you drop something on the floor, she hears it and comes running. You can hide in wardrobes or under beds.” —Granny’s official Google Play Store description
Tamara Samsonova was born in Uzhur, Russia, in 1947. “Sweet as sugar,” everyone called her – fitting, as the smell of mustard gas is also sweet before it kills you. Tamara graduated from Moscow State Linguistic University, found a job in St. Petersburg, and married a man named Alexi.
Everything seemed peaceful until Alexi suddenly went on a “spontaneous vacation” in 2000, according to Tamara. The St. Petersburg police spoke with her, but with no evidence of foul play, they shrugged and moved on, leaving Tamara to herself – with some new hobbies.
Tamara eventually grew lonely and decided to sublet her apartment. However, her roommates didn’t stay long. Her bad temper and aggressive attitude led to loud arguments that attracted the attention of disgruntled neighbors. One roommate, Sergei, vanished without a trace in 2003. No one batted an eyelash; everyone she sublet to left within weeks. Tamara’s love for axes and trying new foods resulted in Sergei’s remains being left in pieces, some more digested than others.
Fast forward to 2015: Tamara, now 70, decided to spruce up her apartment. Valentina, a neighbor, offered her couch during renovations. What started as a friendly gesture turned into a quarrel over dishes, culminating in Tamara’s inventive solution: a dose of Phenazepam and Valentina’s favorite salad topping. After cutting her up into pieces, Tamara boiled her head and fingers so no one could identify her body.
Police connected the dots to a string of unsolved disappearances, including Sergei. Another, Volodya, survived Tamara’s culinary experiments, narrowly avoiding a poisoned fate.
Throughout her trial, Tamara remained cheerful and happily applauded the court’s decisions – even blowing a kiss at the cameramen. When asked why, she said she wanted to be known as a serial killer and had been “getting ready for this trial for dozens of years.”[5]
5 9 Childs Street
“This is a first‑person indie horror game. In 9 Childs Street, you will find the terrifying atmosphere of a recently abandoned house and its captive inhabitants through the eyes of a curious little boy in a red cap.” —From 9 Childs Street’s official Steam page
9 Childs Street became a popular download and playthrough for several YouTubers last year. The main character is a little boy who simply wants to see what happened to his missing neighbor in the abandoned house across the street and decides to investigate himself. Once inside, he discovers a plethora of dolls that look just a bit too realistic… especially when they move.
However, you likely never guessed that the entire background story is true, albeit without the paranormal details. The game is based on the real‑life Russian philologist‑turned‑grave‑digger Anatoly Moskvin, later dubbed “The Dollmaker.”
Moskvin became fascinated with the dead—specifically dead children—when he was a child himself. His curiosity sparked when a funeral procession of a young girl passed by, and some mourners demanded he kiss the cold face of the deceased child. He reluctantly did so, awakening a morbid fascination.
As Moskvin grew up, he developed an attraction to cemeteries and freshly dug graves, even lying down in them to “soak in corpse juice.” Eventually, he began stealing fresh graves of corpses and bringing them back to his parents’ house, focusing mainly on small girls. He would then mummify the bodies, turning them into dolls, usually dressed in the clothes they were buried in.
By the time police linked the grave robberies to Moskvin in 2011, he had turned 29 corpses into dolls. His reasoning? He simply adored children and wanted his own. He would set the dolls up in front of the TV with cartoons playing, sing songs, and read books to them so they could continue “playing” as they did when alive. Wouldn’t have done anything differently myself, honestly.[6]
4 Evil Nun
“After receiving a mysterious invitation to a summer camp, you are captured by Sister Madeline inside Eagle’s Junior High School. Now, your mission is to escape the school before Sister Madeline manages to complete her evil plan. Explore the school as you escape from Sister Madeline in your quest to regain your freedom. Solve puzzles and challenges until you find one of the multiple escape routes in the game. Discover the secrets hidden in the laundry room and the mysterious boy with blue hands to complete the game 100%.” —Official Google Play description
The Evil Nun became known as a crazier rip‑off of Granny, which we already discussed. Like Granny, it’s also based on a real horror story.
Marie Hargreaves was just six years old when she was placed in a convent. What was supposed to give her and her brother better living conditions turned into a disastrous nightmare that traumatized her for years. Fortunately, her brother was placed in a different area and was spared the same treatment.
This convent was run by a nun named Isobel O’Brien, our Sister Madeline in the game, who would ritualistically beat Marie or encourage other girls in the convent to beat her with wooden clothes hangers. Every girl who tried to escape would be tied to the bed after being dragged back by their hair. The girls were also forced to do chores, essentially free labor for the Roman Catholic Church, and were woken up at 6 a.m. sharp each morning. Marie was beaten if she spoke without permission, didn’t finish her food, or simply looked at the nun the wrong way. She was also told she was an orphan and that her parents had died and abandoned her.
If the mental and physical abuse wasn’t enough, the 12‑ and 13‑year‑old girls surrounding her also sexually abused her. She didn’t recognize it as such until she left years later.
Sister O’Brien had been complained about multiple times before to the Catholic Church, but nothing was done. Marie eventually spoke out and wrote a book about her experience called The Convent, but by then the evil nun had died, and no justice could be served.[7]
3 Resident Evil Village
“Experience survival horror like never before in the 8th major installment in the Resident Evil franchise—Resident Evil Village. With detailed graphics, intense first‑person action, and masterful storytelling, the terror has never felt more realistic.” —Resident Evil Village’s official Steam description
Resident Evil! The classic zombie survival horror game that everyone knows and loves. Surprisingly, this installment draws from real‑life events, especially the character Lady Dimitrescu. You probably wouldn’t want to meet her, though.
Elizabeth Bathory, also known as Erzsébet Báthory, was a Hungarian noblewoman born in 1560 and infamous for her… fairly interesting skincare routine involving bathing in the blood of her victims. In the game, a scene even shows a bath filled with blood, referencing her alleged practices. Bathory’s post‑widowhood hobbies allegedly included torturing and murdering young women, with rumors of her having 600 victims—a high body count indeed.
Bathory was investigated by Count György Thurzó in 1610. When found in the middle of a particularly bloody spa day, he opted for house arrest instead of a spa voucher. Because when you’re Hungarian nobility, jail is just too plebeian. Bathory was confined to her castle until her death in 1614 at age 54.
The evidence against Bathory is disputed; some suggest she was a victim of political machinations, while others point to historical accounts of her cruelty toward servants. Regardless of her guilt or innocence, her legacy as the “Blood Countess” continues on as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village.
The castle in the game is also based on a real‑life castle known as Peles Castle in Romania. While it doesn’t hide any particular gruesome events like the Countess, it provides a striking environment for the game.[8]
2 Outlast
“Hell is an experiment you can’t survive in Outlast, a first‑person survival horror game developed by veterans of some of the biggest game franchises in history. As investigative journalist Miles Upshur, explore Mount Massive Asylum and try to survive long enough to discover its terrible secret… if you dare.” —Outlast’s official Steam page description
Now, Outlast happens to be a personal favorite of mine. Unfortunately, this game is actually based on a real asylum and a very disturbing story. After reading this, you may actually give anti‑vaxxers more credit.
Outlast is based on the story of Mount Massive Asylum during the mid‑1900s. The asylum was directly part of, in my opinion, one of the biggest and most disturbing secrets of the governing world powers that ever been exposed to the public.
But barely anyone knows about it to this day… even though it was in the news and it went to the Supreme Court. There was even a movie on it! And it is a VERY big deal. This project was known as the MK‑Ultra project. It was conducted in secret by the U.S. CIA and Russia in a joint operation to conduct experiments to control the population—mind control, in other words.
The project was said to be a new treatment, tested on some Canadians and Americans (and who knows how many Russian civilians). However, it was mainly tested in psychiatric asylums and prisons since the government could just brush off the symptoms as insanity with no problems whatsoever. And—as you guessed it—the main asylum it was tested in was Mount Massive Asylum, the setting of our game.
The “treatments” weren’t exactly safe, of course. They led to a notable increase in aggression, paranoia, and panic (evident in Outlast). They left permanent brain damage in the victims.
Whitey Bulger, a convict who experienced the drug willingly, spoke of his time on the drug as “horrible periods of living nightmares,” experiencing horrifying hallucinations that made him feel like he was going insane when he wasn’t even labeled as insane like the others were. Based on the hallucinating side effects, you may be able to piece together that the main part of the mind control was continuous LSD usage on the victim.
The project was eventually discovered in 1963, and many CIA staff were brought in for questioning. Many of them surprisingly couldn’t remember many details about the case. Then, the files were also surprisingly destroyed for “privacy reasons.” Later, after the case was brought to the Supreme Court, the Court unanimously—and surprisingly—sided with the CIA. All cases in Canada were also dropped.
Everything was just so surprising that day. Fortunately, the whistleblower, John Vance, made it out alive and lived until 2005.[9]
1 Outlast 2
“Outlast 2 introduces you to Sullivan Knoth and his followers, who left our wicked world behind to give birth to Temple Gate, a town deep in the wilderness and hidden from civilization. Knoth and his flock are preparing for the tribulations of the end of times, and you’re right in the thick of it.” —Outlast 2’s official Steam page
Outlast 2, while definitely not as good as Outlast or Whistleblower (if you think differently, you’re wrong), was also inspired by a real‑life event: The Jonestown Massacre. It even goes as far as to have the same name for its cult: the “Temple.”
Reverend Jim Jones, the leader and founder of the Peoples Temple, initially gained popularity for his social‑justice advocations for those left behind by the rich. Integration gave him high political influence, even gaining followers like Angela Davis and backing from groups like the Black Panthers.
As concerns about the group’s practices grew, Jones and several hundred followers moved to Guyana, South America, to establish a new community and city known as Jonestown.
The situation in Jonestown deteriorated rapidly, and reports of abuse, coercion, and mind control within the cult emerged. Concerned relatives and members visited Jonestown to try to save their loved ones, like the main character of Outlast 2. On November 18, 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan, who was investigating the allegations, was murdered at the Jonestown airstrip while about to leave on his flight.
Following this incident, Jim Jones ordered the mass suicide of his followers. That command led over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, including children, to die by ingesting a cyanide‑laced fruit punch at once. Some individuals were coerced or forced; others willingly participated in what Jones called a “revolutionary suicide.”[10]