Spooky season is still pretty far, but don’t let that stop you from getting your spook on. There has never been a better time to be a fan of horror games, as high-quality indie and AAA horror titles come out regularly. For some bite-sized terror, here is our selection of short free horror games to play on PC.
Tiny Bunny
Tiny Bunny is an episodic horror visual novel with a total of five episodes. It mixes a lot of creepy settings and themes: a mysterious forest at night, a village lost in Siberia, children going missing, and a strained family situation.
The main character, Anton, has just moved with his family to a small village in the Siberian forest, where the local police have been struggling with a string of missing children cases. Anton starts finding footprints, bloodstains, and scraps of clothing in the forest around his house. He also starts having disturbing nightmares, which gradually grow more and more frightening and realistic.
Despite its visual novel trappings, the overall ambiance of Tiny Bunny is dark and oppressive. The first episode is free-to-play on Steam and takes about an hour to complete.
Doki Doki Literature Club!
Doki Doki Literature Club! may not look like a horror game at first, but trust me, it is terrifying. The game begins like a typical anime dating sim, where you play as a boy joining a girls-only literature club. You are going to try and flirt with some of them, until… Everything changes.
Doki Doki Literature Club! is a great horror game for PC. It slowly builds its intrigue and then chills your spine to the core, leaving you with a lot of disturbing memories and things to think about. However, Doki Doki Literature Club! is not for everyone. It deals with heavy subjects such as depression and suicide, so avoid playing it if you are sensitive to these subjects.
The Devil Haunts Me
The Devil Haunts Me is a free short horror game for PC that features elements of survival and exploration. You live in a house in the woods (of course) and you need to cut down trees, hunt deer, and gather water to survive. But you are not really alone in the woods. As you go along with your daily tasks, you may stumble upon bloodstains and animal corpses. It only gets worse from there.
The Designer’s Curse
The Designer’s Curse is a first-person survival horror game inspired by scary games like Amnesia and Penumbra. You have to escape the depths of Shaw Well Manor by solving puzzles while avoiding… well, I’ll let you find out on your own.
The soundtrack of The Designer’s Curse is signed by Mikko Tarmia, the composer of Amnesia. If the jumpscares and overall ambiance weren’t scary enough for you, the music will do the rest. The Designer’s Curse was made by a 15-year-old developer, but don’t get his age fool you: his game is terrifying.
That wraps up this selection of short free horror games for PC. Stay tuned to SQUAD for more gaming content!
