I think Lovecraft would really dig the
Silent Hill series, and I'm honestly surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. If you aren't familiar with them, the
Silent Hill games feature a sinister resort town and the people who are, for some reason or another, called to it. They have some of the most brilliant sound design I've ever heard and are genuinely terrifying.
Silent Hill 2 in particular is a masterwork that, to me, rivals even the best horror stories and films. Most fans of the series agree that the first three games are the best in the series. The first game was released on Playstation, with the second, third, and fourth released on the Playstation 2 (and the PC and Xbox if I'm not mistaken).
Silent Hill 2 (and to a lesser extent,
Silent Hill 3) are stand-alone stories. There isn't much continuity to the series in general. While
Silent Hill 2 is somewhat dated in terms of graphics, I think it has aged quite well for a game that's 9 years old.
Silent Hill 3 has aged even better in that respect. Even so, the sound design is terrifying and timeless, as are the stories and locales.
You might wonder why Lovecraft would dig these. Well, I think they're kindred spirits with a lot of his Macabre stories. A cult factors into some of the games, and, not to give too much away, the characters who are drawn to Silent Hill usually learn things about the town and themselves that come at a heavy price. One thing I love about these games - especially the first three - is that the protagonists aren't some special ops team sent in to rid the world of hellbeasts or whatever. They're everyday people - they're flawed and it shows.
Seriously, if you haven't played these games (especially
Silent Hill 2 and
Silent Hill 3) you're missing out on some of the best horror games ever made. And, since survival horror as a genre is dead or dormant, they may hold that honor for years to come. That's such a shame, too, because I think video games are the best medium for horror. The added element of interactivity makes the fear so much more palpable. Just like the characters in the game, you want to move forward, you want to learn more about your horrific circumstances but you're so unspeakably
afraid that you don't want to take another step.
This turned into a much longer post than I thought it would be
. You owe it to yourself to play these games if you haven't. If you've got a PS2 or XBOX, you could probably find each game for $15-20 a piece. If not, they're on Steam and are probably about the same price. If you do pick them up, research the games as little as possible beforehand and don't read anything about the plot as it's the real driving force of the games besides the scares. Ideally, you would go into the games with just the information I've given here. Mystery is one of the crucial driving forces for any horror story, and you definitely don't want to spoil it here.
