The first time a video game actually scared you.

[Mafia Penguin]

bruh, i was afraid of doom on dos

[Late to the Game]

Splatterhouse. It wasn't really a scary game but the imagery was pretty messed up when your a young'un. The only game that has truly terrified me though, and I mean frozen with fear terror is Resi 7 on PSVR. Man that game was hard to get through but thats why its one of my greatest gaming experiences.

[Crosknight]

the dang dogs in one of the tomb raider games on the sega dreamcast, think i was like 6-7 at the time. they just came at me so fast my little brain couldn't process it.

[Mario]

I can't remember any specific title or series, but for me it's always been those annoying non-auto-scrolling levels that force you to keep going, e.g. due to ghosts, monsters, lava etc. running after you. Always felt rushed/urged and uneasy trying to beat those, even if they were rather easy. I rather skipped than tried them, if possible.

[SaltyPaladin]

When I was 7 I was scared by the monsters from Santa Claus in Trouble. I was also scared of any race other than human in WC3. Probably explains the nostalgia.

[Moonlight]

As a kid, the redeads in the cemetery tomb in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time really creeped me out. Up to that point the game had a mostly cheerful vibe. PT from Hideo Kojima is the only game that got to me as an adult. The most disturbing game (visual novel) I've experienced is Song of Saya, which is from the guy who wrote the screenplays for Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, Psycho Pass, etc. I play, watch and read an overabundance of horror stuff. I'm almost finished reading all of H. P. Lovecraft's short stories.

[TitusCrow]

I was doing Live role-playing at that time ( about 1995 ) I was on the staff and we had taken over a big stately home in Scotland for the event. I had never saw both a ps1 or Resident evil. I remember watching my friend playing it on the 32 inch flatsceen tv in the big house. It was an old creepy house and playing Resident evil for the 1st time there ill never forget it. When the zombie turns round in the cut scene then you realise that YOU have to get away from him.. wow!

[TitusCrow]

I was doing Live role-playing at that time ( about 1995 ) I was on the staff and we had taken over a big stately home in Scotland for the event. I had never saw both a ps1 or Resident evil. I remember watching my friend playing it on the 32 inch flatsceen tv in the big house. It was an old creepy house and playing Resident evil for the 1st time there ill never forget it. When the zombie turns round in the cut scene then you realise that YOU have to get away from him.. wow! 🦇❤❤😊

[Darth Bane]

I think it was Resident Evil 1 on PlayStation. The game was great.

[DM Bluddworth]

The first time I heard the thunder-clap in Daggerfall I literally fell out of my seat. Granted I was wearing a headset and the volume for that sound was too high, but I jumped several inches and fell over.

[TheSHEEEP]

For me, I think it must have been Aliens Vs. Predator 2 (the one from 2002) or System Shock 2, not entirely sure which one was first.
Both games just nailed the level design and feeling of threat.

[Nova_Nanite]

Resident evil 4 would probably has a particular section of the game early on that scared the shit out of me as a kid and still does to this very day. So long story short after killing some crazy monster fish with spears that "Leon please for god sake throw the damn spears faster this is my 5th time fighting this boss", procuring a church key from the friendly non homicidal people of the river mill, and then killing a literal giant with a pissy hand gun. After all that you get to an area just to the left of the entrance to the church you just worked so hard to get a key to get into. So 11 year old me runs up to the path only to be assaulted and jump scared practically into a heart attack by 3 zombie dogs with glowing eyes, keep in mind at the time it was very very dark, rainy and thundering in game so I was already a but on edge. I swear i jumped so high my head practically touched the ceiling.

Even with subsequent playthroughs of the game and the forever imprinted in my brain knowledge of where those zombie dogs reside they still terrify me to the point where I stay as far away as possible as I scope in on them with my explosive mine dart launcher.

[Echo]

I can't remember if it was the first Max Payne or the first F.E.A.R. Either way, I bought one because the other had freaked me out in a way that I later wanted to repeat.

[JackofTears]

I was going to mention Shalebridge Cradle and the Bloodlines hotel - two of the best horror locations in gaming.

[Method_Actual]

The following is 100% true. When I was a kid I played Silent Hill on my older brother's Playstation while he was at hockey practice. He'd made me promise I wouldn't play it because I was a gigantic pussy as a child and always went to him when I had nightmares. Well, I played it anyway and scared myself shitless. I got to the point where *spoilers?* you find the mutilated corpse on the chain-link fence before I couldn't make myself go any further. So I turn the console off and go through the rest of my day with a sense of anxiety and unease because the atmosphere of that game brilliantly unsettling, and before I know it it's bed time.

It was the dead of winter and there was heavy fog that night. Unbeknownst to me, a pump had been installed that day in the sewer line that ran next to our development to prevent it from flooding. So sometime around midnight I'm piss terrified and unable to sleep when that pump kicks on. It sounded EXACTLY like a beating heart. Precisely like the steady pounding of an unnaturally loud human heart; and I can hear it like it's right next to me.

Now, my father was in law enforcement for my entire childhood, and he'd gone out of his way to make sure I understood the difference between a real threat to my safety and my imagination, but I'm telling you I honestly felt like I was losing my mind that night. I was experiencing my own personal "telltale heart" situation and I was so certain what I was hearing was real that my child mind couldn't deal with it. Rationality thoroughly trounced by icy fear, I wake up my dad and tell him I hear a heartbeat. He's quiet for a second and then tells me he hears it too. I almost die. He must have seen me almost shit my pants because he immediately told me he was sure everything was fine. He went to see what was up and took his gun with him. The twenty minutes it took him to figure out what was up and get back to me were a hell on their own.

Obviously it turned out to be nothing, but I'll never forget the irrational terror I felt that night. I've still never gone back to play Silent Hill, and I never plan to.