Since video games began, creators have experimented with horror, wielding the genre to explore the darker parts of the human psyche, and to speak to the nature of living. From its early days, the genre has explored tough, ground-breaking topics, not only scaring audiences, but making such a large impact on their worldview and ideas.
A new documentary series, TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, explores this legacy in-depth, with 50 of the biggest names in horror (from video games, film making, and beyond) contributing their insights. That includes big names like John Carpenter, as well as John Romero, Corey Taylor, Swery65, Sam Barlow, Ken and Roberta Williams, Akira Yamaoka, and more – all of whom discuss their biggest horror projects, and the pervasive influence of the horror genre.
Notably, the documentary series is actually produced by an Australian team – writer/director Richard Moss, and editor Connor O’Keane both worked out of Melbourne to shape TerrorBytes.
Per Moss, this documentary series was largely inspired by the passion of producer Daniel Richardson, the “big horror obsessive” of the team, but it’s helped to reshape the minds of the entire production crew.
While Moss admitted to having a more “mixed relationship” with the genre, he described a renewed love and passion for the horror of Tomb Raider to GamesHub, highlighting how even adventure and fantasy games owe a lot to the genre, and that horror exists in many things, in many ways.
“Horror might not be the first thing people think of with the classic Tomb Raider games, but the first two titles were dripping in horror sensibilities – with their foreboding music, gloomy fog, stark isolation, intermittent jumpscares, and disempowering level design,” Moss said.
He also shared a love for titles like Gabriel Knight, Alone in the Dark, Night Trap, Her Story, DOOM, Thief, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, and What Remains of Edith Finch. As Moss noted, not all of these games are strictly “horror” titles, but by nature of placing players in precious, strange, and supernatural situations, they all evoke the horror genre.
Horror as the anti-power fantasy
At its core, horror is a universal aspect of many video games, and it’s in making viewers uncomfortable, or leaning into uncanny situations, that these games are most powerful. As noted by Moss, now feels like exactly the right time to explore the horror genre, not only due to its rising popularity, but also due to its connection to the real world.
“It may be reflective of the despair and hopelessness that’s so pervasive in the real world right now, but I think horror games are really having a moment,” Moss said. “They’re a huge and growing niche, and one of the most interesting spaces in gaming. So I think we need a documentary like TerrorBytes to contextualise this moment, to celebrate the breadth and diversity of the horror gaming scene, to break down what makes great horror in games, and to examine how we got here with horror gaming.”
On a more general note, Moss also noted it was important to celebrate horror games for how they innovate on engagement, and how they challenge players in their depictions of fear and disempowerment. Per Moss, they “challenge our notions of what makes a great game” with “huge amounts of thought and care during development going into the thematic and narrative function of their mechanics, art, and sound.”
They also challenge and invert the “traditional power fantasies,” particularly survival horror games. When players are forced into a new perspective of powerlessness, they may grasp more about themselves, questioning their bravery and strength.
“There’s a beautiful catharsis and humanity to horror games in the way they force us to confront our worries, anxieties, fears, and vices (or otherwise to shut off the game),” Moss said.
“And I think there’s something special about that that’s worth drawing attention to in a documentary like this – to reflect on why people love horror and how horror games can, at their best, serve as a mirror to our humanity, daring us to acknowledge the darkness within ourselves, all while sharing stories of the struggles, challenges, passions, and ideas that drove people to make this incredibly-versatile assortment of horror and horror-adjacent video games.”
TerrorBytes will explore these themes and ideas at length, analysing individual games, as well as the legacy of each creator included. The first episode will dive deep with survival horror, the second explores licensed horror games, the third focusses on narrative-adventure nightmares, the fourth focuses on indie games, and the final episode will focus on the many controversies associated with horror games.
Those keen to dive in won’t have to wait long – the first two episodes of TerrorBytes are now available, and the final three episodes will launch in April 2025. You can learn more about the documentary project on its website.
