Horror games are known to cause a fright for players in a variety of ways, mostly through horrifying imagery, such as a horrid or grotesque monster that pursues the player. However, some titles take a more subtle approach or create a deeper meaning through the monsters of their games, such as using somewhat regular humans as the monsters of their game.
Many titles have lent to this approach showing that you don't need to rely on the unnatural to make an effective horror experience for players. Countless horror games have continued to use humans as monsters for their games, with a few of them becoming memorable experiences for this idea.
10 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Humans have been seen as one of the horrors players have had to face throughout the Resident Evil series, many of which have also implemented zombies that the player must face as well as other horrific creatures. Resident Evil 7 is no different from the others, though its main monster focus is the Baker family, who have been tragically altered by the presence of Eveline.
The Baker family begin to look less and less human the longer the player fights them off. However, the scariest of them all is Lucas, who wasn't even altered by Eveline; he is just torturing the player for fun.
9 Dead By Daylight
Players are expected to survive against the monsters that the entity throws at them. Although many of them look to be actual monsters, the backstory of each of the creatures that aren't partnerships with other horror titles were actual people once.
This may not be obvious with characters such as the Hag or Wraith, but characters like The Legion are shown to still possess some form of their previous self. They, therefore, almost look identical to the survivors that players can choose from due to how human they still are.
8 Ravenous Devils
Combining a cooking simulator with a horror game doesn't sound like it would go together, though Ravenous Devils does this easily. Unlike the other titles mentioned, in this horror title, the player is, in fact, the one controlling the monsters.
Leading defenseless customers of their tailor shop to their demise, the player will turn their skin into clothes, and their meat shall be used for pies which are then fed back to the masses. The worst part about it is that the end goal is to finally become rich from such means.
7 Manhunt
Manhunt had its controversies back in the day for the amount of violence it presented. The game show how humans can be the monsters in the horror genre. There is no element that has altered the minds of those involved; they just have a mindless need for violence.
The main character of the game is forced to kill those he meets by the person who calls himself The Director if he hopes to have his freedom. The Director pushes the player to kill those around them in 'creative' ways showing how much of a monster he is.
6 Welcome To The Game 2
Exploring the Deep Web can be dangerous, and Welcome To The Game emphasizes this as the player must search for information on an infamous killing room online called a Red Room in the hope of saving a woman's life.
Along the way, players may accidentally set off other people online, such as the doll maker, Lucas, Noir, and others that do not like the player's interfering. They may also only be human but refusing to hide from them or doing the wrong checks will end a player's run.
5 Haunting Ground
It can be argued that all the villains in Haunting Ground are human, with the main antagonist being a clone. However, the majority of monsters that pursue the main character in this survival horror are human in both shape and description.
Characters like Debililitas and Riccardo are human, even if their designs are not the most flattering. They will chase the player around the manor consistently; Riccardo is one of the most horrifying people in the game with what his goals are with capturing Fiona.
4 Deadly Premonition
Playing as Detective Francis York, players are tasked with solving the mysterious murders that have been occurring in the rural town of Greenvale. Throughout the story, players are looking for the infamous monster called the Raincoat Killer.
Deadly Premonition mixes real life with the supernatural as although York finds the human killer of many of these cases, The Raincoat Killer believes by killing and eating red seeds, he will become immortal. Although confusing, it doesn't appear entirely impossible in this supernatural open-world ready to be explored.
3 Clock Tower
As the inspiration for Haunting Ground, Clock Tower comes with its own incredible story as well as intense horror moments. In this spooky franchise, the player is commonly pursued by the unpleasant serial killer called Scissorman. The Scissorman is more of a title as in later games, he returns, but as a different person.
As his name suggests, he does the dangerous thing of running around after the player with a comically large pair of sheers. He has murdered many and hopes to kill the player to please his mother.
2 Outlast
Everything seems to have gone wrong in Outlast; the majority of the monsters met by players in this survival horror are human inmates that have been allowed to run free of their cells since the building has fallen into disarray.
Many of the characters do not look human, such as Chris Walker; this is due to the tragic nature of his mental illness, which has caused many of the inmates to self-mutilate and believe in some higher purpose.
1 Bioshock
Bioshock's moral reveals how the greed of man has turned them into monsters. Rapture, the place the title is set, was supposed to be a paradise underwater for those that could afford it; however, a substance called Adam made this all go wrong.
By the time the player makes it to Rapture, the place is falling apart, and all the residents have gone mad from needing Adam. Along the journey, players will meet some unsavory characters, all of which are very human but incredibly broken while committing heinous crimes.