Sound is an integral part of horror. Oftentimes, it's scarier to hear something in the distance than it is to see it in front of you. When one just hears something, that is a confirmation of presence but still leaves what it is largely a mystery. Naturally, horror video games do their best to make the most out of sound.It's hard to beat a good wailing when it comes to audible horror. A roar obviously indicates a monster, so there is very little ambiguity there. However, there is something indistinct about what a wailing sound can mean, as it lies somewhere between a roar and a scream. Wails can be downright petrifying, and the good ones stick with you.
10 The Brute's Wail In Amnesia Sounds Disturbingly Human
The Brute of Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of the horrific Gatherers likely created by Alexander of Brennenberg. They were once human, and their appearances are clearly human in origin. However, they are horrifically mutilated and evoke a deep queasiness in their observers.
The Brute, in particular, has a mournful wail while it's patrolling the halls of Castle Brennenberg. It's in these moments that the Brute sounds the most human, and that makes these monstrosities all the more unsettling.
9 Hearing The Wail Of The Dying Light Volatile Means A Bad Time Is Coming
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The Volatiles are a particularly deadly type of infected that only comes out at night in Dying Light and Dying Light 2. These beasts are inhumanly fast, strong, and resilient. They can be avoided by not going out at night, but that's not always possible for the player.
Volatiles have a petrifying wail that can be heard from a distance, and it invariably means the player is about to have a bad time. Volatiles are rarely alone, as they often lead a horde of infected in their hunt for the player, wherever they may be.
8 Friday The 13th's Commodore 64 Death Scream Is Grotesque
For a bit of a throwback, there is the Friday the 13th video game on the Commodore 64. While the game is overall quite simple in its design, the death screen seemingly comes out of nowhere to petrify the player with a machete through a head and a digital scream.
Both the suddenness and the distortion of the scream make it particularly unsettling as pointed out by James Stephanie Sterling in an older Jimquisition video. This death screen makes this old Friday the 13th game one of the scariest games of its time and is still worth remembering to this day.
7 The Screech Of The Wendigo In Until Dawn Is Horrifying
The Wendigo is the supernatural element of Dying Light, the decision-based horror game by Supermassive Games. While the game starts off with horrors that are distinctly man-made, the survivors later discover the presence of Wendigo in the mountains around their cabin.
The Wendigo were once human until they were bitten by another Wendigo, and they have a haunting scream that sends chills down the spine. There are many Wendigo throughout the game, and they each hunt their victims while constantly letting out these horrifying screeches.
6 Man-Bat's Ambush In Arkham Knight Comes From Nowhere
The Batman: Arkham series isn't specifically horror. Batman: Arkham Asylum certainly had horror elements, but later entries in the cities abandoned the more horror-focused sections while still retaining many of the aesthetics. However, the last entry, Batman: Arkham Knight, has a small handful of distinctly horror-inspired moments.
One of which is the sudden appearance of the Man-Bat. This grotesque mixture of man and bat known as Dr. Kirk Langstrom unexpectedly ambushes Batman while the Dark Knight grapples to the top of a building. There is no warning for this, making it completely unexpected and terrifying. The memory of the Joker that haunts Batman later recreates this by suddenly appearing and cackling in Batman's face similarly.
5 Clicker Screams Are The Scariest Part Of Last Of Us
The Clicker is easily the most frightening and creative element in the Last of Us series. The heads of these infected humans have been completely overgrown with fungus, rupturing their skulls and blinding them. They navigate through echolocation.
This echolocation often consists of a repeated clicking sound, and their motions are sporadic and twitchy. The Clickers will scream when they have a target, and it's a sound that makes your heart drop.
4 Redead Screams From Wind Waker Are The Most Unsettling Ones
The Redeads are a repeating enemy in the Legend of Zelda series by Nintendo. These undead beasts always scream when attacking Link, and the scream in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask is a high-pitched screech that has the graininess of a stock sound effect.
However, the scream was touched up for Wind Waker, and that's easily the most unsettling Redead sound of the series. It's a wavering wail that sounds more frightened than aggressive, and it's surely the sound that Link hears when he sleeps at night.
3 The Cleric Beast's Roar Tells You What Kind Of Game Bloodborne Will Be
The opening scenes of Bloodborne by FromSoftware make it clear that this game will be quite different from Dark Souls in many ways. It's an unsettling gore fest from the get-go, but it isn't long before something else unsettling makes itself known.
The Cleric Beast is one of the first two boss fights available to the Hunter, and the Cleric Beast lets out a bellowing scream in the opening minutes of the game that is guaranteed to chill the player to the bone. It lets the player know that the horror isn't just an aesthetic in Bloodborne; it's an intended part of the experience.
2 The Witch's Wail From Left 4 Dead Let's You Know Death Is Nearby
Left 4 Dead is a zombie shooter from Valve that has more interest in bloody gun-toting fun than actually scaring the player. However, there is an enemy type that can still unsettle players with alarming ease.
These enemies are the Witches. While the Hunter and the Spitter have their own unsettling sounds, the Witch beats them both out by far. The crying wail of the Witch lets the player know that carelessness here will result in a swift and brutal death. The fact that the Witch appears to be a teenage girl makes it all that much more upsetting, as this zombie is someone whose life was taken all too soon.
1 The Rosemary Nightmare Baby's Wailing Cry Is Unforgettable
While Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is easily the scariest game of the series, it doesn't have the most frightening section in a Resident Evil game. That honor belongs to Resident Evil: Village, which exposes the player to a nightmare sequence caused by Donna Beneviento and her hallucinogenic abilities.
Donna traps Ethan Winters in the basement of her estate, where a giant monstrous version of the infant Rosemary Winters chases Ethan through the dark hallways with distorted cries and screams. This segment is petrifying to its core, and the sounds that the monster baby makes are integral to this visceral reaction.