The World of Scary Video Games: A Study in Videoludic Horror

by Bernard Perron

As for film and literature, the horror genre has been very popular in the video game. The World of Scary Video Games provides a comprehensive overview of the videoludic horror, dealing with the games labelled as “survival horror” as well as the mainstream and independent works associated with the genre. It examines the ways in which video games have elicited horror, terror and fear since Haunted House (1981). Bernard Perron combines an historical account with a theoretical approach in order to offer a broad history of the genre, outline its formal singularities and explore its principal issues. It studies the most important games and game series, from Haunted House ( 1981) to Alone in the Dark (1992- ), Resident Evil (1996-present), Silent Hill (1999-present), Fatal Frame (2001-present), Dead Space (2008-2013), the Dark Descent (2010), and The Evil Within (2014). Accessibly written, The World of Scary Video Games helps the reader to trace the history of an important genre of the video game.

Genres: Video Games, Games, Horror, Nonfiction, Gaming

618 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2018

Reviews

[Dawid]

po co mi to było, cała ta magisterka...

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this one: Perron uses a deep bibliography (and a ludography for all the video games cited) to assemble some wonderful insights regarding the genre and its components. Striving to make a formal break from its film roots, there’s sections devoted to the history, sound, scares, and playing aspects of horror video games. Some sentences with minor syntax errors and a dependency on scholarship from texts edited by or written by the author, but otherwise enlightening.

[Federico Gorziglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

al 2026 andrebbe un pochino aggiornato il parco titoli, ma è un ottimo manuale

[BVC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alla fin fine non è malaccio come testo, nel suo tentativo di definire cosa si può intendere con Survival horror e come lo si può incastrare sotto l'ombrello dell'horror in generale e nel suo ripercorrere la storia del genere. Gli esempi sono parecchi e, anche se qualche volta mi è sembrato divagasse un po' troppo, ogni capitolo trova la propria giusta conclusione. Buona anche l'inclusione di estratti di interviste fatte a vari sviluppatori o dichiarazioni rese da certe case di sviluppo, permettendo di avere un'idea più chiara di cosa certi giochi abbiano voluto rappresentare, titoli Capcom in particolare.