The children are out in costumes, knocking on doors and collecting candy from strangers and enjoying being kids. What to do after the dressed-up fun is over with though? Watch the same tired old horror movies you watched last year? Nah, let Jason, Freddy and Norman rest this year and check out these five horror titles set in mansions that will scare you (some will scare more than others, that is life and why we picked five titles instead of 3).
Going from oldest to newest here, we have Maniac Mansion from LucasFilm Games (available for various platforms). Why is this campy, comedy based, point and click title on this list? Because there are plenty of scares in there (walk into a room and find one of Dr. Fred’s misbegotten family members going about their day and try to keep your heart from jumping or adrenaline from rushing as you try to escape. Try and keep your cool as you have to trick the inhabitants, narrowly avoid them, even feed some of them to get to the next area, or simply out of a corner you are stuck in.
Maniac Mansion’s story is somewhat unique (if you aren’t a 50′s sci-fi fan) in that a meteor crashes into the Edison home and, well, in true evil fashion, takes over. The typical jock’s girlfriend goes missing and he suspects that she is being tormented and experimented on in the Edison Mansion.
What is unique about Maniac Mansion is that players are given control of three characters at one time, switching, in real time, between them. Leave a character in the open and just wait, it is only a matter of time before a bad guy happens upon them and captures them. Other unique attributes include being able to interact with various things, like picking the aspiring author character, getting the address off the TV then mailing off a manuscript which helps you get one of the many many endings.
A little later in gaming history we come upon The 7th Guest title and it is slightly different than Maniac Mansion. More akin to the normal adventure title of the time, point, click on something to interact with it and through trial and error, figure out what to do next (unless you purchased the handy dandy strategy guide).
Pitting the player in the role as a guest at old man Stauf’s mansion with 5 other guests that are not of this world anymore. There are dolls that caused pain and suffering, death and ghosts abound in this Full Motion Video based adventure title, and a few chills to boot.
D, available on various platforms, is another FMV title that is full of ambiance, though probably only good for playing once a year- may I suggest the the time of year we are now enjoying? I remember playing this title on 3DO, it was one of the first titles I got for that system and it was quite entertaining to play. Granted it may not have aged that well, it is still full of ambiance and a couple of scares for those willing to forgive the grainy graphics.
Next up, we have Fatal Frame for PlayStation 2. Again, a review by @ModernZorker is available here, and according to MZ, this game doesn’t hesitate to scare the bejeezus out of gamers.
Fatal Frame is all about taking pictures with a special camera (talk about an original play mechanic and one that leaves you ABSOLUTELY powerless against the baddies). Go around the haunted Himuro Mansion and take pics of the ghosts and ghouls and try to keep your wits about you.
Lastly, we have Luigi’s Mansion for Gamecube from Nintendo. I know what you are thinking, there is no way this title is scary, granted it is not the worst offender at making gamers soil their pants, there are some scary moments in this title (more subconsious scares, the ones that haunt you for days). Don’t believe me, check out the video below:
While some of these titles may not scream at you with scares and other antics of the fright, they will nonetheless give some jumps and frights. You won’t be messed up after playing these games, other than maybe wondering why some stuff happened or if you could have done something differently to survive. These titles can have a tendency to get under your skin, in your mind and run amok in there for a while.