The first Resident Evil - yes, the dogs always made me jump even though I expected them.

Phantasmagoria - now it's laughable (but in a good way), but back when it first came out it was much easier to get into the creepy atmosphere.

I can't say Amnesia because I haven't gotten very far into it.

edit: oh yeah, the "haunted hotel" in Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. Especially as a Malkavian and wearing headphones.

Thief DS- Everybody says that the Cradle is one of the most memorable levels of gaming and not only are puppets creepy as hell but the worst part is being jumped by one by suprise and I literarly shouted "Holy Shit"

Lone Survivor- Was creepy the whole way through but the screech from the final boss "Mother" sent shills throughout my whole body.

Penumbra Black Plaque- The games will keep you on edge the whole game and the ability to not wield any weapons (including Amnesia) is a huge psychological part of any game. And your companion is also your worst enemy.

And alot more.

The only real horror game I've played was Amnesia which was, yeah, scary. Although I stopped playing a bit after the water monster part, not so much due to the fright as due to failing to be involved in the story or gameplay. Excellent atmosphere and creepiness, though.

just incase anyone didn't know - The Suffering is now freeware

I never understood what's so good about Condemned. It's story just stretched my suspension of belief so much that it got shattered after not even so long.
*spoilers*
You are a cop, and a criminal has killed another cop with your weapon, so you run, because that's the reasonable thing to do. You know, everyone at station knew that the wanted killer was with you in the building, there were fingerprints on the weapon and footprints in the dust all around the scene, and I'm sure no one would believe you with your history of murdering colleagues. And so you embark on a journey full of, essentially, murdering hobos, because that will totally help your case.

As my grandfather always said, "If you can't solve your problem by murdering hobos, then your problem is not worth its time." ...my grandfather was a little crazy.

;P

Well, I like Condemned. However, I must confess that my mentioning it was part of a shameless ploy to bump this thread until I had further time to think about games that actually scared me or I felt a general uneasiness or a genuine horror vibe from.

I was also on the toilet at work searching these forums on my mobile when I bumped this thread; how's that for scarey. -______-

As far as games that have shat me up in the past:

Silent Hill series
Resident Evil series (mainly 1 and 2)
The Suffering
Eternal Darkness
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Siren
Fatal Frame
Manhunt series
Lone Survivor (it may not be pretty, but listen to it)
Dead Island (You know one thing that's really scary about Dead Island? There's not one mirror in the entire fucking game. A world without mirrors? Madness really... )
Amnesia
System Shock

Silent Hill 4

I will say that I agree with the whole apartment thing. The whole game is a mindfuck in and of itself. It stands apart from the rest of the series, but it is a Silent Hill game. If you've never played it and you're into horror in general; give it a shot (and then whack it in the head repeatedly with a golf club).

Hell yes, as a malkavian NPCs would almost always talk to you in an aver creepier way that usual ^^ ...

Others have mentioned it, but I can't believe I forgot Eternal Darkness or The Suffering (considering the latter is installed on my PC ATM). I have a DREADFUL fear of needles, so the mainliners are the stuff of nightmares to me. Thanks, Stan Winston!

Psychological horror Games like Silent Hill, Amnesia the Dark Descent, Penumbra, Clock Tower, even F.E.A.R. 1 and System Shock 2 does not scare me oh it spooked me here and there but it was not horryifying to me

it does not scare me because well I don't find the idea of fucking with my mind not frightening

especially with each games "antagonists" are morally ambigous like are they evil or not espesically when I played F.E.A.R. Alma is not the real bad guy in the series

To your surprise what scared me were games like Resident Evil, Doom 3, and Demon's Souls Dark Souls hell even Tomb Raider 1 through 3 and the King Kong 2006 video game. Doom scared me because it was evil like the classic idea and concept of evil same as Demon's Souls plus the fact that it has a deppressing/all hope is lost setting.

Tomb Raider and King Kong scared me because it felt primal like you are in a dark cave and all of a sudden a T.Rex was in it.

And Resident Evil it was just plain classicy scary like a really scary monster movie like: "aahh a Tyrant broke through the wall!!!!"

these scared more then any shit Psychological Horrors throw at me honestly I don't no why people hold it in high regard.

It's a shame, too, because Monolith really does know how to do scares well. I mean, Condemned was terrifying, as was AvP2. And even in FEAR, most of the scares are very well set up and well executed, and the bleak atmosphere is pretty good. But as you said, it very quickly becomes apparent that there's nothing to actually fear from anything you see. Some of them are startling, a few are disturbing, and they can cath you off guard if you're playing alone at night. but they don't engage you in a very visceral, demanding way. You don't feel like you have no choice but to be frightened, like you do in Amnesia or STALKER. This type of scare works sometimes... in games that allow the player enough time to settle into the atmosphere and start dreading what they might see next. FEAR, in contrast, is very decidedly an ego shooter. Its firefights are a testosterone-laden adrenaline rush, and they make you feel like a superman. Then, after the last enemy is brutally slaughtered, the game immediately slams into "jap horror" mode and expects you to be ready for ghostly scares. In reality, you're still riding high from the firefight. "Oh hey... a weird little girl just appeared out of nowhere. Me and my gigantic assault rifle are really frightened."

I think the decision to combine John Woo action and Japanese "creepy little girl" horror was a very poor one. I give them props for trying something unique, but the fact is that it didn't work very well at all. Luckily, the shooting is fantastic, and reason enough to play the game.

OT: Amnesia, the STALKER series (yes all of them, even Clear Sky. Just play the Red Forest again), AvP2, Condemned, Resident Evil 1 (in a more "I'm low on ammo and health and have no idea how I'm going to keep going" way), System Shock 2 (same reason), and the Penumbra series. I still want to check out the Silent Hill games and the Fatal Frame games. And Slender, maybe :P
I think that "jump scares" get an unfairly bad rep. When done right (it's especially important to make sure there's something to be horrified by after the initial shock, which is something Monolith does very well), they are a very effective means of getting to the player. The sort of "get into your head and mess with your mind" horror is no less effective, but on its own it can feel a little anticlimactic. It's something that's good for setting up an atmosphere of horror. Maintaining any sort of continual fear takes touches of something a little more visceral. I think some of the best titles combine both (Amnesia and Penumbra).

This is said without ever having played Silent Hill 2, though, which is apparently the best at the whole "psychological" element.
I remember playing The Suffering a little while back. It didn't do much for me at the time, but I might have to give it another try.

exactly the best jump scare that horrified me was in Resident Evil 2 where you solve a puzzle in order to get a cog for a machine and when I solved the puzzle a Tyrant burst through the wall it was completely unexpected because RE2 has 2 walkthoughs example in Claire A walkthrough it does not happen but in Leon B it does

Well said. Why should I be afraid of anything, when I just slaughtered 15 men into bloody pulp in slow mo? Alma doesn't even hurt you, she's just there...

True. For example, in Condemned, there is a brilliant scene when you have to photograph the dead body, and then to make a close up of the face... Yeah, that was terrifying :D

Also, the scene with a cat noise in a locker in Silent Hill 1 was brilliantly made.

It's ok when a horror movie/game has scenes like that, if executed well. IT's a shame when a horror movie/game is entirely BASED on that one type of scare.

You're mostly writing here about horror games by the looks of it, but any game can give you a scare.

The easiest factor is, Surprise!!, and you can get that in most games, not just the ones that are built about frightening you. Wether it be a skeleton bursting through wall in Serious Sam TFE, an innocent bystander who you weren't aware of was there in an action game when you are full of adrenaline, or a car slamming in you when you weren't expecting.

Not to forget, if you want the best experience, surround sound is a must!! One thing is to be surprised, the other when you are surprised and you know it is behind you!

Clive Barker's Undying
Doom 3
F.E.A.R.
Condemned - Criminal Origins