Inside the secret psychology of horror games – and why we can’t help pushing play

<p>It’s not just what we hear and see that scares us, according to those behind many of video gaming’s modern horror classics</p><p>The sound came first. In a San Francisco Bart train tunnel, Don Veca took his recorder and captured a train’s metallic roar – “like demons in agony, beautifully ugly,” he remembers. That recording became one of the most chilling sounds in 2008’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/feb/23/dead-space-at-15-we-wanted-to-make-one-of-the-scariest-games-ever">Dead Space</a>.</p><p>“We dropped that screeching, industrial noise at full volume right after the vacuum silence – creating one of the game’s most jarring sonic contrasts,” Veca, who made horror history as the audio director for the Dead Space games, recalls. “Our game designer hated it – but the boss loved it. Over time, it’s become iconic.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/oct/31/psychology-horror-games-and-why-we-cant-help-pushing-play">Continue reading...</a>