A Little Taste of Terror
Video game trailers are meant to excite us, to show the latest concepts and gameplay before the next bestseller hits the shelves. But not every trailer did that. Some trailers took another route, terrifying us with the unexpected or downright bizarre.
1. PlayStation—Mental Wealth
“Let me tell you what bugs me about the human endeavor.” Ten years ago, we all sat completely mystified as an alien woman with a thick Scottish accent spouted nonsense for a minute straight. All that unforgettable horror just to promote the PlayStation.
2. Xbox—Life is Short
Thirty seconds. That’s about all it took for that poor baby to shoot straight out of the womb, through the hospital, and soar across the sky—on and on he went until he aged into an old man who then crashed into his own grave. The point of it all? “Life is short. Play more.”
3. Resident Evil 4—Feeding Mother
There’s nothing more natural than a mother who hums a lullaby and feeds her newborn child. Together they rock on the bed, enjoying an everyday moment as a child’s creepy voiceover asks us to imagine a safe place. Then the camera pans up. The voice tells us that safe place doesn’t exist anymore, and we’re greeted with one of the worst jumpscares ever.
4. Silent Hills/P.T.—Concept Trailer
We could talk forever about P.T., the scariest game that never was. As if its loss wasn’t bad enough, we haven’t recovered from its terrifying concept trailer either. From detached heads crawling with bugs to giant arms clawing down hallways, the visuals still freak us out. (Not as bad as Lisa, though.)
5. Dead Island—Zombie Outbreak
Not every trailer needs a jumpscare to resonate with us. Sometimes all it takes is a cinematic masterpiece played in reverse. To this day, we can’t forget that poor little girl’s misadventure, all set to blue skies and melancholic music. It might not have been “scary,” but it haunted us for an entirely different reason.
6. PlayStation 3—Creepy Baby
PlayStation just couldn’t help themselves. They just had to stick a baby and their console in a room to see what would happen. We all remember what happened! It was a horror show; a baby doll just crying and cooing for thirty seconds. We didn’t buy a PS3 out of spite.
7. Nintendo—You Cannot Beat Us
“We are Nintendo. We challenge all players. You cannot beat us.” That was the sentiment from all those 8-bit characters, each popping up onscreen to remind children that they could never beat Nintendo. Okay. You win. Just leave us alone.
8. Siren 2—Face at the Window
You know, horror games are scary enough with outdated graphics, but there’s something special about Siren 2’s trailer. We didn’t need a young girl at the window, knocking until her parents started screaming. Thank goodness the ad only aired in Japan.
9. Resident Evil Code: Veronica—Empty Hallway
Don’t worry, nothing to see here—just your everyday hallway and 15 uninterrupted seconds of silence. What could go wrong? You don’t exactly know where to look, but you know something’s coming. Maybe you even crank the volume to hear if you’ve missed something. Cue the jumpscare.
Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty) on Unsplash
10. Sega Saturn—We Suck Your Eyeballs Out
We certainly hope not, Sega. But they did. They strapped that poor guy in a racecar, sucked out his eyes, and forced him to play their games. The creepy Saw jump cuts and lens flares didn’t help either.
11. Dead Island 2—Transformation
In one of the coolest trailers ever, we watch in real-time as a slick-haired guy goes for a jog. He’s got the Rolex, he’s got the bicep implants—and he has an entire island fighting for its life behind him. It doesn’t take long before that bite on his wrist turns him into a freakish zombie hobbling along with the rest of them.
12. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard—Story Trailer
Biohazard just about brought the Resident Evil franchise back to life, and it wasn’t shy about showing off the latest graphics and horrifying characters. In one of the scariest moments of the trailer, our protagonist Ethan turns the corner just before Jack bursts through the wall. It was even worse in the actual game.
13. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem—Insanity
“Insanity. It’s all in your head.” That’s what the tagline read after we watched a guy twitch and scream alone in the bathroom. The trailer wasn’t very long, but it was enough to make us very uncomfortable.
14. Sega Saturn—It’s Out There
Loud thunderclaps, wide-eyed women dressed like Saturn—this lengthy commercial had it all, including nightmare fuel. The whole thing was a giant fever dream and it really shows off the insanity of the ‘90s.
15. Kirby Canvas Curse—Giant Finger
As adorable as Kirby is, we don’t need a giant finger following us around. We certainly don’t need one with feet. We hate to admit it, but the scariest thing about this ad is that it’s kind of cute. (In its own way! Don’t judge us!)
16. Super Mario World 2—Still the Big One
If you’ve ever played Left 4 Dead, you know about the Boomers, and it was that very sight we couldn’t stop picturing. Anyone who’s seen this ad knows exactly what happens to the guy noisily stuffing his face until he explodes. Here’s hoping waves of digested spaghetti and Jell-O entice you to buy Yoshi’s Island.
17. PlayStation 2—David Lynch
Floating heads, black and white cinematography, and ducks in suits—all this and more awaited us in the iconic PlayStation 2 ad. The more we think about it, the more surprised we are that PlayStation managed to sell anything. Who knew a Begotten-looking guy would be such good advertising?
18. FAITH: The Unholy Trinity—PC Trailer
We could talk about FAITH forever. This game not only has an incredible story, but its impressive rotoscoping scared us throughout its chapters. The whole project was a one-of-a-kind treasure and the trailer only gave us a horrifying taste of what was to come. The music only made it worse.
19. Amnesia: The Dark Descent—Game Trailer
Everybody and their grandma played Amnesia when it first came out, but the trailer just about rocked us to the core. They knew what they were doing. They knew what they were doing by only giving a taste of the monsters that stalked those halls.
20. Paranormal Tales—Bodycam Footage
You wouldn’t think that bodycam footage could still spook us, but Paranormal Tales managed to get it right. Their 2023 trailer pulled out all the stops—a missing dog, jump cuts, a dark forest. We don’t know what charged us in the trees…we just know we never want to see it again.
