The 18 Best VR Horror Games

Resident Evil 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim hold the record for being the most ported games of all time. In the case of Capcom's groundbreaking third-person shooter/survival horror classic, taking it for a spin with an Oculus Quest 2 atop your head makes it feel like an entirely different experience altogether. As legendary US special agent Leon S. Kennedy, you'll step into his shoes and wield his armory of guns during a crusade against a village full of crazed cultists. The gunplay feels just as good as it does in the regular version of the game, so you'll feel extremely comfortable pulling off headshots as you usually do. Find the president's daughter at all costs!

When the RE series experienced a bit of a downturn in fan interest and critical acclaim, Capcom went back to the drawing board to produce a true return to survival horror. And for this game, it did so by switching the character viewpoint from third-person to first-person. That switch-up worked wonders and resulted in one of the scariest games in the series, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The tension in this game is off the charts as you take on the role of Ethan Winters and are forced to navigate a mansion full of diseases monstrosities and the twisted family that tries to kill you at every turn. "Welcome to the family, son!" hits way harder when you hear it uttered from the terrifying Jack Baker while he's right in front of your face.

Our good old buddy Ethan hops back into the saddle to save the day in the sequel to the last game we just mentioned on this list. Resident Evil Village feels like a first-person spin of RE4 - you'll have to trek through a far-flung village inhabited by night terrors and ruled by a group of creepy individuals that will clash with you during epic boss fights. And you'll get to participate in all of that madness from a VR viewpoint that makes the act of confronting a horde of werewolves that much more bloodcurdling. You're either going to be scared to death or weirdly aroused when you run into Dimitrescu for the first time...

Imagine being the lone survivor of a plane crash and now finding yourself lost in the middle of nowhere while an ensemble of cannibals hunts you down. That setup is at the heart of this first-person survival horror simulator known as The Forest, which tests players' ability to collect, craft, explore, and survive. When it's time to go stealthy and take on those mutant killers, you'll really get closer to the action thanks to the added VR compatibility for this game.

If you've seen the Paranormal Activity films, then we're pretty sure you've said to yourself "You couldn't pay me to live in a haunted house!" To you all that think that we say this - face your fears and try out one of the best VR horror games that are directly attached to that horror movie IP. Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul places you in a spooky home that definitely has it out for you as evidenced by the many spirits that terrorize you. Whenever your flashlight starts running out of batteries, you'll truly feel helpless in this game's house of horrors.

Dreadhalls drops you into a dungeon full of creatures and asks you to find the best path to freedom. Making that great escape will be one the hardest tasks you'll ever take on, especially in a VR setting. Keep your ears peeled for any & all audio cues, stay out of sight whenever supernatural beings inhabit your space, and try your best to creep through a host of procedurally generated maps. The intense scares of this VR horror game are off the charts!

There's a high level of dread attached to the lower depths of the sea. Narcosis tackles that scenario as it places you in an industrial diver suit and tasks you with maneuvering through the darkness that envelopes the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. With only a flashlight, flares, and a knife at your disposal, you'll have to be careful about your item usage and keep close tabs on your oxygen intake, loss of light, and so much more. Maintaining your sanity and oxygen levels all at the same time presents a hell of a scary endeavor in this VR horror simulator.

We know you're far from surprised about this next pick on our list of the best VR horror games. If you've played any of the Five Nights at Freddy's games, then you already know how terror-stricken it can be for players due to the abundance of jump scares they rely on. Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted features a nice variety of original and classic minigames lifted from previous series entries. During each playthrough, you'll probably hop out of your seat all over again (with your preferred VR headset on this time around!) when those familiar killer animatronics run up on you.

Transference isn't all the way scary in a traditional sense, but its focus on the usual elements seen in psychological thrillers makes it eligible for this list of the best VR horror games. This game is practically set up as if you're encased within an escape room that's your very own mindscape. You'll have to get to the bottom of a mystery surrounding three members of a family and do so by switching perspectives from time to time to figure out what's really going on. The creepy factor is high here folks, trust us on that one!

Have you ever found yourself sitting through an entire marathon of Travel Channel shows centered around the paranormal? We totally get it - all those investigations into haunted locales are fascinating! Phasmophobia presents that setup in the form of a four-player co-op experience where you and your three fellow ghost hunters must investigate the many spirits in your midst. The VR compatibility for this ghost-hunting simulator makes it even more of a spine-chilling affair. Using your actual voice to call out to wandering souls and equipping all sorts of equipment to gather clues about their existence never gets old.

We've covered a bunch of survival games in the past couple of entries for this list of the best VR horror games already, so we've decided to head back into the realm of survival horror for this next pick. Lies Beneath has you playing the part of Mae, a college student who makes her return to the small town of Slumber, Alaska. Things go left immediately when she has to jump into action to save her father while protecting herself from rabid creatures and insane townsfolk. You'll be equipped with a nice armory of ranged and melee weapons to fight for your life in this game's beautifully animated yet eerie world.

That very first installment of The Exorcist is one of the scariest films to ever hit the big screen. Decades after its original release in theaters, we've finally gotten a quality video game adaptation that features the same high levels of terror attached to confronting and exorcising demonic entities. The Exorcist: Legion VR brings its VR thrills to you in an episodic manner, which means you'll get extra up close to new frights as you make your way through each episode. You'll be solving puzzles, delving into mysteries, and be forced to keep your wits about you as you face Satanic terrors.

There's just something inherently spooky about the Deep South. A Chair in a Room: Greenwater places you in that location, which is full of dilapidated motels, ghost towns, and murky swamps. You'll find yourself caught up in an investigation centered on why and how you're trapped within "The Greenwater Institute." As an amnesiac trying to piece together your memories all the while, you'll find yourself fully immersed in a thrilling journey that dishes out its more horrifying aspects when you least expect them. It's time to find out the origins of Patient No...

Now here's a VR horror game that dips into both the psychological terrors that plague the mind and the literal scares that catch you off guard when you least expect them. Wilson's Heart takes place in a hospital inhabited by some less-than-welcoming patrons. You set out into its dark and dreary hallways in search of your heart, which has mysteriously been replaced with a strange mechanical device. The game's noir visual theme and story beats mesh together wonderfully with traditional survival horror gameplay and strong vocal performances from some well-known actors (Rosario Dawson's actually in it!).

Cosmodread is another one of those VR horror games that successfully freshens up the usual formula of its sub-genre with "roguelike" elements to present players with a fresh stage layout during every run. You'll find yourself trapped on a decrepit spaceship full of nasty beings - thankfully, you can pick them off with your trusty crossbow and set up traps to eliminate them. Since ammo is scarce, you'll have to play it smart sometime and throw objects to distract your spooky stalkers. Exploration and survival are also key to your success - should you fail, you'll get another chance at freedom in a switched-up map presentation.

DEVOUR gives you some support in the form of their co-op buddies for one of the most fear-inducing multiplayer VR horror games. Your chances of survival aren't very high here since you're constantly being followed and threatened by cultists that want to keep you from gathering the times needed to banish their demonic leader. You better hope you and your online teammates don't buckle under pressure - it's easy for all your plans to fall apart when the madness and the darkness of DEVOUR consume you all.

Keeping one's sanity intact is damn near impossible when you're dropped into an abandoned home where a sense of normalcy is nowhere to be found. AFFECTED: The Manor gives you nothing more than a lit candle and asks you to comb through every spooky corner of its creepy home. There are no puzzles to solve here - just try to test your mettle and not freak out too much as you do a haunted mansion walkthrough for the ages. We can't lie, though - our VR headset flew off a few times because we lost our marbles during some of this game's more intense jump scares!

Now that we've reached the end of our list of the best VR horror games, allow us to present to you a harrowing trek through a version of Paris under duress. On your own or alongside three other co-op survivors, you'll come up against a dangerous group referred to as the "Assimilated." You'll need to scavenge for goods and keep your diseased enemies at bay with a nice selection of melee weapons that you can loot over time. Project Terminus VR transports you to a post-apocalyptic version of Paris - isn't that worth the price of admission all by itself?